The changing place of the media in the European home

Two broad trends dominate the explanation of family media access. - First, Rogers’ (1962) diffusion theory predicts that as each technological innovation enters the market, early adopters will tend to be male, affluent and young, but that once diffusion spreads, the adoption curve will accelerate before tailing off, leaving the ‘laggards’ or, often, the disadvantaged (poorer, older) to take longer to gain access, if they ever do. - Second, the presence of children in the household matters: parents tend to acquire more media goods when they have children, being generally ‘ahead’ of the adult population in general, while children pressure parents to keep up to date and to diversify media use according to their growing tastes and interests; overall, it seems, families tend to consider a media‐rich home a ‘well‐provided for’ home.