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This research addressed how older adults experience their mobile phones in their everyday lives and how mobile phones could be designed to best meet their needs. Two studies were conducted using a mixed-research method to identify representative user clusters and to understand user experiences. In Study 1, 154 older adult mobile phone users completed a questionnaire to investigate 1) functional usage, 2) perception about mobile phone quality, and 3) other aspects of user experiences (e.g., motivations of acquisition and learning method). Results showed that older adults are generally conservative mobile phone users who use a few functions of mobile phones and perceive their phone to be difficult to use. Understanding error messages, menu navigation, and text input were found to be most difficult for them. Female users perceived their phones to be more difficult to use than male users. Three user clusters (explorers, basicians, and minimalists) were identified based on mobile phone usage behavior, and their characteristics were described. User satisfaction was effected by three attributes of mobile phones: usefulness, ease of use, and pleasure of use, indicating that developers need to focus on improving all factors when designing a mobile phone for older adults. Study 2 used a more holistic approach to describe older adults' user experiences. The aims of Study 2 were 1) to capture stories that reflected user experiences, 2) to identify barriers that older adults faced through the course of user experience and 3) to provide recommendations to improve user experiences. Qualitative data was collected in the form of existential phenomenology-based interviews. Twelve older adult mobile phone users (over age 56), representing the three clusters found from Study 1, participated in this study. The domestication of technology theory was adopted as a framework to describe instances and themes represented in users' utterances and behaviors. Results showed that, regardless of their abilities to operate technology, older adults used a limited number of mobile phone functions because of their parsimonious cost-benefit analyses when integrating technologies into their lives. A theoretical explanation for this phenomenon was provided using socio-emotional selectivity theory. Barriers (perceptual, cognitive, attitudinal, knowledge, and information barriers) were found to hinder older adults' utilization of mobile phone technology over the four dimensions of the domestication process (appropriation, objectification, incorporation, and conversion). Recommendations to resolve those barriers were provided and related to published literature. This study proved that the domestication of technology theory can be a useful analytical tool for describing and understanding user experiences and capturing users' needs. Detailed discussion about its applicability to user needs analysis process was provided. A set of user requirements along with diverse user profiles were developed as outcomes of this research. / Ph. D.

Yes / Consumer brand preference is an essential step towards understanding consumer choice behaviour, and has therefore always received great attention from marketers. However, the study of brand preference has been limited to traditional marketing focusing on functional attributes to maximise utility. But now the shift to experiential marketing broadens the role of the brand from a bundle of attributes to experiences. Technological advancements have helped to increase the similarities between brand attributes and product commoditisation. Consequently, consumers cannot shape their preferences among brands using rational attributes only. They seek out brands that create experiences; that intrigue them in a sensorial, emotional and creative way. This study seeks to develop a model that provides an understanding of how brand knowledge and brand experience determine brand preference and to investigate its impact on brand repurchase intention. Accordingly, exploratory focus group discussions are employed followed by a survey of mobile phone users in Egypt. The findings provide insights into the relative importance of consumer perceptions on different brand knowledge factors in shaping brand preferences. It also demonstrates the significance of consumers’ experiential responses towards brands in developing their brand preferences that in turn influence brand repurchase intention. The model therefore offers managers a new perspective for building strong brands able to gain consumer preferences.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen Myers-Bowman / Today more and more teenagers are adopting cell phone communication as the primary way to communicate with their peers and parents (Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, & Purcell, 2010). Literature is vast on the negative use of cell phones by teenagers such as sexting and bullying (e.g., Draper, 2012) and on the negative implications it has on them and their relationships with peers (e.g., D'Antona, Kevorkian & Russom, 2010). However, it is very limited in exploring how cell phone use affects parent-adolescent communication. To investigate this question, ten parent-adolescent dyads who have used cell phones for more than six months participated in 25-40 minute interviews consisting of 14 open-ended questions about how they use cell phones to communicate. The teenagers’ ages ranged from 14 to 18 years of age and the average age of the teenagers was 16.6 years. Transcripts of interviews were analyzed for main themes. I found that parents and teenagers text each other more than call each other. They use cell phones to communicate for practical reasons, such as safety/checking in with each other, as well as for relational reasons, such as staying in touch with each other at a distance and sharing fun information with each other. These devices help the parents and adolescents be available to each other, facilitate quick yet flexible response times, and allow parents to teach responsibility. However, they also face challenges of overuse, which can hinder parent-adolescent communication, and can lead to miscommunication. The results of this study can be used by Family Life Educators to help new parent and teen cell phone users to learn about the benefits of cell phones as well as some of the expected challenges and help them get the most out of their cell phone communication.

