Ethnography Study Suggests New Step in Human Consciousness
Are you a member of “The Mobiles”? Ask yourself some questions:
Is checking your palm pilot an hourly habit? Have you replaced your home phone with a cell phone? Is it used as a clock, calculator, phone book and entertainment system? Do you use it as such without even thinking about it?
Doesn’t matter if you live in Paris, Moscow, Tokyo or L.A.: If you can answer “yes” across the board, then you’ve definitely achieved the mobile way of life. You’re one of “The Mobiles,” the pinnacle of the modern technology lifestyle pyramid as defined in a new ethnographic study from Context-Based Research Group
Two years after its original groundbreaking ethnographic study of attitudes and behaviors related to wireless use around the world, Context Research has released its follow up report, suggesting an evolving human consciousness as wireless usage is increasingly implemented into mainstream society.
“The Mobiles: Social Evolution in a Wireless Society,” chronicles the altered lifestyles and personal conduct of people who have seamlessly integrated wireless products into their daily existence. It identifies four stages of adoption, a process of gradual change that progresses from increased awareness to increased integration, until wireless usage becomes second nature, integrated into routine behavior.
“Two years ago we saw that people were romancing wireless technology, making a fetish of it. After this study it’s clear that people are readily adapting the technology to their lives,” said Dr. Robbie Blinkoff, Principal Anthropologist for Baltimore-based Context Research “A class we call ‘the mobiles’ already exists. And the behaviors we observed illustrate a complete societal shift to a mobile way of life. It varies by geography, generation, gender and type of work, but a ‘mobilevolution’ is afoot.”
The study, which took place in seven international cities and drew upon the resources of Context’s network of 3,500 anthropologists around the globe, took place during the summer of 2002. Cities included in the study were Sydney, Australia; Beijing, China; Rio de Janiero, Brazil; Rome, Italy; Stockholm, Sweden; and New York City and San Francisco, both in the United States.
The study includes 144 participants and intensive ethnographic methodologies with a sample of them. People in the study spanned all four stages of the mobile evolution process. Findings indicate changes in the emerging mobile lifestyle in relationships and community, education, changing behavioral and social norms, and sense of place.
Some insights from the research, and expanded upon in the report, include:
--People loved their wireless products as toys; now they have become more attached to the functions of devices and the information they can provide
-- People have moved from being too busy to learn how to use many devices, to making time for learning what they need to know.
--Previously, wireless access’s promise of constant connection helped parents relax; now it brings tension as kids’ constant contact to friends intrudes on family life.
--Finally, two years ago people only expressed concerns about thoughts of never being able to “get away”; today, they say it’s a reality. Never always being within contact range.
The study also identifies several broad shifts in thinking and action that have taken place over the past two years, including:
--A new sense of “phantom proximity” has developed, which means “being alone” is no longer linked to physical space.
-- Physical proximity is no longer a barrier to forming communities
--Socio-evolutionarily, the mobile lifestyle is the perfect complement to society and culture’s continued shift to a modern day nomadic existence.
--Without formal training outlets, people with the “information currency” of how to use devices become key nodes in a communication network.
-- People simultaneously decry certain public wireless behavior and then engage in the same behaviors themselves.
"The Mobiles"can be purchased from Context-Based Research Group through its Web site, www.contextresearch.com or by calling the firm at 410-223-3509.
About Context-Based Research Group
Context is the world’s leading ethnographic research company. It helps clients learn the truth about what customers actually do, not what they say they do. Context employs a global network of more than 3,500 anthropologists, who work as cultural insiders in their native culture and language and observe people’s day-to-day experiences at home, work and play. Context clients include Fortune 500 Companies like Adobe, American Express, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Campbell’s Soup, Kodak, Fisher-Price, Guinness, Herman Miller, Johns Hopkins University, Procter & Gamble and Microsoft. Context is a business unit of Baltimore marketing communications agency Carton Donofrio Partners.
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