Young People’s Adoption and Consumption of a Cultural Commodity – iPhone

Inspired by the astonishing and unprecedented speed and scale of uptakes of the Apple iPhone, this study seeks to unravel the behavioural aspects surrounding young people’s adoption and consumption of the device. Because the iPhone is associated with specific social practices characteristic of a specific ‘way of life’ of a distinct set of people, it is considered here as a ‘cultural commodity’ significant of the society of present times. In light of this, the present study addresses the reasons for adoption from both functional and symbolic perspectives, and explores some of the social practices, such as Domestication and Apparatgeist, surrounding its consumption. The use of the iPhone is seen as a ‘compromise’ with other daily activities of the participants, rather than a ‘priority’. A comparison with traditional smartphones and other referent technologies has shown that, while the iPhone is seen as a superior substitute for traditional smartphones due to the unique experience that it provides, it is less so in terms of the substitution potentials of the device in relation to more established forms of personal technologies, such as the computer and digital cameras. While such findings are not necessarily generalisable to wider populations, the diary-interview method has allowed for an explorative ‘probe’ into users’ communication behaviours and habits. This study is a small contribution to the understanding of human adoption and consumption behaviours of new technologies and the wider cultural and social aspects surrounding personal communication devices. MSc Dissertation Hui Jiang