Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

A Study on the External Communication Mechanisms and Emotional Chains of Intangible Culture Heritage Short Video under Interaction Ritual Chain Theory: A Case Study of TikTok

Ruoxi Li*
Sichuan University of Media and Communications

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

With the globalization of short video platforms such as TikTok, the cross-cultural dissemination of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) has acquired new media infrastructures and practical challenges. Existing studies from the perspectives of communication strategies or cross-cultural obstacles at the macro level, the complete pathway from mutual focus to emotional energy and ultimately to collective symbols, revealed by the theory of Interaction Ritual Chains (IRC), have not been empirically tested in the context of cross-cultural short videos. This study uses IRC as the analytical framework, selects 300 ICH short-video samples from the TikTok platform, and adopts a method that combines content analysis with quantitative analysis of platform interaction data to investigate the interactive ritual triggering characteristics, emotional energy generation mechanisms, and cultural identity effects of ICH short videos. The study found that there were significant differences in the common focus construction, virtual presence maintenance, and emotional expression strategies of the three types of videos: skill display, cultural story, and fusion innovation. Among them, the skill display category forms the strongest emotional energy through visual focus, driving deep sharing behavior, and the integration innovation category has the widest dissemination but the weakest emotional transformation depth. The research verifies the applicability of IRC theory in cross-cultural short video dissemination and provides empirical evidence for the content production and dissemination strategies of ICH on the TikTok platform.

Keywords: Interaction ritual chains; intangible cultural heritage; TikTok; external communication mechanisms; emotional chains
Published: September 22, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.37197
Volume: CHR Vol.121
pp. 123-131
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