Museums have evolved from simple collections to dynamic institutions focused on societal engagement and heritage dissemination. In China, museums play a particularly significant role in national identity and cultural promotion, leading to a burgeoning market for museum-inspired products. However, the creativity of these products lacks a rigorous and standardized assessment. This study aims to address this gap by creating a comprehensive measurement model to evaluate the creativity of products sold in Chinese urban historical museums. The existing models, such as the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT), Creative Product Semantic Scale (CPSS), and Product Creativity Measurement Instrument (PCMI), proved inadequate for capturing the nuances of museum product creativity. The study's focus on Chinese urban historical museums stems from the greater development of their creative markets and familiarity among consumers compared to rural counterparts, facilitating a focused initial study.

The literature review examines existing models for assessing product creativity and their limitations when applied to museum products. Key attributes of museum products are analyzed, focusing on aesthetics (including affect), creativity, and cultural attributes. Aesthetics are considered crucial for attracting consumers and evoking emotions. Creativity, while multifaceted, is generally associated with novelty and usefulness, while cultural attributes emphasize the significance of traditional cultural symbols, museum inclusivity, and the encouragement of cultural innovation. Existing models like the Spatial Perspective of Culture and the Three Levels of Design frameworks are discussed to understand the cultural integration in museum products.

The researchers developed a 7-point Likert-scale questionnaire based on the identified dimensions and indicators of museum product creativity, validated through a pilot test and incorporating lie detectors. An online survey using the Wenjuan.com platform targeted 931 participants, primarily through Weibo and WeChat, with 708 valid responses (76.05% response rate). The sample comprised a mix of consumers and experts, with diverse age and educational backgrounds. Data cleaning was performed to ensure data integrity. SPSS and SmartPLS were used for exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) using partial least squares (PLS-SEM). The researchers controlled for demographic factors such as age, gender, educational level, and purchase experience. The analysis involved assessing construct reliability and validity (Cronbach's alpha, KMO, CR, AVE), and then evaluating the outer and inner models of the PLS-SEM.

The initial analysis revealed some measurement issues, particularly with the Novelty dimension. After addressing these issues (including combining Resolution and Importance into a single 'Usefulness' dimension) and re-evaluating the model, five dimensions emerged as significant: Affect, Aesthetics, Usefulness, Cultural Values, and Novelty. However, the researchers decided to exclude Novelty as it proved to be statistically insignificant in predicting overall creativity in the final model. The final model demonstrated excellent overall fit (SRMR = 0.059). Affect was found to partially mediate the relationship between Aesthetics and Creativity, while Usefulness partially mediated the relationship between Cultural Values and Creativity. The study confirmed that Educational Level significantly and negatively moderates the relationship between Cultural Values and Creativity.

The findings confirm the importance of Affect, Aesthetics, and Usefulness in determining the perceived creativity of museum products. The mediating role of Affect and Usefulness highlights the importance of emotional appeal and practical functionality in driving positive evaluations of creativity. The inclusion of Cultural Values, while distinct from Usefulness, underscores the crucial role of cultural significance in enhancing perceived creativity. The negative moderating effect of Educational Level on the perception of Cultural Values suggests that designers should use precise cultural symbols to communicate their values to a broader audience, rather than relying solely on vague concepts. This study contributes to the literature by providing a validated instrument for objectively measuring museum product creativity, and highlights the importance of balancing aesthetic appeal, functionality, and cultural relevance in museum product design.

This study successfully developed and validated the MPCM, a comprehensive measurement model for assessing the creativity of museum products. The final model incorporates four key dimensions: Affect, Aesthetics, Usefulness, and Cultural Values. The findings highlight the importance of considering emotional appeal, design aesthetics, practical functionality, and cultural relevance. Future research should refine the measurement of Novelty, incorporating a wider range of indicators and potentially exploring different latent variable types. Moreover, collecting objective data using biosensors and conducting cross-cultural comparisons would strengthen the model's validity and generalizability. Further investigation into the influence of variables like purchase experience, age, and gender, as well as exploring the integration of sustainability considerations, are also recommended.

The study's limitations include the reliance on subjective questionnaire responses, the exclusion of Novelty, the lack of cross-cultural analysis, and the limited investigation of demographic factors' influence on creativity perceptions beyond the initial controlling for them. Further research should address these limitations by using objective data through biosensors, conducting cross-cultural comparisons and fully exploring the relationship between demographic data and creativity scores to potentially improve the model's accuracy and generalizability.