Abstract: As population ageing deepens and the strategy of expanding domestic demand advances, how to effectively unlock older adults' consumption potential has become an important issue for fostering new drivers of the silver economy and promoting high-quality economic development. Positive ageing perception is an important concept that has gradually emerged in China's active response to population ageing. It emphasizes understanding an ageing society, older adults and later life from a positive perspective, and regards old age not merely as a stage of decline and social withdrawal, but rather as an important life stage with continued possibilities for development, social participation and value realization. As an important cognitive foundation through which older adults understand later life, assess the meaning of ageing, and allocate resources, positive ageing perception may encourage them to view later life in a more positive and open manner, place greater emphasis on improving quality of life, satisfying spiritual and cultural needs, and realizing self-worth, and thereby affect consumption behavior.

Using data from the 2020 and 2023 waves of the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS), this study examines non-solitary households composed only of cognitively normal adults aged 60 and above. We investigate the overall effect of positive ageing perception on elderly consumption, together with its mechanisms and heterogeneous effects. The results indicate that positive ageing perception significantly increases the level of elderly consumption, and that this effect is mainly driven by improvements in negative cognition. This finding remains robust after changing the specification of the dependent variable, adjusting the sample scope, and addressing potential endogeneity. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that this effect is more pronounced among the young-old, women, those not engaged in grandchild care and those without financial assets. Mechanism analysis indicates that positive ageing perception promotes consumption mainly by reducing precautionary saving, increasing hedonic consumption and expanding consumption channels. In addition, good mental health and participation in elderly education strengthen its positive effect on elderly consumption. Based on these findings, this study suggests fostering positive ageing perceptions, improving the supply of age-friendly products and services, strengthening subsidies and family support for constrained groups, and expanding digital and community-based consumption scenarios to better convert older adults' latent demand into actual consumption and promote the development of the silver economy.

The main contribution of this study lies in introducing positive ageing perception, a distinctly Chinese ageing-related concept, into the analytical framework of elderly consumption and thereby extending the research boundary from the perspective of cognition and values. Moreover, this study not only examines the overall effect of positive ageing perception on elderly consumption, but also further analyzes its mechanisms, heterogeneous effects and extended impacts, thus providing new empirical evidence for understanding how cognitive and attitudinal factors shape the economic behavior of older adults. Based on the findings, it is recommended that coordinated efforts be made to foster a positive social environment for ageing, optimize the supply structure of elderly consumption, strengthen support for effective demand, and expand diverse consumption scenarios, so as to continuously unlock older adults' consumption potential and stimulate the development of the silver economy.

Keywords: Positive Ageing Perception, Older Adults' Consumption, Precautionary Savings, Enjoyment-oriented Consumption, Consumption Channels

摘要： 激发老年消费动能是培育和壮大银发经济、促进经济高质量发展的重要举措。本文采用2020年和2023年中国老年社会追踪调查(CLASS)数据，从积极认知和消极认知两个维度界定积极老龄观，实证检验其对老年消费的影响。研究发现，积极老龄观有助于提升老年消费，这一作用主要来源于消极认知的改善。异质性分析结果显示，在80岁以下、女性、未参与隔代照料以及未持有金融资产的老年群体中，积极老龄观对老年消费的促进作用更为显著。机制分析表明，积极老龄观通过降低预防性储蓄、增加享受型消费和拓宽消费渠道，进而提升老年消费。此外，研究还发现保持良好的心理健康水平以及参与老年教育会提升积极老龄观对老年消费的促进作用。本文建议从营造积极老龄社会环境、优化老年消费供给结构、强化有效需求支撑和拓展多元消费场景等方面协同发力，持续释放老年消费潜力，激发银发经济发展动能。

关键词: 积极老龄观, 老年消费, 预防性储蓄, 享受型消费, 消费渠道