Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). "November 2008." Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-96). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Psychology. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

M. Tech. Business Administration / In April 2014, ICASA, South Africa's communications regulator, reduced mobile termination rates (i.e. tariffs mobile service providers can charge for terminating calls on each other's networks) from 40 cents to 20 cents per minute. Furthermore, mobile number portability has enhanced mobility of subscribers across networks. Mobile number portability means that subscribers can switch mobile network service providers without changing their mobile number despite it being issued by the network they are leaving. The price war amongst service providers means that all mobile network operators offer mobile voice calls and access to mobile data at comparable rates. There is now little differentiation between mobile network service providers, and mobile network service providers have to seek other sources of sustainable competitive advantage. It is against this background that the purpose of this research is to measure South African mobile phone consumers' perceptions and expectations of the service provided by mobile network service providers.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Business Information Systems.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / This dissertation argues that the use of mobile phones can offer opportunities for local governments and municipalities to effectively render services to citizens in ways that traditional mechanisms, such as vending points, cannot achieve. The empirical evidence has shown that mobile phones could be ideal for improving accessibility of prepaid electricity voucher services notably to consumers in the rural areas. The study utilized a case study using the Thulamela and Makhado municipalities. Informed by the case study, a model for improved accessibility of electricity prepaid vouchers was conceptualized.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Business Information Systems.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2012. / This mini-dissertation describes opportunities to use mobile phones as interactive learning tools. Anecdotal evidence shows that almost all undergraduate students at the Tshwane University of Technology have mobile phones, while on the contrary, only a small percentage have access to a personal computer, let alone access to resources. Interaction between the lecturer and the students is low, communication after lecturing hours is difficult and access to additional or just-in-time learning material is limited to hand-outs given during a formal class period. The challenge is that interaction between lecturers and students is limited to formal learning spaces and times, e.g., lecture rooms and laboratories. Nevertheless, learning is not confined to formal spaces and times. In this mini-dissertation the focus is, on how a mobile phone can be used to provide access to learning material, provide last minute or just-in-time information and improve the communication between lecturer and student, outside of the formal class time and space.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Social Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

Tidigare studier har indikerat att extroverta personer använder mobiltelefoni mer än vad introverta personer gör (Inyang et al. 2010). En enkätstudie genomfördes för att testa sambandet mellan personlighetstyp och huruvida en frekvenspreferens gällande brukandet av mobiltelefoni eller portabelt ljud förelåg. Hundra stycken deltagare svarade på enkäten som bestod av tre delar. Fyra hypoteser var formulerade; extroverta förutspåddes vara flitigare brukare av mobiltelefon än introverta, medan introverta förutspåddes vara flitigare i brukandet av portabelt ljud. Personer med social fobi förutspåddes använda mindre mobiltelefoni, men mer portabelt ljud, än personer utan social fobi. Neurotiker förutspåddes använda portabelt ljud i större utsträckning än de brukar mobiltelefoni. En skillnad förutspåddes finnas mellan män och kvinnor gällande användande av mobiltelefoni och portabelt ljud. Resultaten visade inte på något samband mellan extraversion eller social fobi och användningsfrekvens gällande mobiltelefon, eller portabelt ljud vilket inte stöder hypotesen, däremot så fanns ett samband mellan neuroticism och användningsfrekvens vilket delvis stöder hypotesen och förövrigt indikerar resultaten att kvinnor jämfört med män föredrar mobiltelefon framför portabelt ljud i detta avseende. / Previous studies have indicated that extroverts use mobile cell phones more than introverts (Inyang et al. 2010). A survey was carried out to test the relationship between personality type and frequency preference for mobile cell phones and portable sound use. A hundred individuals participated in the survey containing three parts of questions. It was predicted that extroverts will be more active users of mobile phones than introverts, while introverts were predicted to be more active users of portable sound. People with social phobia were predicted to use less of mobile telephony, but more of portable sound, than people lacking social phobia. Neurotics were predicted to use less of mobile telephony, but more of portable sound, than non-neuritics. A gender effect was also predicted. The result did not show any relation between extraversion or social fobia, and mobile phone or portable sound usage, which doesn’t support the hypothesis, on the other hand a relation between neuroticism and mobile phone usage and portable sound usage was supported and women compared to men were also shown to prefer mobile phone to portable sound.

Mobile technologies are the latest technologies in the realm of communication media. They have the potential to flatten the world by making it a place where gender, age, class, race and nationality can no longer hold us back from being heard and being informed. We have learned that these technologies can help to liberate and empower us, and they can lead to a collective cognition as much as they can distract us from what we need to know about the world we live in. In Greece thousands of years ago, a selected number of Greeks had a public space called the Agora to discuss the issues that concerned the public, meaning each and every citizen. They were the first to be able to create the space and place were the word “democracy” could be brought into language; the very word that was used to start a new war in the era of a communication revolution in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. There are still issues that concern the public today such as wars, global warming, homelessness or human rights which are all matters of our collective cognition. However, today in an age of information revolution the public life of people and their collective cognition is being exercised mostly in the virtual spaces of the Internet. Simultaneously, some physical spaces are being abandoned by people. This thesis investigates the possibility of having physical public spaces that are enriched with communication media and not weakened by it. If architects rethink their designs based on a new understanding of the networked society it might be possible to turn this “networked individualism” into a networked collectivism. However, most designed public spaces fail to offer new possibilities that can transform space for the new generation of users. Here, the aim is to understand a new generation of users. Who have they become as a result of new communication media? And how can architects design in a way that responds to this new subject in architecture?

This dissertation examines youth consumer culture in South Africa through a case study of cellular phone consumption. The hypothesis is that it is possible to draw some conclusions about identity formation, particularly among young people, by examining how they use cellular phones. Two methods were employed to understand three key research questions regarding the youth (aged 18-25). They were: Why do youth use cellular phones and what gratifications do they experience? From a marketing perspective, what web promotions are in place to target this youth market? How do the youth respond to these messages? The first method utilised a questionnaire investigating young people‟s perceptions, sampled from a group of students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). This objective was to reveal why young people have cellular phones and how they respond to marketed messages encouraging cellular phone consumption. The second method applied a semiotic analysis of the South African oligopolistic cellular networks' websites. This showed how marketers perceive their youth segment and how they harness the Internet as a marketing medium. Significant findings that foster consumption were presented regarding this youth sample. One such finding is that self expression is articulated through consumption. This is particularly evident in the purchasing of cellular phones and airtime and how the purchasing decision reflects the individualisation of self. Further, the importance of social institutions emerged with family instilling or attempting to instil discernment regarding diligent and necessary spending. The opposite is evident with peer pressure influencing unnecessary consumption. Lastly, advertising emerged as a central driver in creating brand awareness and stimulating the consumption of cellular phones and packages amongst this youth segment. Against the research results discussed, relevant literature gave support and further insights into youth consumer culture. This dissertation provides, and concludes with, a deeper understanding into the dynamics of youth and their cellular phone consumption in South Africa, particularly in an area where there has been very little research. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.