Adoption Of Mobile Phones Research Articles

Potential association between mobile phone usage duration and postpartum depression risk: Evidence from a Mendelian randomization study.

The widespread adoption of mobile phones in daily life has raised concerns regarding their impact on mental health, including among postpartum women. Considering the rising prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) and the pervasive use of mobile phones in modern society, this study aimed to rigorously investigate the causal relationship between mobile phone use duration and the risk of developing PPD. Data were collected through an online survey assessing mobile phone usage and mental health among postpartum women. The survey's reliability and validity were evaluated using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. In total, 2015 participants completed the survey. To explore causal relationships, genetic data were sourced from open-access databases, and two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) techniques were employed. Statistical analysis, including chi-square tests, revealed a significant association between higher mobile phone use and lower incidence of PPD. MR analysis supported these findings, indicating a protective effect of mobile phone use against PPD (P < .05 based on inverse variance weighting and the weighted median method). This MR-based study provides evidence that increased mobile phone use is associated with a decreased risk of PPD, suggesting that mobile phones could serve as an effective tool for PPD prevention. These findings highlight the importance of evidence-based evaluations of lifestyle factors in mental health research.

THE USE OF MOBILE PHONES BY CATFISH FARMERS AT UTEH FISH FARMING CLUSTER IN BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

It is important to understand how catfish farmers use mobile phones in their business activities to enhance the adoption and utilization of mobile phones in fish farming. The study assessed catfish farmers' use of mobile phones for business activities at Uteh fish farming cluster, Edo State, Nigeria. The study examined the business activities mobile phones are used for, the fish farmers' perceived competence, and the challenges faced in using their mobile phones. Data were collected from 71 catfish farmers at the Uteh fish farming cluster through convenience sampling, using a structured interview schedule. Frequency counts, Percentages, means, and correlation were used to analyze the data. The results show the average age of the farmers to be 44 years, farmers were mostly (71.8%) male, and about 90% of them were married. All (100%) of the fish farmers indicated that they used their mobile phones for basic business activities like receiving calls and sending SMS, using social media apps such as WhatsApp, contacting buyers, and taking pictures for business. The Catfish farmers were competent in the use of mobile phones except in obtaining loans (mean = 2.42), using aquaculture apps (mean = 2.62), and checking weather forecasts (mean = 3.62). However, the use of mobile phones by the catfish farmers was constrained by poor network coverage.

Factors Influencing Consumer Purchase Intention and Adoption Onwards of 5G Mobile Phone in Malaysia

The use of 5G technology signifies a significant progression in mobile telecommunications, offering improved speed, connection and efficiency. The objective of this research is to determine the variables that impact customer purchase intention and subsequent adoption of 5G mobile phones, specifically from the viewpoint of popular shopping platforms in Malaysia. The theoretical framework can be found pursuant to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory. Utilising quantitative surveys to collect extensive data from a varied sample of Malaysian customers who are Shopee subscribers. A total of 413 samples was successfully collected using convenience sampling of Malaysians in the Klang Valley. Findings suggest that factors such as perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and attitude serve a crucial role in determining purchase intention. The online purchasing of 5G mobile phones is greatly influenced by both intention and actual behaviour. The study emphasises the need of using targeted marketing tactics that specifically target these diverse characteristics. Online merchants and mobile phone manufacturers may greatly boost customer trust and adoption rates by improving user experience, offering comprehensive product information, and implementing strong security measures. The study offers vital information for competitors seeking to take advantage of the continuously growing 5G industry in Malaysia.

Mobile phones, income diversification, and poverty reduction in rural Bangladesh

AbstractThe widespread adoption of mobile phones (MPs) presents the possibility of creating employment and self‐employment opportunities. Although several studies have documented the impact of MPs on income, the link between MP ownership and poverty reduction channeled by income diversification has not been fully explored. This paper aims to examine this relationship using nationally representative panel data and fixed effect models to account for confounding factors and unobserved heterogeneity. Results indicate that MP ownership is associated with increased income diversification, particularly through on‐farm and off‐farm self‐employment, as well as non‐earned income. This relationship is more pronounced in households with lower levels of education and deprived areas. In addition, owning a MP is also found to decrease poverty via income diversification. Therefore, policies aimed at enhancing access to mobile technologies could create a resilient income portfolio by decreasing transaction costs and improving market efficiency, ultimately mitigating poverty in rural regions.

Elderly people's perceptions on the use of mobile phones to support the self-management of long-term illnesses at Kiruddu National Referral Hospital.

