Survey shows Ball State embraces technology

Ball State students are becoming increasingly dependent on new mobile technology, rising above the national average for the percentage of adults with smartphones, according to a survey by Michael Hanley.

The survey shows that 69 percent of Ball State respondents have smartphones. Hanley, an associate professor of journalism, said approximately 49 percent of American adults ages 18 and older own smartphones.

Hanley said this trend of college students buying smartphones reflects the new capabilities of mobile technology.

"If they want to go to the Internet, if they want to listen to music, if they want to look at video in the next year or so, they'll be watching free television on their smartphones," he said. "So they can do things on a smartphone that you can't do on other phones."

Emily Nichols, a sophomore criminal justice major, made the transition from a feature phone to iPhone 4 over Winter Break. She said she appreciates having access to the digital world through her phone wherever she goes.

"I feel a lot more connected," Nichols said. "My fiancé has an iPhone, so we're able to use FaceTime a lot more. I can have that contact with him away from my computer."

Nichols said her fiancé is in the U.S. Navy and has been stationed in Virginia since June.

"Having this [iPhone] makes it a lot easier for us to have that connection," she said.

Among Nichols' favorite applications is The Knot, an app for wedding planning. The app allows her to sync her activity on The Knot's website with her actions on her phone, so she can edit her plans anywhere she receives wireless service.

According to the survey, Nichols is one of the 77.4 percent of Ball State students with smartphones who utilize various apps.

Tristan James is another student who recently switched from feature phone to smartphone. A sophomore theater major, James said his phone has allowed him to better manage his schedule.

"I'm a little more organized and I guess I don't carry around as much stuff," James said. "I used to carry around an iPod, a planner and a phone, and now it's all on one."

Along the conveniences the new technology has to offer, both Nichols and James said they noticed a drastic increase in advertisements on their phones since they began using smartphones.

"Anytime I get on my phone to play a game, there's an ad that pops up," James said. "It used to be annoyance, and now I just think I've grown accustomed to it. It's just a part of my everyday life now."

Hanley said James' growing comfort with advertisements is because of assimilation, the concept of being exposed to something repeatedly and thereby becoming more comfortable with it.

For the past few years, people have been growing less annoyed with advertisements, Hanley said. This year, however, the survey shows an increase in annoyance, which he said was a key finding because it goes against the trend.

Hanley said he believes this is because of growing web accessibility on smartphones.

"As they use the internet more, I think they're getting exposed to more ads, and they're just not liking it as much as I anticipated that they would," he said. "Even though they're used to seeing them, they're seeing so many more that it's going to take a while before they get more comfortable with it."

Another survey result Hanley said is significant is that respondents with feature phones are more likely to accept ads on their phones in exchange for free products or services than respondents with smartphones.

"The reason is, it's what I consider to be an aspiration question," Hanley said.

He explained the results suggest people with feature phones wish their mobile devices had functions more commonly found on smartphones.

"What you see there, interestingly, is that people with feature phones wish they had smart phones, but because of cost or because of what plan they're on, [they] don't have one yet," Hanley said.

Hanley's research has been published in a variety of journals, including the International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications and International Journal of Mobile Marketing. Hanley will also teach a new class in Fall Semester called "Mobile Advertising and Media" that will deal with topics similar to those of the survey.

For more information about the class, contact Hanley at mhanley@bsu.edu.