Mobile phone usage involves the mobile phone, the telecommunications system, mobile phone users, and the adoption and use of the system. Mobile communications is a complex and rapidly changing industry consisting of the hardware, software, network and business aspects. Mobile phone users are influenced by demographic, social, cultural and contextual factors that complicate the understanding of mobile phone usage. Advances in technology and market competition drive the addition of new services and features. In contrast, human cognition and attention are more constrained and many users find it difficult to cope with the cognitive demands of mobile phone technology. The aim of this study is to develop a model for representing the influence of motivational needs and cultural factors on mobile phone usage variety. The link between motivational needs and mobile phone usage variety, the cultural factors that influence mobile phone usage variety, as well as usage spaces as an approach to representing usage variety, are researched. The research encompasses a literature study, structured interviews, a pilot study and a survey. The pilot study and survey yielded data about mobile phone usage of university students under the age of 30 in South Africa. The results from the statistical analysis were triangulated with the findings of the literature study and the observations made about mobile phone usage during this two-year period. A final survey was conducted to verify the model. The contribution of this study is a mobile phone technology usage model (MOPTUM) for representing the motivational and cultural factors that influence mobile phone usage variety in such a way that users can use the model to express their mobile phone usage needs in non-technical terms while marketers and designers can use the model to convert the expressed user needs into the features required. MOPTUM draws on concepts and models from sociology, computer-supported cooperative work, human-computer interaction and technology adoption models from the field of marketing. MOPTUM verifies some existing findings on mobile phone usage and then integrates and extends these existing models to provide a new model for understanding the motivational and cultural factors that influence mobile phone usage variety. / Computing / Ph. D. (Computer Science)

Mobile phone usage involves the mobile phone, the telecommunications system, mobile phone users, and the adoption and use of the system. Mobile communications is a complex and rapidly changing industry consisting of the hardware, software, network and business aspects. Mobile phone users are influenced by demographic, social, cultural and contextual factors that complicate the understanding of mobile phone usage. Advances in technology and market competition drive the addition of new services and features. In contrast, human cognition and attention are more constrained and many users find it difficult to cope with the cognitive demands of mobile phone technology. The aim of this study is to develop a model for representing the influence of motivational needs and cultural factors on mobile phone usage variety. The link between motivational needs and mobile phone usage variety, the cultural factors that influence mobile phone usage variety, as well as usage spaces as an approach to representing usage variety, are researched. The research encompasses a literature study, structured interviews, a pilot study and a survey. The pilot study and survey yielded data about mobile phone usage of university students under the age of 30 in South Africa. The results from the statistical analysis were triangulated with the findings of the literature study and the observations made about mobile phone usage during this two-year period. A final survey was conducted to verify the model. The contribution of this study is a mobile phone technology usage model (MOPTUM) for representing the motivational and cultural factors that influence mobile phone usage variety in such a way that users can use the model to express their mobile phone usage needs in non-technical terms while marketers and designers can use the model to convert the expressed user needs into the features required. MOPTUM draws on concepts and models from sociology, computer-supported cooperative work, human-computer interaction and technology adoption models from the field of marketing. MOPTUM verifies some existing findings on mobile phone usage and then integrates and extends these existing models to provide a new model for understanding the motivational and cultural factors that influence mobile phone usage variety. / Computing / Ph. D. (Computer Science)

