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4.2.3 Reference groups and symbolic values21
4.2.4 Tendency for symbol consumption of mobile phones23
4.3 Summary25
Chapter Five Conclusion26
5.1 Major findings26
5.2 Implications26
5.3 Limitations28
References29
Appendix31
附件34
Research on college students’ symbol consumption of mobile phones
Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Research background
Mobile phone emerged initially to serve as a wireless communication tool which out-broke the limitations of time and space. In the very first beginning, people chose to use a mobile phone mainly for its functional values such as its connection quality and convenience. Nevertheless, during the development of mobile phone industry, a lot of symbolic values have been implanted and added to mobile phones by various kinds of mass media. More and more people start to pay attention to the symbolic values reflected by a mobile phone such as personalities, interests, social status or something.
In the recent years, there have appeared several new and novel names for those college students who are loyal followers of one product, what we like to call—fans. They may have changed their phones from iPhone4s to iPhone5, from iPhone5s to the latest iPhone6 or 6 plus. These students are now usually classified as “apple fans” who are willing to pay extra money to chase after every new product Apple Inc. has launched. Likewise, those who show a special obsession with Samsung, Huawei, or Xiaomi are respectively called “Sung fans”, “Hua fans” or “Mi fans”. But it’s known that the basic elements of mobile phones include a screen, a central processing unit (CPU), a built-in camera and loudspeaker, and series of light-emitting diodes (LED) and so on. It is true that some of these elements require sophisticated and precise technology and processing techniques for which the mobile phones should be priced proportionately higher. However, even an iPhone6 (16G version) priced at 649 dollars is to the maximum worth 247 dollars in terms of its manufacturing and labor costs, according to a marketing research company called IHS technology. So when consumers buy a mobile phone, they are actually paying much more than it should be. Where does the four hundred dollars go? What are we paying for? And even more important, why people are willing to pay for that?
In order to be financially capable of buying new phones, therefore, these college students either strenuously live a tight-budgeted life to save all the possible money from their parents or painstakingly work a part-time job to earn extra money. Some of them choose to borrow money from their friends. Some may also take a shot for the installment business newly sprung on college campuses. Anyway, according to some of them, a mobile phone to them is more than a communication tool; it is kind of like something that shows their tastes for life and attitudes towards the world. Therefore, a research on mobile phones’ symbolic values is needed to better understand college students’ consumption behavior.
1.2 Purpose and significance
After a multitude of library research including reading relative books and documentations and typing key words in CNKI’s search center, it can be found that in recent years, different scholars and experts in different areas have been carrying out researches on college students’ consumption behavior in different areas like statistics, psychology, sociology or anthropology. To conclude, domestic scholars’ analyses and researches can be mainly categorized into two types. First, some focus more on the theoretical and educational meaning of symbol consumption so as to either better explain some phenomena or better advocate a more rational attitude towards decision making. Second, others put more emphasis on the practical and utilitarian value; most of them choose a specific study case of some product to provide useful advice for a specific product or industry. As has been found, case studies on college students’ purchase of sports, clothes, cosmetics or dairy products have been conducted both home and abroad. However, few have tried to related college students to mobile phones consumption especially from the perspective of symbolic values.