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Exploring the transition from traditional museums to digital experiences: implications for online engagement and willingness to pay

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Digital museums offer cultural institutions a new way to reach their audiences online. This study analyzes the relationship between the digital museum experience, museum loyalty, and visitors’ willingness to pay more. It also examines perceived value from social media, visitor satisfaction, and cultural identity as explanatory constructs, with age as a moderating variable. The study sampled 385 respondents using snowball sampling. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS and structural equation modeling (SEM) in Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 24. The results indicate that the digital museum experience and perceived value from social media significantly impact visitors’ satisfaction, cultural identity, and loyalty to the museum. Furthermore, increased museum loyalty correlates with a greater willingness to pay higher prices. Mediation analysis also shows that visitor satisfaction mediates the relationship between the digital museum experience and museum loyalty. Similarly, cultural identity mediates the relationship between perceived value from social media and museum loyalty. Multi-group analysis showed that the proposed relationships did not differ significantly by age. However, digital engagement levels were consistent across age groups. These findings have significant implications for enhancing user engagement, fostering loyalty, and improving the sustainability of digital heritage platforms.

Source: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-026-09355-6

Authors: Abid Hussain, Shahida Kanwel, Zhiqiang Ma, Mingxing Li, Bahar Hussain, Weijun Hu