Analysis of the Factors Influencing Residents' Cultural Consumption Expenditure——From the Perspective of Online Retail Use

Abstract

On the basis of balanced provincial panel data from 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China for 2021 to 2024, this paper employs a two-way fixed effects model to empirically examine the impact of online retail development on residents’ cultural consumption. It further explores the internal influencing mechanism through three pathways—consumption convenience, information accessibility and demand stimulation—and conducts robustness tests. The results indicate that the development of online retail has a significant positive effect on residents’ cultural consumption. Similarly, the regional economic development level and residents’ per capita disposable income also play positive driving roles in cultural consumption. The benchmark findings remain robust after alternative variable measurement methods, 1% winsorization, and one-period lag treatment of the core explanatory variables are adopted. Finally, targeted countermeasures and suggestions are proposed in terms of deepening industrial integration, improving logistics infrastructure, increasing residents’ income, optimizing the supply of public cultural services, and promoting coordinated regional development. The research findings provide empirical support for tapping into the potential of residents’ cultural consumption and facilitating the high-quality development of cultural consumption.