Professor Ke XUE and her research team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have recently published their latest study in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, a Q1 journal from Springer Nature.

The article, titled “Trend of Owning the Intangible: The Mediating Role of Psychological Ownership in Cultural Consumption Within Blockchain Ecosystems,” explores how blockchain features shape consumer psychology and purchasing behavior in cultural collectibles.

Drawing on the Cognition–Affect–Conation (CAC) framework and structural equation modeling, the study analyzes data from 1,153 blockchain-platform users in China. It shows that five attributes of blockchain assets (traceability, scarcity, innovation, cultural authenticity, and cultural knowledge) strengthen consumers’ psychological ownership and cultural identity, which in turn increase purchase intentions for digital cultural collectibles (e.g., intangible cultural heritage NFTs). Psychological ownership and cultural identity act as key mediators, each playing a distinct yet complementary role in shaping consumer decisions.

Beyond advancing academic understanding of blockchain’s psychological impact, the study suggest practical strategies for museums, cultural institutions, and platforms: foreground authentic provenance and storytelling, and design engaging, interactive experiences to deepen emotional connection and support the sustainable transmission of intangible cultural heritage in the digital age.

Humanities & Social Sciences Communications is the only Springer Nature journal dedicated to the humanities and social sciences. According to the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), it is ranked in Q1 under the category Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary.