Cultural and heritage assets (CHA) can be understood as forms of cultural capital that generate value over time through flows of goods and services. While digital delivery has become an increasingly important mode through which cultural services are produced and accessed, robust valuation approaches for digital cultural and heritage assets remain underdeveloped. Existing accounting and economic valuation methods often struggle to capture the experiential, non-market, and context-dependent benefits associated with digital cultural consumption. This study integrates methods from accounting, behavioural and experimental economics with qualitative research. We conducted an incentivised experimental study in collaboration with Chichester Festival Theatre in the UK. As part of the experiment, participants were presented with a series of scenarios concerning tickets to a theatre performance in both physical and digital forms. Each scenario required participants to indicate a preference for the ticket or a monetary value. Following the experiment, one of the scenario outcomes was selected at random, meaning participants either received a ticket to a digital or in-person performance or a monetary sum. We subsequently collected rich, qualitative data from participants which allowed us to explore the reasons why particular valuations were expressed for in-person and digital performances. Our data allowed us to compare the relative valuations of digital equivalents to in-person experiences. The results provide insights into how audiences assign value to digital cultural/heritage experiences compared to in-person events, offering implications for pricing strategies and audience engagement in the heritage sector. Our work bridges the gap between traditional valuation methods and the evolving digital cultural landscape, ensuring that digital CHA are appropriately recognised for their value, economic and cultural significance.