Abstract: The article uses data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) to compare the current status of internet consumption among Chinese households from two perspectives: internal and external characteristics of households. The article uses internet consumption amount as a mediator variable to explore the impact of household characteristics on the upgrading of household consumption structure. The empirical results indicate that, firstly, from the perspective of internal characteristics of families, there are significant differences in internet consumption between generations, with young families having a higher likelihood and amount of internet consumption compared to middle-aged and elderly families. Secondly, from the perspective of household external characteristics, income level, education level, and employment status are also the main factors affecting household internet consumption. Different external characteristics lead to higher likelihood and amount of internet consumption among urban households compared to rural households. Finally, there is a mesomeric effect of Internet consumption. With the increase of the amount of Internet consumption, the Internet consumption mode continues to supplement and partially replace offline entity consumption. With the strong radiation function of Internet consumption, the expenditure of resident families in development and enjoyment consumption has increased significantly, providing a more efficient and convenient channel for the upgrading of household consumption structure.

Keywords: Internet consumption; family characteristics; Upgrading Consumption Structure; mesomeric effect