From Cultural Symbols to User Value Construction:A Grounded Theory Study of Heritage-Based Creative Products

In the context of cultural heritage revitalization and the rapid development of the cultural and creative industries, how traditional cultural symbols can be effectively transformed into creative products with contemporary value perception has become a critical issue in design and cultural studies. Existing research has largely focused on symbolic representation or design strategies, while relatively little attention has been paid to users’ experiential perspectives and the underlying mechanisms through which cultural symbols are translated into perceived product value. Against this background, this study takes cultural and creative products derived from Fuxi culture at Taihao Mausoleum in Huaiyang as its empirical case and adopts a grounded theory approach. Through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding of interview data and supplementary textual materials, the study constructs a user-oriented value structure model for cultural heritage creative products. The findings reveal that emotional value, social value, and functional value constitute the core dimensions of users’ value perception. Among them, emotional value plays a dominant role and exerts influence on users’ cultural identification and consumption decisions through its interaction with social and functional values. Based on these findings, the study further proposes an analytical pathway centered on user value structures to explain the mechanism through which cultural symbols generate value in specific consumption contexts. This research provides empirical evidence for understanding the value construction of cultural heritage creative products and offers a comparative analytical framework applicable to other cultural heritage contexts.