Discover which phone brand Southampton Solent University students prefers and why?

By

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW3

Information Communication Technologies3

Why Mobiles?5

Brand's Success6

Students' View of Personal mobile information and communication technology7

Networking amongst Students11

REFERENCES12

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents a literature review regarding the preference of the students of Southampton Solent University for the mobile phone brands. It discusses the background and fundamentals of the topic in great detail.

Information Communication Technologies

ICTs have produced change in people's relationships and communication with others (Meyrowitz, 1985; Turkle, 1996). Although the family has been regarded as the primary agent in the socialization process (Grusec & Goodnow, 1994; Kim, 1980), much research (e.g., Kim, 1988, 2001; Ting-Toomey, 1999) indicated that ICTs played a critical educational role in learning socialization skills. Unlike early media theorists who argued that users modeled from ICTs related directly to their real life (i.e., Hypodermic Needle/ Magic Bullet Theory), later theorists (e.g., Modeling Theory) argued that users made their own choices as to what media context they would model (Lowery & DeFleur, 1995; Schramm, 1971).

In addition, many other studies (e.g., Baron et al., 2005; de Gournay, 2002) on interactive ICTs also found that users used interactive ICTs to have control over who they liked to associate with and with whom they disconnected. When people used ICTs to connect with colleagues, family members and friends around the world, ICTs developed and maintained individual's social capital (Howard, Rainie, & Jones, 2001, 2002; Katz & Rice, 2002b). On the other hand, ICTs could play into social isolation and reduce social capital. ICTs have abilities to isolate people and occupy time that could be spent interacting with their colleagues, family members and friends in face-to-face situations (Putnam, 1995a; 1995b; 2000; Nie, 2001; Nie & Erbring, 2000; Nie, Hillygus, & Erbring, 2002).

Indisputably, cell phones have become a popular technological device used not only the professionals and the wealthy, but also by “common” people throughout the world. Along with Internet-connected computers and other information communication technologies, cell phones have become an indispensable means of facilitating personal communication and access to various forms of information. One can observe and hear people using cell phones in various settings— walking down a street, driving around town, riding mass transit, at home, in classrooms, shopping malls, movie theatres, restaurants, and airports. The infrastructures to support wireless communications have been upgraded and implemented in the interval of a few years across regional, national and transnational scales (Kano 2000). As this “wireless” and easily portable technology becomes more prevalent, a number of social issues (e.g., intrusiveness in public spaces, safety hazard while driving) also become widely debated in various arenas from newspaper editorials, to speeches made by lawmakers, to casual conversations at social events.

Concomitantly, there have been a growing number of scholars working in media studies, cultural studies, gender studies and sociology that have been examining the diffusion, meanings, and behavioral practices associated with the mass consumption of cell phones in different national and regional contexts. These international and interdisciplinary collections of studies are represented in series ...