Pricing in the museum sector : the need to balance social responsibility and organisational viability

An essential component of marketing strategy is pricing. Pricing in museums, however, is problematic as issues beyond cost recovery or surplus, such as social responsibilities, need to be considered. This area of marketing is under researched. The aim of this study is to address the research gap by synthesising the literature on pricing strategy in the museum sector. The study found that there are a number of strategies being advocated with regard to pricing in the museum sector in the literature, each representing various perspectives of museology. A research agenda was proposed to assist marketers in the museum sector to meet their organisational needs, whilst balancing their social responsibilities.