Digital cultural heritage platforms play a crucial role in heritage preservation and enhancing tourist experiences. However, the challenge in designing such platforms lies in how to strike a balance between virtuality and authenticity to optimize the tourist experience. Taking the digital platform of Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo as a case study, this research explores the integrated design of virtual and authentic elements from a tourist perspective, drawing upon cue consistency theory and process fluency theory. The study finds that the way platform design elements (including virtual elements and authentic elements) are combined has a significant impact on tourists’ cognitive responses and experiences. Specifically, the consistency between virtual and authentic elements is a key factor influencing users’ cognitive fluency. It is proposed that high cue consistency combinations can enhance users’ cognitive fluency, thereby deepening the immersive experience, ultimately increasing the intention to visit in person. This research provides a theoretical basis for the practical design of digital cultural heritage platforms, aiming to improve the immersive experience of online platforms, thereby increasing tourists’ willingness for offline visits.
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