MediaReview

Bloglines user jbracken (jbracken@macfound.org) has sent this item to you.

Smart Mobs

Cross-cultural study of mobile phone users in Madrid, London, Paris By Howard on Shibuya Epiphany A mobile tale of three cities is the wonderful title of an International Herald Tribune article about sociological research into cultural differences in the way people use mobile phones -- a juicy combination of sociology, business forecasting, and technology assessment. For example, Londoners from every socio-economic stratum use wireless Bluetooth earpieces, Parisians use wired hands-free sets that can be used with motorcycle helmets, but in Madrid, "almost nobody uses hands-free sets." (Via Mobile Community Design.) Amparo Lasén, a Spanish sociologist, is completing a study conducted for the Digital World Research Center at the University of Surrey in England of mobile phone users in London, Madrid and Paris to compare behavioral changes between cultures and over time. But for telecommunications companies, cultural quirks in phone use are more than anecdotal extensions of national characteristics. They are ways of making more money. For instance, Lasén found in her study that phone companies could increase use by convincing Madrid residents to use voice mail, Londoners to leave their phones on all the time and Parisians that it is okay to use phones in a restaurant. "Europe is looked at as a broadly similar market," Lasén said. "But in studying mobile phones you can see details in each country can change enormously."