A Test of the Mobile Phone Appropriation Model: A Comparison between Chinese and US Samples

The published version is being made available with the permission of the publisher.The mobile phone appropriation (MPA; Wirth et al., 2007, 2008) model is an integrative model that seeks to explain attitudes and behaviors related to mobile phone usage from a communication perspective, proposing a dynamic loop of metacommunication, evaluations, and usage patterns. Following a previous study (Lee & Cioena, 2023), the current research tests the MPA model with a Chinese sample collected through an online survey (N = 510) and compares it with the U.S. sample (N = 501) collected by Lee and Cionea (2023) using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multigroup structural equation modeling. Although the core structure of MPA model was shown to be tenable cross-culturally, the results of comparative analysis reveal some noticeable cultural differences in mobile phone appropriation and call for further model revisions. Noticeably, relational and social implications of mobile communication penetrate more aspects of mobile phone appropriation with greater strength in the Chinese sample, potentially due to the collectivistic Chinese culture, and the results demonstrate a paradox between perceived affordability and usage. The more Chinese participants evaluated the cost of mobile phone usage as a restrictive factor of MPA, corroborate the more they used it for relationship maintenance and daily schedule management. In addition, the results indicate some tensions between instrumental purposes and entertainment and symbolic usage unique to the Chinese context

Mobile phone adoption and appropriation among the Malaysian teenagers: the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Given the significant impact the wireless technologies provided to date, not many research can be found conducted in understanding the pattern of wireless use and adoption among various cohorts of the Malaysian population particularly those of teenagers. This research conducted in order to find out about the pattern of wireless technologies? adoption and use among the Malaysian teenagers. Subsequently, this study expects to establish an understanding of the usage pattern based on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations theory and the adoption?appropriation of technology perspective. This study should provide a very important contribution to the understanding of teenagers and their mobile phone use behavior. At the same time, this study can also assist in policy development of wireless phone application among high school students and allows for respective authority to re-think of how to exploit the technology to benefit the teenagers for the purpose of learning and motivation. In addition, the findings may also contribute to the modeling of mobile phone use as a strategy to match mobile phone design to user?s technological needs and expectations

MAKING TECHNOLOGIES WORK IN RURAL COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF FLATBED DRYER APPROPRIATION IN STO. DOMINGO, NUEVA ECIJA, PHILIPPINES

This paper aimed to explain how rice farmers in Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija, Philippines managed to properly appropriate flatbed dryers. It also sought to describe the modes of appropriation offlatbed dryers: adoption, adaptation, and peer/group learning.  Data were gathered through a survey among 131 rice farmers and key informant interviews. Findings revealed that the rice farmers experimented and modified the features of flatbed dryers to better adapt the technology to their needs. The rice farmers have encountered problems in using the technology but have managed to employ adaptation strategies to address these problems which resulted to peer/group learning among them

Exploring the mismatch between mobile phone adoption and use through survey data from rural India and China

Persistent disciplinary and methodological divides between technology diffusion and adoption studies and the study of use and engagement with technology raise obstacles to understanding the development implications of mobile technology diffusion, for example in the area of healthcare access. As quantitative assessments in the area of health and technology almost exclusively rely on binary indicators of mobile phone adoption, it is not clear whether this is indeed a reasonable proxy that does not obscure the distributional implications of mobile phone use. This paper therefore compares patterns of mobile phone adoption and utilisation using original survey data from rural India and China. "Utilisation" here is assessed through a simple yet novel multidimensional index. The paper further assesses the role of these concepts as determinants of locally emerging forms of mobile-phone-aided healthcare-seeking behavior ("health action"). The investigation uses descriptive statistical analysis and multilevel logistic regression analysis, which provide evidence in support of the claims that (a) patterns of mobile phone diffusion and utilisation are related yet incongruent, that (b) mobile phones facilitate health action in both field sites to a notable extent, and that (c) the mobile phone utilisation index is a better predictor for phone-aided health action than mobile phone adoption. In light of the superiority of the utilisation index vis-à-vis binary measures of mobile phone adoption, other researchers can apply the survey instrument and technology utilisation concept developed in this paper to support the analysis of the social implications of technology diffusion

