Jeff W. Totten

Cellular phone etiquette among college students

There has been tremendous growth in the cellular telephone industry in recent years. This evolving technology has given rise to concerns over the social rules of etiquette governing cellphone usage behaviour. The present study was undertaken to better understand the perceptions of cellphone usage propriety among one of the most important target markets for cellphone products young adults attending college. Data were collected from a total of 383 cellphone consumers residing in geographically diverse regions of the United States. Overall, the results indicated a high degree of agreement among respondents as to appropriate and inappropriate situations for cellphone usage. Respondents considered inappropriate situations for cellphone usage to include during worship/church, during class, in a library and in a movie theatre during a movie. Respondents considered it to be appropriate to use cellphones while on public transportation, in a supermarket, and to use a hands-free set while driving. Specific differences were found as a function of geographic regions, gender and employment status.

General Patterns of Cell Phone Usage Among College Students

Abstract There has been tremendous growth in the cellular telephone industry in recent years. The present study was undertaken in order to better understand the pattern of usage among one of the most important target markets for cell phone products—young adults attending college. Data were collected from a total of 383 cell phone consumers residing in four states in different geographic regions of the United States. Respondents ranged in age from 18-57 with a median age of 23 years. Data analyses revealed several interesting and potentially important patterns of usage. Among these were the findings that the majority of those surveyed indicated that they use their cell phones for the purpose of social stimulation, to remain continually available, for domestic reasons, to leave themselves memos and reminders, for time-keeping, for emergency purposes, and to use the phones phonebook function. It was also found that the cell phone market among the target population is relatively mature in that the vast majority of the sample (90.5%) indicated that they have owned a cell phone for more than one year. The maturity of the market, however, was found to vary as a function of geographic region. This particular finding has implications for regional cell phone marketing strategies. A number of other differences of potential importance for market segmentation and target marketing purposes also emerged and are discussed in detail.

Body Art: Prevalence, Search and Evaluation Among University Business Students

ABSTRACT Although adorning the body by means of tattoos and body piercings is an ancient practice, it has become increasing popular as of late in Western cultures including the United States (U.S.A.). The increasing popularity of body art has been most apparent among young adults and has given rise to a growth industry catering to these consumers. Little attention has been paid to the increasing popularity of body art from the marketing perspective. The purposes of this study were to explore the prevalence of body art among college students and to gain an appreciation of the nature of the consumer decision-making process with respect to body art. Data were collected by means of a survey from 496 respondents at 14 geographically diverse colleges and universities in the U.S.A. The results include overall prevalence rates for tattoos and body piercings as well as relationships between prevalence of both forms of body art and key demographic variables including gender. Also included are results concerning the nature of the product search and provider selection process utilized by those respondents with body art. Data concerning pre-purchase thought and post purchase evaluation are also included. Implications for marketing strategy are explored.

Another look at consumers' ratings of quick-service restaurant meals.

Developments in the nutritional value of quick-service meals since 1990 are highlighted, including the impact of the changes in the USDA Food Pyramid, the obesity issue, trends in quick-service menu items, and ratings of quick-service meals. In a survey of Louisiana consumers, respondents in the lower socioeconomic group rated the nutritional value of the quick-service meals as less nutritious than did those in the upper-class group. No significant differences were found between nutrition knowledge groups. The authors then compared the findings to previous studies of quick-service meal ratings.

The impact of health-care service guarantees on consumer decision-making: an experimental investigation.

While examples of the successful use of service guarantees in health-care do exist, to-date, researchers have yet to examine this industry-specific application beyond a case study perspective. The results of this experiment begin to shed light on whether or not guarantees should be used, and if so, under what conditions are they appropriate. Respondents indicate that the thoughtful use of service guarantees can positively impact their perceptions of the health-care providers reputation and, ultimately, their behavioral intentions towards the same provider. However, consideration must be given to the type of guarantee being offered and to whom the guarantee is targeted.

Attitudes of Gen-X & Gen-Y Adults toward Participating in Mobile Phone Surveys: A Two-Phase Study

Abstract For marketing researchers, the growing number of wireless subscribers and, especially, the number of wireless-only households, has major implications for one of the traditional mainstays of survey methodology: the telephone interview. Mobile phones present a number of challenges with respect to sampling and coverage,” including changing the sampling unit from the household to the person, the need for dual-frame designs in order to reach those with landlines and those without, and how best to define access or use, given the relative impermanence of mobile phone numbers. The purpose of this two-stage exploratory research study was to assess how potential respondents would react to receiving a mobile phone call in which they were asked to complete a survey. This two-stage study contributes some initial insights into the reactions of young adults to this new potential data collection method and offers suggestions for needed future research on this method. Given the purpose of the research and the call for research on this new data collection method from the research industry literature, the following research questions were identified: RQ1. Are there any differences between the two age cohorts (Gen-X and Gen-Y) in terms of their willingness to participate in a survey through a mobile phone? RQ2. Are there any differences between mobile phone-only users and users who still have landlines in terms of their willingness to participate in a survey through a mobile phone? RQ3. Are there any differences by gender in terms of willingness to participate in a survey through a mobile phone? Two nonprobability samples of Gen-X and Gen-Y adults in a Southern U.S. state were drawn in 2008 and 2009. Significant differences were identified by gender, age cohort and presence/absence of landline telephones. Regarding willingness to participate in mobile surveys, older, female cell phone only users may be more interested in participating in a mobile survey than older male users because of the novelty of the experience and that outweighs whatever cost concerns they might have. They may also be more trusting and have had more experience with answering surveys in general. Younger respondents (Gen-Y) were more willing to participate by text messaging than older respondents. Young adults are more used to texting (SMS) and instant messaging than are members of the older age cohort. In addition, women were more willing to participate in surveys by text messaging than men were. This relationship needs to be further investigated by marketing and public opinion researchers. One may be able to increase response rate by targeting SMS surveys to women while making voice phone surveys to men. Turning to the significant interaction effect displayed in Figure 2, where older females with landlines were more willing to participate if offered a small discount than were males with landlines, men who have both landlines and mobile phones may be more concerned about cost. Thus a financial incentive or saving (discount) may be more attractive and thus reduce their resistance to participating in a mobile phone survey.