Talking to Visitors about Conservation: Exploring Message Communication through Docent–Visitor Interactions at Zoos

Preethi R. S. Mony · Joe E. Heimlich

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Museums and Cultural Heritage Conservation, Ecology, Wildlife Education Animal and Plant Science Education

Abstract

Education personnel, both paid staff and volunteers, are often used at zoos and other museums as a channel to disseminate educational messages. This exploratory study examined the use of zoo docents to communicate key conservation messages from the zoo to visitors. The study was conducted in 2 phases using an emergent design with mixed methods. The findings suggest that visitors perceive docents to be an important source for conservation messages even though observed message communication through docent–visitor interactions was very limited. Docents view themselves as “facilitators for learning”, but their limited awareness of the institution's messages inhibits their ability to communicate these messages to visitors. Other factors that influence incidence of message communication are duration of the interaction, nature of the exhibit/region, and group composition. In this study, signage was found to be an effective channel for building cognitive awareness of messages among visitors.

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References

1988Exhibit Design and Visitor Behavior 2003Enhancing the Zoo Visitor’s Experience by Public Animal Training and Oral Interpretation at an Otter Exhibit 2002Using Interpretive Animals to Deliver Affective Messages in Zoos 2005The influence of an interactive educational approach on visitors' learning in a Swiss zoo

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