{"title":"How do smartphone users access the internet? An exploratory analysis of mobile web browser use","authors":"Ludwig Fichte, Chance York","doi":"10.1177/20501579241274781","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In this article, we use a top tasks survey ( n = 466) and unmoderated interviews ( n = 101) to explore how smartphone users access the internet: through browsers or standalone applications. We found a surprising number of users surveyed rely on mobile browsers to conduct internet-based tasks ordinarily associated with standalone apps, such as reading emails (34%), watching videos (24%), and listening to music (16%). Interviews revealed several practical and socioeconomic explanations for “browser-centric” smartphone use, including memory conservation on inexpensive mobile handsets and privacy management. We discuss the implications for information systems and technology adoption theories and for applied researchers who work in mobile product spaces.","PeriodicalId":46650,"journal":{"name":"Mobile Media & Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Mobile Media & Communication","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579241274781","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In this article, we use a top tasks survey ( n = 466) and unmoderated interviews ( n = 101) to explore how smartphone users access the internet: through browsers or standalone applications. We found a surprising number of users surveyed rely on mobile browsers to conduct internet-based tasks ordinarily associated with standalone apps, such as reading emails (34%), watching videos (24%), and listening to music (16%). Interviews revealed several practical and socioeconomic explanations for “browser-centric” smartphone use, including memory conservation on inexpensive mobile handsets and privacy management. We discuss the implications for information systems and technology adoption theories and for applied researchers who work in mobile product spaces.
期刊介绍:
Mobile Media & Communication is a peer-reviewed forum for international, interdisciplinary academic research on the dynamic field of mobile media and communication. Mobile Media & Communication draws on a wide and continually renewed range of disciplines, engaging broadly in the concept of mobility itself.