Researchers claim that several factors impact one’s relationship with developing technologies
These days it seems as though technological development dominates the mainstream and can be tricky to keep up with at times. Even as a young, active member of multiple social platforms I occasionally find myself out of the loop.
Because technology is such a vast and developing resource, it’s important to monitor changes within the industry. Researchers Ronald E. Rice and Katy E. Pearce set out to understand how and why different markets react to the rapid changes of mobile phones.
The work of these researchers provides great baseline information for how technological advancements impact people of diverse backgrounds. For tech developers, this data is beneficial because it allows them to see which demographics within their audience respond to innovative technology. As consumers, this knowledge is critical because it provides a window to the ways tech companies develop their products.
Although I actively engage with media and technology, I hardly ever stop to think about what factors into my relationship with mobile devices. The research of Rice and Pearce really delves into demographics such as education, household size and employment status which I never considered would impact our ability to adapt to technological innovation.
For context, Rice and Pearce decided to observe the tech habits of individuals from Armenia between the years 2004 and 2011. They considered economic status, social environment (including location as well as household size), technology use and sex.
In order to categorize their results, researchers divided their subjects into five different sub-groups. Innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Simply put, these groups allowed Rice and Pearce to identify how their subjects adapted to technological changes. Innovators being the earliest to adapt and laggards being some of the last.
The results of this study indicate that all factors considered have a different impact on individuals and how they interact with tech developments. For example, researchers found that the influence of education decreased across all categories while household size was consistently an indicator of one’s ability to adapt to new tech.
As the study indicates, people who live in bigger households find it easier to adapt more quickly because they have multiple people who they can turn to for help. I found the statistics about household size particularly interesting because I come from a big family with varying ages and I can recall multiple times in my own life when one of my parents has asked for help in understanding something about their phone or a social app.
While Rice and Pearce conclude that the main factors impacting adaptation of new technologies are often social and economic, they also suggest that future studies could further examine the influence of aspects such as disability or geographic location.
Despite these different factors and their influences, it is evident that there is a natural divide between the rapid growth of technology and how consumers adapt to it that may never change or fade with time.
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