Exploring Mobile Users' Daily Experiences in the United States and Taiwan

Abstract

The advent of mobile communication devices has become an essential part of contemporary human experiences. However, what are consumers' experiences with their mobile devices on a daily basis? This exploratory chapter used an experience sampling method to extract quantitative and qualitative experiential data to understand how concerns over location-sensitive privacy issues affect how consumers feel about mobile phone in their daily lives. Participants from both Taiwan and U.S. took part in this study and recorded their daily experiences with the presence of smartphones at different parts of one single day. The findings suggest that cross-national consumers generally agree with the functional benefits of mobile devices, but at the same time, express their disruptive effects on their daily lives. Taiwanese consumer mood states are overall consistent with those of American participants who similarly feel more disrupted with their mobile phones. Discussions and implications are provided.