Multidimensional mechanisms shape participation intention in digital cultural heritage through experience attitude

As digital technologies increasingly reshape how cultural heritage is preserved, interpreted and experienced, understanding participation intention in digital cultural heritage has become theoretically important and practically urgent. Existing research has often examined technological functions, user satisfaction or post experience evaluation, but less attention has been given to the integrated mechanism through which users convert digital heritage experiences into sustained participation intention. This study develops and validates a multidimensional mechanism model of digital cultural heritage participation using an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. In the qualitative phase, 36 semi structured interviews with participants who had prior experience of digital cultural heritage were analyzed through grounded theory informed coding. The analysis identified six higher order dimensions, namely cognitive mechanisms, experiential mechanisms, evaluative mechanisms, social situational mechanisms, experience attitude and behavioral intention. In the quantitative phase, a survey instrument was developed from the qualitative findings and relevant literature and tested with 740 valid responses. Confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling and Bootstrap mediation analysis were used to assess the measurement model, structural paths and indirect effects. The results show that heritage value cognition, digital heritage media cognition, perceived benefits, perceived risks, experiential authenticity, experiential immersion, institutional support, social influence and technological support significantly shape experience attitude and behavioral intention. Experience attitude is the strongest proximal predictor of behavioral intention and a central mediator linking multidimensional antecedents with continued participation, repeat participation and recommendation intention. The study contributes to digital cultural heritage research by explaining participation intention as an integrated process of cultural interpretation, experiential judgment, benefit risk appraisal, contextual support and attitudinal consolidation. It also provides practical implications for heritage platform design, interpretation, communication and governance.