Social acceptance of proactive mobile services: observing and anticipating cultural aspects by a sociology of user experience method

Abstract

This paper describes the method of a sociological inquiry achieved in France and Finland within the ADAMOS project. The goals of this inquiry are to understand the social factors of the acceptability for proactive mobile services and identify the cultural differences between French and Finnish users. A prospective vision of the proactive mobile services has been conceptualized and depicted in a demonstrative film. It was shown to French and Finnish people selected according to their user profiles in relation to their ICT usage: the way they conceive of ICT's in their daily lives. Individual reactions and group dynamics have been filmed and sociologically analyzed. They reveal slight differences between French and Finnish reception of the exposed concept. It suggests how the social acceptability of high-tech services could depend on archaic aspects of the user's culture.