THE VISUAL CAPITAL AND CULTURAL LENS: A STRATEGIC SYNTHESIS OF FINANCE, HERITAGE TOURISM, AND THE HUMANITIES FOR VALUE CREATION AND ETHICAL GOVERNANCE IN THE DIGITAL ART ECONOMY

Vikesh Kashyap; Bhupinderpreet  Bedi; Rahul Berry; Karan Walia; Pranami Chakravorty; Sheen Thankalayam; Moby Samuel P; Mandeep Kaur

doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i2s.2026.7302

Authors

Dr. Vikesh Kashyap Associate Professor, School of Hospitality and Tourism, Bahra University, Shimla Hills, India
Dr. Bhupinderpreet Bedi Associate Professor, School of Management Studies, CGC University Mohali, Jhanjeri – 140307, Punjab, India
Dr. Rahul Berry Assistant Professor, ICFAI Business School, The ICFAI University, Dehradun, India
Dr. Karan Walia Associate Professor, Department of Management, MMIM, Maharishi Markandeshwar University (MMDU), India
Dr. Pranami Chakravorty Assistant Professor, Faculty of Commerce and Management, Assam down town University, Guwahati – 781026, Indi
Dr. Sheen Thankalayam Research Scholar, Department of Media Studies, CHRIST University, Bangalore, India
Dr. Moby Samuel P Assistant Professor, Department of English, Easwari Engineering College, India
Mandeep Kaur Assistant Professor, Department of English Language, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar – 143005, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i2s.2026.7302

Keywords:

Visual Capital, Digital Art Economy, Creative Finance, Heritage Tourism, Ethical Governance, Value Creation

Abstract [English]

The accelerated growth of the digital art economy has reshaped the formation, dissemination and commercialization of cultural property. This theoretical essay formulates a transdisciplinary approach that combines finance, heritage tourism, and the humanities to describe how to create value and govern ethically in digital art ecosystems. Basing on the cultural capital theory, the stakeholder theory, institutional theory, and creative economy approaches, the research presents the notion of visual capital as a multidimensional phenomenon that contains the economic, cultural, and symbolic value. The paper theorizes digital platforms as mediating practices that facilitate the interaction of creative finance, heritage-based experiences and humanities-driven interpretation. Such interactions give rise to economic, cultural, and social value, but at the same time, bring up governance issues of intellectual property and cultural commodification as well as the issue of distributing values fairly. An empirical research is offered in the form of a structured conceptual model with propositions that are going to guide future empirical research. It is also relevant to the literature since the study presents a theory-driven, integrative framework and managerial and policy implications on sustainable and ethical digital art ecosystems.

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