Visitor Adaptation in Entertainment-Education–Based Museum Communication: A Study of Museum Angkut

This study examines Entertainment-Education (EE)–based museum communication as an adaptive and dialogic process within an experience-oriented museum context, using Museum Angkut as a case study. Amid the paradigm shift of museums from artifact-centered repositories to spaces of cultural communication, visitor experience has become a central element in meaning-making processes. This research employed a qualitative approach with a theory-informed case-study design, drawing on in-depth interviews with museum management and visitors, as well as observations of exhibition design, visual narratives, performances, interactive installations, and the use of digital media. Interaction Adaptation Theory (IAT) is applied as an analytical framework to understand how visitors’ requirements, expectations, and desires shape adaptive responses throughout the museum visit. The findings indicate that the integration of entertainment and education facilitates visitors’ cognitive, affective, and spatial adaptation, prompting a shift in orientation from recreation to deeper educational engagement. Entertainment functions not as a distraction from educational objectives, but as a communicative medium that enhances the contextual and emotional interpretation of educational messages. This study contributes to museum communication and cultural studies by highlighting visitor adaptation as a key mechanism in contemporary EE-based museum experiences.