Empirical study on the value assessment of the Qingshen Bamboo weaving national intangible cultural heritage base for productive protection based on willingness to pay in China

The Qingshen Bamboo Weaving National Productive Protection Demonstration Base, focused on preserving the national intangible cultural heritage (ICH) ‘Qingshen Bamboo Weaving,’ holds significant multidimensional value, but as a public good with externalities, its value cannot be directly quantified by market mechanisms. This study applies contingent valuation method (CVM) and uses Logit and Tobit models to analyze payment behavior. The findings show that: (1) the mean monthly willingness to pay (WTP) is between 21.60 and 33.46 Chinese Yuan (CNY), based on approximately 117,000 annual visitors, suggesting an annual value of approximately 30.33–46.98 million CNY; (2) payment preferences are ranked as follows: culture ranks highest, followed by ecology, society and economy, with corresponding annual values of 8.12–12.59million, 8.10–12.55 million, 7.31–11.32 million and 6.79–10.52 million CNY; (3) WTP and payment amount are influenced by demographics and value cognition. Age increases WTP, but its effect on payment amount is nonlinear, with diminishing marginal increases. Similarly, income has diminishing marginal effects, and education significantly raises WTP. Among value cognition, understanding ecological value is the strongest positive factor, while recognition of economic value also increases WTP. Social value recognition negatively affects WTP. These findings provide insights into the base’s multidimensional value and inform conservation policies.