This study investigates students' experiences of mobile phone usage at Malmö University. The purpose of this study is to investigate how students use their mobile phones and if the usage has an effect on their education. The study is conducted through qualitative unstructured interviews with five students at Malmö University and interpreted through a phenomenological perspective. Some similarities are shown in the results, however, the vast majority is overall varying. Similarities that have been concluded are that students mostly use the same applications while being physically present at the University and the majority of the applications that are used are social media based. Facebook Messenger is heavily valued by all participants to communicate with others. There are differing results as to when the usage is most frequent and if the Mobile Phone acts as a distraction or a tool for the student. All participants stated that the Mobile Phone has a tendency to distract. Varying results are explained by the individuals’ level of discipline. Individuals with higher discipline are not as affected by the Mobile Phone as individuals with a lower level of discipline. The reason behind a high usage of the Mobile Phone is explained by Mobile Phone Depandance and a conflict of interest by prioritizing personal goals over academic goals. / Studien undersöker studenters upplevelser av mobiltelefonanvändning vid Malmö universitet. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur studenter använder sina mobiltelefoner och hur de upplever att det påverkar dem i utbildningen. Studien har ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv och utförs genom kvalitativa ostrukturerade intervjuer med fem studenter på Malmö Universitet. Både likheter och mönster kunde urskiljas. En likhet innefattar att studenterna använder liknande applikationer vid universitetet. Majoritenen av applikationerna som används är sociala medie-applikationer. Facebook messenger används i stor utsträckning av samtliga studenter för att kommunicera med andra studenter, vänner och familj. Skillnader i resultaten omfattar till vilken grad mobiltelefonen distraherar studenten respektive fungerar som ett verktyg. Utifrån samtliga studenters upplevelser är mobiltelefonen ett distraktionsmoment. Studien visar att variationer i resultaten beror på disciplinnivå hos studenterna. Individer med högre disciplin påverkas inte i samma grad av mobiltelefonen som individer med lägre disciplinnivå. Anledningen till omfattande mobiltelefonanvändning förklaras av mobiltelefonberoende samt en intressekonflikt i form av att studenterna prioriterar personliga mål framför akademiska mål.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the use of mobile phones by Generation Y students in the city of Johannesburg in order to increase understanding of this segment's consumer behaviour. Generation Y is an important market segment in that it is making more independent purchase-related decisions and has a large amount of disposable income. The primary data for this study is based on focus group interviews and a quantitative study of a sample of 200 Generation Y tertiary students. Some of the findings are as follows: * Generation Y's use of mobile phones: Generation Y respondents have owned a mobile phone for between three to five years; the majority own Nokia mobile phones, are on prepaid packages and are not big spenders on airtime; furthermore, SMS is seen as the most cost-effective way to communicate. * Competition in the mobile phone market: The perceptions of this segment are that Vodacom is the "cool" operator, MTN is the most "expensive" network operator and Cell C is "cheap and youthful". * Mobile phone brand awareness: Nokia was the most cited brand of mobile phone and was found to be the first choice of many of the respondents. Samsung was reported as the second most cited brand with Motorola, Siemens and Sony Ericsson following. The results have implications for network providers, handset manufacturers and marketers alike as they will ultimately improve these stakeholder's chances of marketing effectively to this dynamic youth market. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

The main purpose of this study was to examine the use of mobile phones by Generation Y students in the city of Johannesburg in order to increase understanding of this segment's consumer behaviour. Generation Y is an important market segment in that it is making more independent purchase-related decisions and has a large amount of disposable income. The primary data for this study is based on focus group interviews and a quantitative study of a sample of 200 Generation Y tertiary students. Some of the findings are as follows: * Generation Y's use of mobile phones: Generation Y respondents have owned a mobile phone for between three to five years; the majority own Nokia mobile phones, are on prepaid packages and are not big spenders on airtime; furthermore, SMS is seen as the most cost-effective way to communicate. * Competition in the mobile phone market: The perceptions of this segment are that Vodacom is the "cool" operator, MTN is the most "expensive" network operator and Cell C is "cheap and youthful". * Mobile phone brand awareness: Nokia was the most cited brand of mobile phone and was found to be the first choice of many of the respondents. Samsung was reported as the second most cited brand with Motorola, Siemens and Sony Ericsson following. The results have implications for network providers, handset manufacturers and marketers alike as they will ultimately improve these stakeholder's chances of marketing effectively to this dynamic youth market. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)