A Case Study Model for Decision-Making Processes and Experiences Donating Objects to a University Historic Fashion and Textiles Museum

This study explored the decision-making processes, motives, and meaning-making experiences of individuals who enacted a passive donation of objects to the Avenir Museum, a historic fashion and textiles museum on a university campus. The work was informed by theory on the extended self and extended object. We adopted an exploratory, qualitative case study methodology to collect in-depth interviews from 13 donors. The major contribution of this study is a grounded theory model illuminating the Decision-Making Processes and Experiences Donating Objects to a University Historic Fashion and Textiles Museum. Unique to the decision-making model developed for this study are the incorporation of the meaning of the object to the overall decision-making process and the identification of motives specific to the donation of historic fashion objects (e.g., Educational and Relational Motives). The work also highlights the way that participants extended their sense of self and identity through object donations to the Museum.