The ROM learns from a study that people hate being gouged, cuts prices

The Royal Ontario Museum slashed its admission prices last week in an effort to draw more visitors—apparently the “Sitting Still: Faces of Childhood” gallery isn’t pulling in the hordes that were expected. Adult admission now costs just $15, down from $24, with other prices and surcharges cut accordingly (see all the changes here). The ROM is also helping students between the ages of 15 and 25 develop the art-loving side of their growing brains by expanding its definition of student (before the changes, a student discount was only given to people between the ages of 15 and 17). The move is the result of an internal study, which revealed a bit of conventional wisdom: “What we uncovered in that research is that the price was a barrier to people coming to us,” CEO Janet Carding told the Globe and Mail. Until now, the ROM had some of highest admission prices in the country, despite only getting 17 per cent of its revenue through ticket sales. Read the entire story [The Globe and Mail] »