Digital Mediation and Cultural Value Co-creation in Place-Based Intangible Cultural Heritage: Dongguan Guanxiang

Abstract

The rapid development of digital media has transformed how regional cultural heritage is represented, circulated, interpreted, and experienced. For place-based intangible cultural heritage, digitalization creates new opportunities for cultural communication and public participation, while also generating challenges concerning authenticity, contextual integrity, cultural authority, and commercialization. This article develops a conceptual framework for understanding these dynamics through the case-informed context of Dongguan Guanxiang, a regional cultural tradition associated with agarwood, craftsmanship, locality, and sensory experience. Rather than treating digitalization simply as a technical means of heritage preservation or cultural promotion, the article conceptualizes it as a process of cultural mediation through which heritage meanings are selected, translated, reconstructed, and negotiated among different stakeholders. Drawing on literature on intangible cultural heritage, cultural meaning, digital mediation, and value co-creation, the article proposes four interconnected dimensions: cultural interpretation, digital mediation, stakeholder participation, and value realization. The framework further considers how digital storytelling, visual communication, online communities, tourism, and digital commerce may contribute to cultural, educational, social, experiential, and economic value. At the same time, these processes require mechanisms that balance accessibility with contextual depth, participation with cultural authority, and commercialization with continuity. The article contributes a conceptual perspective for understanding how place-based cultural heritage can remain culturally meaningful while engaging with contemporary digital environments.