In the highly competitive business landscape of the twenty-first century, intangible assets such as brand equity are deemed as increasingly vital to the long-term success of organisations. Brand loyalty, which is the primary driver of brand equity, germinates from consumers‟ brand identification, trust in the superiority of the brand, and their perceptions of the social esteem that use of the brand signals. The mobile phone industry is one of the most dynamic and competitive industries of this century, with new smartphones boasting breakthrough features appearing on the market in rapid succession. In South Africa, black Africans make up the majority of the Generation Y cohort (hereinafter referred to as black Generation Y). As the first generation brought up in this era of mobile telephony, the Generation Y cohort (individuals born between 1986 and 2005) represents an important current and future segment for the manufacturers and marketers of mobile devices, including smartphones. Furthermore, because of the number of members possessing a tertiary qualification, their potential earning power, together with the sheer size of this segment, it was important to determine and model the role of brand trust in creating brand equity in the mobile phone industry amongst these individuals. The study hypothesised that social image directly influences black Generation Y students perception towards brand trust, brand trust directly influences brand loyalty, which in turn directly influences brand equity. The results indicate that social image has a significant positive influence on brand trust, which in turn has a significant positive influence on the development of brand loyalty and consequent brand equity. A descriptive research design using a single cross-sectional sample was followed, using a self-administered questionnaire. The self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of 600 students enrolled at three public South African higher education institutions (HEIs) situated in the Gauteng province. Permission from the lecturers at the three HEIs was obtained to administer the questionnaire during class times. Of the questionnaires completed, 460 questionnaires were usable. The captured data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, bivariate regression and independent T-tests. In order to confirm the hypothesised construct paths, a measurement model was created based on the correlation analysis. The correlation analysis results indicated that social image has a significant relationship with brand trust, which in turn has a significant relationship on the development of brand loyalty and consequent brand equity. Five latent variables were identified in the measurement model. The structural model hypothesised that social image influences brand trust, brand trust influences brand loyalty, which in turn influences brand equity. The hypothesised model fit the data. This study contributes to the body of knowledge pertaining to brand equity by developing a model to illustrate the role of social image and brand trust in creating brand equity in the mobile phone industry amongst black Generation Y students, and determining which factors act as antecedents to successful brand equity. The role of brand trust in creating brand equity is suggested to be a five-factor structure comprised of social image, brand reliability, brand intentions, brand loyalty and brand equity. The study also offers recommendations and guidance for marketers and organisations that seek to improve their brand equity. This study will contribute by profiling the black Generation Y student in South Africa concerning their perception towards brand trust in creating brand equity in the mobile phone industry. The findings of this study will add value to South African marketers, as well as international marketers seeking to target the Generation Y cohort. / PhD (Marketing Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

In the highly competitive business landscape of the twenty-first century, intangible assets such as brand equity are deemed as increasingly vital to the long-term success of organisations. Brand loyalty, which is the primary driver of brand equity, germinates from consumers‟ brand identification, trust in the superiority of the brand, and their perceptions of the social esteem that use of the brand signals. The mobile phone industry is one of the most dynamic and competitive industries of this century, with new smartphones boasting breakthrough features appearing on the market in rapid succession. In South Africa, black Africans make up the majority of the Generation Y cohort (hereinafter referred to as black Generation Y). As the first generation brought up in this era of mobile telephony, the Generation Y cohort (individuals born between 1986 and 2005) represents an important current and future segment for the manufacturers and marketers of mobile devices, including smartphones. Furthermore, because of the number of members possessing a tertiary qualification, their potential earning power, together with the sheer size of this segment, it was important to determine and model the role of brand trust in creating brand equity in the mobile phone industry amongst these individuals. The study hypothesised that social image directly influences black Generation Y students perception towards brand trust, brand trust directly influences brand loyalty, which in turn directly influences brand equity. The results indicate that social image has a significant positive influence on brand trust, which in turn has a significant positive influence on the development of brand loyalty and consequent brand equity. A descriptive research design using a single cross-sectional sample was followed, using a self-administered questionnaire. The self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of 600 students enrolled at three public South African higher education institutions (HEIs) situated