Unveiling Museums’ Online Reputation. The Case of the Uffizi Galleries

The museum’s reputation is a crucial intangible asset that enables it to stand out in a competitive environment by influencing perceived organizational effectiveness and attracting resources. Specifically, reputation impacts the attitudes of potential visitors towards visiting the museum and the perspectives of donors and sponsors towards funding cultural activities. With the rise of the Internet and the subsequent proliferation of online newspapers, social media, blogs, forums, and information-sharing platforms, the concept of reputation has expanded into the digital realm. Online conversations serve as proxies for public opinion and, consequently, for online reputation. Therefore, analyzing online public discourse can provide essential insights into the community’s perceptions of online reputation. Despite the significance of offline and online reputation for a museum’s sustainability, the literature on this topic is still in its early stages. To address this gap, this research presents a preliminary exploration of the literature on museums’ reputation with a twofold objective: (1) review the literature debate on reputation and museums’ online reputation; (2) construct a framework from the literature review for exploring the online reputation of the Uffizi Galleries, one of the most visited museums in Italy, located in the city of art of Florence. This research contributes empirically to the literature on museum management, shedding light on the concept of reputation as an intangible capital crucial for a museum’s perpetuation of its mission and sustainability. The findings hold implications for museums’ communication strategies, emphasizing how increased online visibility through institutional communication can influence their reputation. Finally, it underscores the importance of measuring and managing a museum’s reputation for its sustainability, influencing potential visitors’ decisions and donors’ and sponsors’ attitudes towards funding cultural activities.