Trust is a matter of great importance to museums, but little is known about how trust is built between museums and the communities they serve. As museums attempt to engage new audiences, this question looms large. How can museums demonstrate their trustworthiness in ways that lead first-time visitors to become regular museum-goers?

We’re exploring this question through a collaboration with the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) and Rockman et al Cooperative called “Post-Pandemic Virtual Experiences with Children’s Museums: Responding to Family, Educator, and Museum Needs and Expectations.” One of the project’s goals is to identify specific trust-building practices and strategies that can lead to long-term engagement with new museum audiences.

As a step toward this goal, we surveyed ACM member institutions about their collaborations with other organizations in doing community outreach. The questionnaire included the following two questions focused on trust:

• In what ways do these collaborations help to build trust with your audiences?
• In what ways and for what reasons do you feel that your collaborators think of your museum as trustworthy?

What Did We Find?

Responses to our survey indicate that children’s museums perceive their efforts as building both identity-based trust and experiential trust with outreach audiences. As can be seen in the figure below, their efforts connect with all of the components of these two types of trust.

It is also clear that museums are prioritizing some trust-building practices over others. Findings from our survey suggest that these practices vary based on what museums hope to convey to collaborators and audiences. When talking about building trust with collaborators, respondents focused on demonstrating their ability to reliably fulfill their promises (competence, reliability, and sincerity). They did not neglect other aspects of trustworthiness, but, when compared to their priorities with audiences, they appeared to care more about being seen as a capable outreach partner.

When talking about building trust with audiences, respondents focused more on demonstrating respect for community members and caring for their needs (integrity and benevolence). Given that these outreach audiences were likely encountering the museums for the first time, it makes sense that museums were also focused on building connections with audiences (affinity). Once again, they did not neglect other aspects of trustworthiness, but, when compared to their priorities with collaborators, they appeared to care more about being seen as caring and welcoming places.

In what follows, we take a deep dive into the three standout priorities for building trust with audiences: integrity, benevolence, and affinity.

Integrity

Integrity is a key component of experience-based trust. When we feel others applying their principles in an equitable fashion, our likelihood of trusting them increases. In their survey responses, museums spoke at length about how concerns around integrity informed their trust-building efforts.

Many respondents discussed how partnerships facilitated progress toward the goal of being “welcoming to all” by “reducing barriers to access...for all families.” By listening when partners “tell us what they need,” museums were able to design co-created programs, services, and resources that were both “economically affordable” and “culturally relevant.” Their joint efforts helped them “provide access to different audiences,” including low-income families and those who “may not have come into the museum otherwise.” Specific examples of how museums believe partnerships help them demonstrate integrity are included below.

• “Many collaborators offer exposure to people and communities not often represented thoroughly in mainstream platforms for children.”
• “Introducing a broader set of voices during program development helps ensure that our many audiences are represented.”
• “In a small town, where many people know one another, [collaboration] helps to broaden our reach and connect with new audiences.”
• “Collaborating partners serve as ‘trusted advisors’ to a broader audience than any single organization could feasibly develop on their own.”

Benevolence

As another component of experiential trust, benevolence is related to perceptions of care, compassion, and empathy. If we feel that another’s actions demonstrate concern for our well-being, we are more likely to trust them. In their survey responses, museums also highlighted benevolence as a key aspect of their attempts to demonstrate trustworthiness.

When discussing this, respondents shared how collaborations provide additional opportunities to “selflessly” serve others. Through partnerships, they are able to better meet families’ immediate needs—for example, by “providing food and childcare.” Behaviors such as these encourage audiences to see children’s museums as a “safe space” and as a “supportive community resource.” Specific examples of how museums believe collaborations help them demonstrate their benevolence are included below.

• “Our collaborations are driven by listening and then working together toward a common goal that utilizes the strengths and assets of each other.”
• “They see we are invested in the community in ways that go beyond our doors.”
• “Community members see us attending the events and providing the services, and begin to understand that we want to assist for the long term.”
• “Our collaborations highlight the museum’s commitment for providing a higher quality of life for children and families in our region.”
• “Collaborations help build trust because we model trust between collaborating organizations. Audiences see us working well together and supporting each other, and that gives us credibility.”

Affinity

As a component of identity-based trust, affinity is related to feelings of familiarity and attachment to another. If we feel we are in some way similar to someone or something, we feel more affinity toward them, and are more likely to trust them (to the extent that we approach them or allow them to approach us). In their survey responses, many museums offered statements testifying to the central role affinity plays in their trust-building efforts.

Respondents often spoke of how they were able to build trust “by partnering with other respected community organizations.” Highlighting the value of working with “like-minded organizations” that are “trusted by different groups of people,” museums found that associating their names with those of already known organizations offered audiences an opportunity to “learn more about how we are similar or connected”—thus hopefully leading to increased perceptions of trustworthiness. Specific examples of how museums believe collaborations help them build affinity with audiences are included below.

• “Having better-known organizations attached to our work helps improve the perceived accountability and reputation of the organization.”
• “When we create partnerships with established and already trusted groups, it increases our community’s trust in us as well.”
• “Many feel comfortable when a trusted organization introduces [us].”
• “[Collaborations] allow us to access new audiences through sources already trusted by those audiences.”
• “When we work with trusted partners, people trust us.”

Let’s Put it to Work!

The results of our survey indicate that affinity, benevolence, and integrity are major themes in how children’s museums attempt to build and maintain trust with audiences. Based on their responses, it seems that collaborations are helping museums strengthen affinity-based ties with their communities, while also giving them an opportunity to demonstrate their integrity and benevolence.

However, the extent to which this emphasis on affinity, benevolence, and integrity is transforming community perceptions of children’s museums is unknown. Through prior research on zoos and aquariums, we learned that institutions would benefit from placing more of an emphasis on benevolence, as this has a significant impact on perceptions of trustworthiness. As this project continues, we will assess the extent to which children’s museums efforts are achieving their desired results. Stay tuned for our findings on this!

About this Article

These materials were produced for Post-Pandemic Virtual Experiences with Children's Museums: Responding to Family, Educator, and Museum's Needs and Expectations, a project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The authors are solely responsible for the content on this page.

For more information about the museums that completed our survey, and about the different collaborations they described, see issue 6.3 of the ACM Trends Report series. And for more on how trust impacts the relationship between museums and their audiences, see both issue 5.3 of this series and our discussion of what it means to trust museums.

Photo courtesy of Michał Parzuchowski @ Unsplash