Ethnographic research of user behavior of mobile devices of China, Korea, India, and the Netherlands

Abstract

A product and its cultural understanding explain the social perception and value of the product and its users. Recent cultural studies show that cultural differences can have influence on the usage and satisfaction of the product through the advent of the Internet and globalization. This study explores such differences in four countries, based on observations on the usage of mobile media. As part of ethnographical method, researchers visited Korea, China, India and the Netherlands, observed and interviewed a total of 48 subjects (12 for each country) in order to analyze the characteristics their use of mobile media. The observations were performed over four sectors of gaining, managing, sharing and enjoying media content, which were further investigated through two times of comprehensive synthesized analysis by local researchers. After the observations, 10 major differences were found over three categories. How to collect and share media content varied depending on each culture. Particularly, content was used for personal entertainment as well as for social networking purpose with varied details. These differences are believed to stem from cultural differences, which would help understand the expected experience and value in each of the countries. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.