The impact of ‘technology generations’ on older adults’ media use: Review of previous empirical research and a seven-country comparison

Abstract

Background: In our information society, media use plays an important role. However, knowledge is lacking about whether specific birth cohorts show preferences for specific traditional or new media and whether technology generations can be identified across different countries. Objective: A cross-cultural research project was carried out with the aim of providing empirical evidence for the concept of ‘technology generations’ formulated by Sackmann & Weymann (1994; 2013) in relation to media use by older adults. The research questions focus on empirical evidence for the existence of technology generations related to media use and preferences. Methods: We tested differences in media use and media preferences (traditional versus new media) in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, using commensurate samples consisting of Internet users aged 60 years and older at the time we started collecting data in 2016 (N=10527). We selected three technology generations: the ‘mechanical generation’ (age group of 78 and above), the ‘household revolution generation’ (age group of 68-77), and the ‘technology spread generation’ (age group of 60-67), and analyzed the differences in media use and preferences between these technology generations and across the seven countries. Results: Our cross-cultural data reveal differences between the technology generations, especially in terms of media use, but not in technology media preference (time spent using different media). We also found the effect of country of origin to be stronger than the effect of generation in explaining older adults’ preferences for traditional vs new media. Conclusions: The results point to the need for a more nuanced view of the concept of ‘technology generation’, i.e., one taking into account contextual aspects, such as country of origin, gender, level of education, working status and the interaction effect between country of origin and ‘technology generation’.