Enhancing intangible cultural heritage dissemination through digital experience: an Affective Events Theory approach

Digital technological advancements are enhancing cross-cultural communication and transforming the dissemination of culture, providing people with new ICH experiences. However, public understanding of ICH is limited and dissemination remains inadequate due to a lack of promotion. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes an AET-based model to examine the impact of digital experiences on ICH dissemination. Surveying 321 participants in Quanzhou City, China, data was analyzed using Smart-PLS and fsQCA. Findings indicate that visual and auditory experiences enhance affective responses and influence dissemination behavior, with affective responses serving as mediators and cultural identity acting as moderators. All variables are core conditions in various causal configurations for high dissemination. These highlighted the applicability of the AET-based model in ICH dissemination, confirming that the better use of digital experiences drives people’s dissemination behavior. It also offers cross-regional generalizability for ICH studies, providing new insights that promote global ICH dissemination.