Opera in the Digital Era: Enhancing Cultural Heritage through Technological Integration and Audience Participation

Digital technologies are increasingly incorporated into cultural heritage representation to enable greater audience engagement (AE) and the perceived value of cultural content. This study explores the mediation between technological integration (TI) and perceived cultural relevance (PCR), and the relationship between PCR and support for cultural preservation (SCP). The research adopted a sequential mixed-methods design. In the quantitative phase, 369 responses were analysed using SPSS, AMOS, and SmartPLS. In the qualitative phase, 20 participants were interviewed, and the data were interpreted using QDA Miner. TI was positively associated with AE (β = 0.369, p < 0.001) and PCR (β = 0.313, p < 0.001). AE had an association with PCR (β = 0.193, p < 0.001), while PCR had an association with SCP (β = 0.434, p < 0.001). A significant indirect effect of TI via AE and PCR on SCP (β = 0.032, p = 0.021) was observed. The model accounted for 13.6% of the variance in AE, 18.0% in PCR, and 18.8% in SCP. Qualitative coding yielded individual code frequencies ranging from 10 to 20, code percentages ranged from 3.367% to 6.734%. The sequential path through AE and PCR offers a pathway for technological integration and cultural preservation, and the qualitative patterns show how audiences feel about the engagement and cultural relevance of digitally-mediated heritage experiences and about the integration of technology and the preservation of culture.