Introduction
I
n the Museum and Visitor Studies fields, there is an increasing demand for research that demonstrates the longitudinal impact of visitors’ experiences in leisure-time settings—such as museums, science centers, zoos, art galleries, and world expositions—that employ exhibition-based media (Anderson, Storksdieck and Spock 2007). However, there are but a handful of studies that have investigated long-term�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m�m� impacts arising from experiences in such settings. Most studies consider the longitudinal impact only over relatively short time frames: weeks and months after the visitor experience. Notwithstanding, there are several key studies that shed light on the impact of visitors’ memories of experience sin such leisure time settings (see Notes).1 A contemporary review of the literature on memories of visitor experiences can be found in Anderson (2003); and Anderson, Storksdieck and Spock (2007). The value and importance of understanding the long-term impact of visitor experiences cannot be underestimated�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d�d� and should be investigated both for theoretical and practical ����������������������������������������������������reasons. Such information is important not only for studying the basic mechanism of long-term memory ����������������������������������������� inpersonal experiences, but also (practically speaking) for investigating how to improve the long-term impacts of visitor experiences in a multiplicity of dimensions and assist those who develop and plan exhibition-based experiences.