Factors influencing China youth’s watch intentions for animated film adaptations of Chinese traditional literature based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

The purpose of this study is to examine how the demographic factors of gender, income, and educational background, as well as attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), influence China youth intention to watch animated films adapted from traditional literature. The study was conducted in two major cities in China, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and valid data were collected from 464 people aged between 18 and 40 years through questionnaires and snowball sampling methods. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and AMOS software. It was found that gender had no significant effect on watch intention, while educational background and income level made a significant difference in watch intention. Meanwhile, Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) had the greatest effect on watch intention under the TPB framework (β = 0.313, p < 0.001), followed by attitude (β = 0.23, p < 0.001), and finally subjective norm (β = 0.143, p = 0.009). Based on these results, this study provides strategic recommendations for the production and marketing of animated films adapted from traditional Chinese literature, aiming to enhance the marketing and performance of such films.