Short-Term Memories, Long-Term Intentions: Social Media Sharing in Museum Service Encounters
(A2026-133473)

AUTHORS

Melisa Mete, Henley Business School; Adrian Palmer, Professor in Marketing, Henley Business School, University of Reading; Xia Zhu, Lecturer in Marketing, Faculty of Business and Law, The Open University

ABSTRACT

Cultural service providers increasingly design museum and gallery visits as digitally augmented experiences. During visits, many customers divide attention between the physical encounter and social media sharing. This paper examines how such sharing affects memorability, emotions, and service outcomes. We distinguish between short-term memorability in the weeks after a visit and long-term memorability months later and link both to revisit and recommendation intentions. Using a three-wave field study of visitors to three UK museums and galleries, we compare visitors who shared content during the visit with those who did not. Social media sharing enhances short-term memorability and positive emotions but does not strengthen long-term memory for the visit. Short-term memorability is more strongly associated with later behavioural intentions than long-term memory, highlighting the importance of early impressions in digitally augmented service encounters.