Research on the Online Media's Impact on the Chinese Youths' Marriage and Fertility Intentions

Abstract

According to the United Nations, in the 1980s low fertility rates were found only in highly developed countries. More recently, an increasing number of countries in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean are experiencing fertility below replacement level. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and media contact, this paper studies the influencing factors of fertility intention through SPSS data analysis. The research shows that there is a significant positive correlation between behavioral attitude, subjective norms and media content on fertility intention, among which behavioral attitude is the most influential predictive variable of fertility intention. However, perceived behavioral control, duration and frequency of media use had no significant effects on fertility intention. This may be because in the Internet era, people's vision and patterns have been opened, and under the impact of multiple information, they turn to think about deeper issues such as how to realize the value of life. Individual consciousness is stronger, so personal attitude has become the most critical factor. Understanding the influencing factors of fertility intention is helpful to better cope with social problems such as fewer children and old age.