Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Abstract This paper analyses the impact and key mechanisms of micro-level digital literacy on household consumption in China's low-consumption context using China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data. The results reveal that micro-level digital literacy positively affects household consumption after controlling related individual, household, and regional factors. Mechanism analysis suggests that the improvement of micro-level digital literacy promotes household consumption mainly through improving income, expanding social networks and increasing online payment. Further analyses indicate that micro-level digital literacy has a greater promoting effect on daily household consumption, healthcare and education expenses than other types of consumption and among individuals with lower educational levels and those in younger and middle-aged demographics. Moreover, digital literacy has increased households' investment in human capital such as healthcare and cultural education. This study theoretically contributes to understanding the formation of consumption behaviors in digital era, and provides some implications for policymakers to enhance efforts in cultivating digital literacy among specific groups to address the situation of low consumption in China.
Ling et al. (Mon,) studied this question.