by John Bennett
If the United States Air Force Museum achieves its goal of attracting two million visitors annually by 2003, part of the credit will go to students and faculty in the Department of Marketing. About 200 students and faculty at WSU are involved in a project to study the operations, pricing strategies and promotional activities of the Air Force Museum. The project began this past March, and will continue through November, when several groups of WSU marketing students will present a proposed marketing plan to museum officials.
Several marketing classes have been involved in the project. Students in the marketing management class went to the museum and surveyed more than 700 visitors to find out "how people who go to the museum perceive the museum," said Thomas D. Dovel, chair and associate professor of marketing. This information provided baseline data for the project.
Students in the price management class considered the impact of the museum's various pricing policies. Individual students also prepared case studies and analyzed the museum from an international visitor's perspective.
Students have found that the museum does many things well. It's the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world, attracting more than one million visitors annually. However, museum officials believe they can do even better. With its sporadic funding from the Air Force, and limited resources for marketing activities, museum officials decided to approach Wright State for help. The museum benefits from the work of the WSU students and the expertise of the faculty. The students benefit from applying classroom learning to a real-world marketing situation.
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