in the Gauteng province. Permission from the lecturers at the three HEIs was obtained to administer the questionnaire during class times. Of the questionnaires completed, 460 questionnaires were usable. The captured data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, bivariate regression and independent T-tests. In order to confirm the hypothesised construct paths, a measurement model was created based on the correlation analysis. The correlation analysis results indicated that social image has a significant relationship with brand trust, which in turn has a significant relationship on the development of brand loyalty and consequent brand equity. Five latent variables were identified in the measurement model. The structural model hypothesised that social image influences brand trust, brand trust influences brand loyalty, which in turn influences brand equity. The hypothesised model fit the data. This study contributes to the body of knowledge pertaining to brand equity by developing a model to illustrate the role of social image and brand trust in creating brand equity in the mobile phone industry amongst black Generation Y students, and determining which factors act as antecedents to successful brand equity. The role of brand trust in creating brand equity is suggested to be a five-factor structure comprised of social image, brand reliability, brand intentions, brand loyalty and brand equity. The study also offers recommendations and guidance for marketers and organisations that seek to improve their brand equity. This study will contribute by profiling the black Generation Y student in South Africa concerning their perception towards brand trust in creating brand equity in the mobile phone industry. The findings of this study will add value to South African marketers, as well as international marketers seeking to target the Generation Y cohort. / PhD (Marketing Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

Diploma thesis is concerning the PR communication of Samsung's Telephone division in the Czech Republic. The target of the diploma thesis is to identify key PR tools used in practice by Telephone division of Samsung, analysis and evaluation of those tools together with recommendation of future development for further improvement of the communication quality. The theoretical part includes: introduction into PR, description of strategic PR process, characteristics of PR tools and list of PR advantages and disadvantages. The introduction of Samsung Electronics and its representant on the Czech market - Samsung Electronics Czech and Slovak, s.r.o. is part of the practical section of the diploma thesis. There is also paid attention to characteristics of the Czech market with mobile phones, analysis of PR tools used by Telephone division and on the basis of obtained knowledge are suggested opportunities how to improve quality of PR communication.

O uso dos dados de posicionamento a partir do telefone celular tem impactado de maneira positiva os estudos sobre os deslocamentos humanos. O grande volume e a regularidade na obtenção dos dados são facilitadores das análises de posicionamento em múltiplos dias. Utilizando-os como fonte dos dados, o presente estudo focou em realizar uma análise dos deslocamentos cotidianos de moradores de assentamentos precários pela cidade de São Paulo em diferentes períodos do dia para definir origens e destinos com a finalidade de analisar as distâncias, os deslocamentos por transporte público e inferir um perfil de uso do solo nos locais de estadia frequente usando métodos utilizados em estudos internacionais de análise dos dados de telefonia móvel, combinados com métodos de análise espacial e geoprocessamento. Os resultados mostraram dados importantes para entender a mobilidade dos moradores de favela dentro da cidade de São Paulo, os quais, em média, estão mais distantes de casa no horário comercial dos dias úteis quando comparados com outros moradores da cidade. Foi possível observar mudanças nos perfis de uso do solo dos locais de estadia frequente que podem ser utilizados como indicadores na análise das atividades e também se inferiu possíveis trajetórias por transporte público entre as origens e destinos frequentes. Os métodos de análise de deslocamento humano a partir dos CDRs usados internacionalmente se mostraram totalmente adaptáveis para realidade brasileira e a utilização para análise de deslocamentos dos moradores de assentamentos precários mostrou-se útil para auxiliar nos estudos de mobilidade dessa população carente. / The use of position data from mobile phones have impacted in a positive way the researches about human mobility. The very large quantity and regularity on the way how this database is collected improve the capacity of a multi-day\'s positioning analyse. Using this data source, the present study was focus in analyse the commute of residents in poor settlements (like slums) inside the city of São Paulo- Brazil, in different time periods for define origins and destinations to analyse the distance using public transport and land use in frequents stay points using methods used in international studies of mobile data analysis, combined with spatial analysis methods. The results showed important data to understand the mobility of favela residents within the city of São Paulo, who, on average, are more distant from home during working day business hours when compared to other residents of the city. It was possible to observe changes in the land use profiles of the frequent places of stay that can be used as indicators in the analysis of activities and inferred possible trajectories by public transport between the frequent origins and destinations. The methods of analysis of human commute using CDR data were fully adaptable for Brazilian reality and the use for analysis of commute from residents of precarious settlements proved useful to assist in the mobility studies of this poor population.

