Exploring the Impact of Experimenter Attractiveness, Self-Concept Connection, Attitude Toward the Museum for Explaining the Visit Experience, and Loyalty by Location in University Museums

Museums contribute significantly to the cultural and economic development of destinations, yet university museums remain underexplored, especially in developing economies. This study examines how Experimenter Attractiveness (EA), Attitude toward the Museum (ATM), and Self-Concept Connection (SCC) influence Visit Experience (VE) and Loyalty by Location (LL). Using data from 1,400 visitors to university museums in Puebla, Mexico, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the proposed relationships. All hypotheses were supported, with the strongest effects observed from EA to SCC and from SCC to VE, indicating that attractive and engaging experiences strengthen visitors’ self-connection and lead to greater satis-faction during the overall museum visit. The validated model demonstrates consistent relationships among constructs and contributes to understanding how attractiveness and self-connection shape behavioral intentions in the university museum context. These findings highlight the importance of experiential marketing and emotional engagement strategies, while future research should explore additional attitudinal and technological factors that enhance visitor loyalty.