Branding the memory in the virtual world: a study on the Palace Museum in Beijing

Abstract: Many museums face the problem of low engagement on social media which is disadvantageous for them to improve brand relationships with their audience. This study aims to investigate the influential factors on the online audience perception of the museum by applying the brand resonance model. The Palace Museum in Beijing is selected as the case study and the followers of this museum on Weibo as the research target group. A mixed method approach was applied while performing the study in order to have a deep understanding of the perception from the online audience. The qualitative part was a content analysis of posts released from 01 March 2018 to 01 March 2019 from the Palace Museum official account. The quantitative part was an online survey to the museum followers and a post picture rating. Notably, it was found that high engagement does not always lead to high evaluation of the post. Moreover, data analysis results revealed that pictorial content, museum familiarity, and demographics had either positive or negative impacts on the brand relationship building. Hence, to improve brand relationships with the online audience, museums should consider these factors when designing social media communication strategies.