Young mobile users: Radical and individual – Not

The use of mobile phones by youth has stirred a plethora of research in different fields. Literature has analyzed in length the changes and adoption patterns related to the evolving telecommunications industry. This body of knowledge often makes assumptions on the changes in consumer profiles and the value of different features. In this study we take an longitudinal approach by analysing the results of 1&nbsp;928 responses to an online questionnaire conducted in Finland to students of a university in the Spring 2012 and on against the reanalysis of the responses of the Finnish students of upper secondary schools in the Spring 2001 and study on undergraduate students in 2006&ndash;2007. The results indicate that the youth and young adults of Finland, often argued to be an advanced country for mobile services, are surprisingly conservative towards new mobile devices and services. The changes in technology and service offering in a decade, has had a limited impact in attitudes and feature valuation, which sets significant implications to increasing adoption and usage.</span

On the importance of power struggles in the diffusion of social innovations

Diffusion of social innovations has become a key theme in social innovation research. In this paper I argue that the importance of power relations and opposition against social innovations should receive a more central position in this line of research. Using detours to the related fields of Science and Technology Studies and Transition Studies, the significance of (shifting) power relations in the diffusion of innovations is underlined. Through a historical case study on the institutionalisation/diffusion of women’s suffrage in the Netherlands (1883-1919) it is shown that power struggles and shifting power relations are also key for the successful diffusion of a social innovation. With this paper I aim to bring power and empowerment to the agenda of social innovation researchers

O QUE HÁ DE TÃO ESPECIAL NAS INOVAÇÕES MIDIÁTICAS? UMA CARACTERIZAÇÃO DO CAMPO // WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT MEDIA INNOVATIONS? A CHARACTERIZATION OF THE FIELD

Com base em pesquisas existentes sobre economia da mídia, gestão da mídia e história da mídia, este paper analisa as características das inovações midiáticas. Atributos midiáticos específicos ajudam a distinguir inovações midiáticas de outros tipos de inovação e justificam a necessidade de se estabelecer um campo distinto para a pesquisa sobre inovações midiáticas. Como resultado, oito atributos são apresentados. Esses atributos referem-se a inovações midiáticas tanto como produtos, quanto como processos. Eles caracterizam as inovações midiáticas como produtos multidimensionais e de risco e enfatizam a importância de se abordar desenvolvimentos de inovação midiática como processos interativos, de longo prazo, que se estendem para além do controle de organizações midiáticas específicas. Em conclusão, são derivadas implicações quanto ao estudo de inovações midiáticas a partir de uma perspectiva interdisciplina

The social relativity of digital exclusion: applying relative deprivation theory to digital inequalities

Digital inequalities research adopted the idea that exclusion is compound and multifaceted. Nevertheless, digital exclusion theory and empirical research often takes an individual, static approach; assuming that personal characteristics such as socioeconomic status consistently influence how individuals engage with information and communication technologies across different contexts. This article makes a theoretical contribution by looking at the value of relative deprivation theory (RDT) in understanding digital inequalities. RDT argues that evaluations of personal circumstances depend on social and temporal contexts and are, therefore, relative. Digital inequalities research could benefit from a shift toward this relative approach in both theorization and empirical research by incorporating explanations based on context and social group processes into existing individual and structural explanations of digital inequalities

Three of a kind: how young adults engage with print, online and mobile platforms

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 18, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Amanda HinnantIncludes bibliographical references.M.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."May 2012"Mobile devices, Internet websites and print newspapers and magazines supply a veritable feast of options for finding and reading editorial content. Like any meal, however, readers can only consume so much in any given day. Through the combined constructs of uses and gratifications theory and the technology acceptance model, this study examined why focus group participants engaged with one platform versus another, the extent to which social gratifications existed for print products and how gratifications obtained from print, online and mobile media compared to the technology acceptance model factors. Findings showed that focus group respondents preferred to read print but actually engaged the most with online content. No manifest social gratifications appeared for print products on a personal level, but people in this study held a sense of social awareness when talking about reading printed products versus mobile products in a public space. Finally, navigation, distraction, media brand reputation and the personal curation of online content sharing connected with technology acceptance model factors. The study concluded that print, online and mobile platforms can be thought of in some senses as exhibiting a three-of-a-kind existence for reader engagement