O presente trabalho se debruça sobre os elementos da cultura digital de nossos dias, que têm se tornado objetos presentes em toda a vida social, em suas mais diferentes esferas os telefones celulares. O intuito é descrever e analisar alguns dos fenômenos imbricados na construção desta cadeia de conectividade da qual celulares e todos nós, enquanto usuários, fazemos parte. Para tanto, o esforço empreendido foi o de compreender como estes objetos se inserem e compõem um amplo arranjo sociotécnico no qual circulam discursos, saberes, práticas, relações, circustâncias e eventos, envolvendo o mercado, os produtores, as inovações tencológicas de um lado e, consumidores e suas diversas práticas de uso e formas de vida, de outro. Demonstra-se como que toda esta rede não escapa aos eixos do mercado, pelo contrário, engloba-os e os faz crescer e os celulares constituem elementos agenciadores deste processo à medida em que fazem as próprias vidas de seus usuários circular pelas infovias, alterando os regimes de relações que envolvem o contato com o outros, as formas de ser estar no mundo, as formas de controle e os regimes de subjetivação. A principal contribuição deste estudo é, assim, mostrar que se está diante de novos vetores de poder que incidem diretamente sobre a gestão das vidas de cada um, às formas de uso do tempo, constituição de afetos, contribuindo, igualmente para dar novos contornos aos processos de geração de valor, cada vez mais atrelados aos momentos de consumo. Em suma, entender quais novas roupagens de questões, caras à teoria social, tais como governamentalidade e sociedade do controle entram em jogo, a partir do momento em que este objeto torna-se onipresente nas práticas sociais e de que forma estas questões se atualizam, é o que consistiu na tarefa primordial deste trabalho / This thesis focuses on one representative element of the current digital culture, which has become present in all social life in its different spheres the mobile phone. Our aim is to describe and analyze some of the overlapping phenomena in the construction of this connectivity chain to which mobile phones and we, as users, belong. To this end, the effort undertaken was to understand how these artifacts are inserted and comprise a broad socio-technical arrangement in which discourses, knowledge, practices, relationships, circumstances and events flow, involving the market, the producers, the technological innovations on one side and the consumers, and their various daily use practices and life habits on the other. We try to show how this whole network does not escape to the axes of the market, by contrast, it embraces and makes them grow and how the mobile phones are important elements of this process because they made the lives of its users move through the networks flows, changing, by this way, the relationships that involve the contact with the other, the ways of being in the world, the control practices and the regimes of subjectivity. The main contribution of this study is thus to show that one is facing new vectors of power that directly affect the management of each other\'s lives, the time use forms, the constitution of affects, contributing also to give new dimensions to processes of value creation, which are increasingly tied to consumption occasions. In short, to understand how new social issues, come into play, from the time that this artifacts become ubiquitous in social practices and how these are updated in terms of governmentality and social control is the primary task of this work