The digitally-empowered integration of cultural creativity and rural tourism has emerged as a pivotal mechanism for agricultural economic transformation. Grounded in industrial integration theory, value chain theory, and digital empowerment theory, this investigation employs a mixed-methods approach to examine industrial chain extension mechanisms and agricultural value-added effects. The study encompasses field surveys and quantitative analysis across 10 counties, incorporating 1,248 enterprises and 348 integration cases. Key findings demonstrate: (1) Digital technology serves as a fundamental catalyst, with 78.6% of agricultural enterprises implementing digital solutions. Deep-integration enterprises achieve empowerment indices of 82.6 points versus 41.2 for shallow-integration counterparts. (2) Culture-tourism-agriculture convergence expands industrial chains from 5.2 to 8.7 average segments through three paradigms: platform-integrated consolidation, ecosystem-based diversification, and intelligence-driven optimization. (3) Digital infrastructure constitutes the primary determinant (regression coefficient 0.387), forming a multi-dimensional framework with human capital, market conditions, and policy support. (4) Agricultural enhancement effects prove substantial: 156.8% increases in product values and 89.4% growth in farmer incomes, with indirect effect multipliers reaching 2.42. (5) The research establishes a "Technology-Organization-Environment" empowerment framework and "Networked Value Creation" theoretical construct. These findings provide theoretical insights and practical guidance for digital rural development, culture-tourism-agriculture coordination, and agricultural modernization objectives.
Shanshan Lan (Fri,) studied this question.