The Role of Technology in the Experience Appropriation Process: An Exploration in a Phygital Cultural Context

[PRE-RELEASED VERSION]

Fei Gao, Danilo C. Dantas, François Colbert

Fei Gao holds a PhD in Marketing from HEC Montréal and has an educational and practical background in intercultural communication and arts management. Her research examines how digital technologies shape cultural consumption, creativity, and arts manage­ment.
Danilo C. Dantas is professor of marketing at HEC Montréal. His research focuses on the marketing of music. His work has been published in the European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Psychology of Music, and the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, among others.
François Colbert is full professor of marketing at HEC Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada, where he holds the Carmelle and Rémi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management.

ABSTRACT
As cultural services increasingly incorporate digital technologies, consumer experiences are shifting from physical to phygital, blending digital and physical elements. This study adopts a process-based approach to investigate how consumers’ interaction with technology shapes their appropriation of cultural experiences. Drawing on a qualitative case study of Cité Mémoire, a large-scale outdoor projection art installation, we find that consumers undertake iterative, embedded cycles of technology appropriation that shape their access to, interpretation of, and emotional connection with the cultural experience. These technological interactions are closely interwoven with the appropriation of the cultural service, influencing how consumers navigate physical spaces, make sense of digital content, and co-construct meaning. This study advances research on cultural experiences and appropriation theory by highlighting the recursive nature of technological interaction in phygital contexts and extends the concept of psychological ownership to non-material, co-created cultural experiences. Practical implications are discussed for cultural institutions designing immersive, technology-enabled experiences.

KEYWORDS
Experience appropriation; phygital experience; technology appropriation