Visitors’ informal conservation learning: a customer journey design perspective

Abstract

Conservation education is an important goal for zoos and wildlife parks. Using a customer journey design perspective, this study investigates the effectiveness of single- versus multi-touchpoint exhibits to create a visitor experience and stimulate visitors’ informal conservation learning. The mediating-moderating model developed includes the role of an app in self-guided tours and the situational factor of parents explaining information to children. The model is tested using data collected from visitors of Safaripark Beekse Bergen, a wildlife park in the Netherlands. The results confirm that, in contrast to the single-touchpoint exhibits, multi-touchpoint exhibits significantly increase informal learning through enhanced visitor experience. The park app also mediates the learning process of the multi-touchpoint self-guided tours. Single-touchpoint exhibits directly affect informal learning. Visitors’ explaining information to children is an important contingency of the single-touchpoint [(interactive) panels]—conservation learning relationship.