The global estimate of the aging population is progressively increasing in low and middle-income countries and this is accompanied by the limitations associated with the need for equitable and efficient healthcare delivery among this dire population. Unfortunately, despite the increasing numbers, the adoption of mobile phones is not balanced in the different populations with research showing young persons' adoption rate is higher than that of elderly persons. This current study was conducted to identify elderly people's perceptions of the use of mobile phones to support the self-management of long-term illnesses at Kiruddu National Referral Hospital. This descriptive-cross-sectional design study was conducted on a sample population of 30 elderly individuals older than 60 years admitted at the outpatient department of Kiruddu National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. We conducted face-to-face interviews following an interview guide and one focus group discussion. We later used a feature mobile phone and a tablet mobile phone to assess the individual ease of use of each device. The audio recordings were professionally transcribed and transcripts were coded into NVIVO version 12 analysis software for thematic analysis. Almost all of the respondents who visited the facility had an ailment that hindered their full utilization of the mobile phone to support their self-care. This together with other factors like financial constraints, lack of support from the health workers on how to use mobile phones to support health, inadequate support from the facility, and cost of mobile data among others. This study provides empirical evidence that there is hardly a known mobile phone adoption model to enable policymakers, systems developers, and health workers to promote the elderly population's use of mobile phones to manage their long-term illnesses in Uganda.

Strava Metro Data

The widespread adoption of mobile phone and other location-tracking devices, and the enormous amounts of data they produce, has provided municipalities with the opportunity to automate previously time-consuming and labour-intensive data collection processes. Municipal planners, in particular, have begun to integrate the aggregated data sets of private urban technology platforms into active transportation and broader infrastructure planning initiatives. To date, however, there has been limited research on the implications of this integration for municipal decision-making and governance processes. Using the Strava Metro data stream and its free-access model as a case study, this paper explores both the motivations behind municipal adoption of the Strava platform and the benefits that accrue from its usage. Through the application of a mixed methods approach, including the building of a use case database via a search of internet and academic literature sources and qualitative interviews with municipal planning staff, our research examines how Strava data is used to support the work of municipal planners and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of that use. Our study finds that Strava Metro data aided municipal staff in the planning of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, complementing available in-house data sets; helped spur new active transportation initiatives; and enabled innovation and professional curiosity on the part of planners. The paper concludes by exploring the ramifications of Strava data for community wellness and broader public realm improvements, as well as extending a discussion with respect to the platform’s sociodemographic representativeness and related limitations.

How Prepaid Billing in Italy Helped Shape the Global Diffusion of Mobile Phones.

Why was Italy the first country to introduce prepaid mobile phone billing services in 1996? What was the key to its success that led seventy-five telecommunications operators to introduce prepaid billing by 1998 and accelerated the mass adoption of mobile phones around the world? This article examines why prepaid was successful in light of national policies and sociocultural shifts. Along with SMS, handhelds, GSM, and the digitization of mobile communications, prepaid billing played a role in the rapid and immense spread of the mobile phone worldwide. As an innovative means of paying for mobile phone usage, prepaid represented a departure from operators' previous mobile phone payment methods. The article argues that by overlooking the contribution of this form of payment, telephone historians, the media, and business scholars have ignored this important driver of the success of mobile phones.

Adoption of Mobile Phone Based Mutual Fund Investment Applications Among Retail Investors: Empirical Evidence from UTAUT Model

Objective- This study aims to analyse acceptance of mobile phone based mutual fund applications. The objective, in other way examines how mutual fund mobile apps affect retail investors' investment decisions.&#x0D; Methodology- Under the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the paper observed retail investor’s adoption behaviour prediction. The data was collected during April–September, 2023 using structured questionnaire. Based on total 258 viable replies, the study used multiple regression and regression coefficient analysis.&#x0D; Results– The study found that effort expectancy (EE), performance expectancy (PE), social influence (SI), facilitating condition (FC), and habit (H) influenced retail investors' mutual fund mobile app use. Hedonic motivation did not affect retail investors' mutual fund mobile application behavioural intention.&#x0D;

Use of mobile digital footprint to understand how COVID-19 impacts the visitors to art places in Singapore

As Singapore strengthens its position as a Creative City, the importance of art places is increasingly evident. The time and frequency of visitors spent on the art places are indications of how successful the art places are. The understanding of the footfall for art places using traditional methods, such as ticket sales, and person-count can be expensive and inaccurate. With the prevalence of mobile phone adoption, our digital footprints are silently collected. These digital footprints can be used to understand the number of visitors who have visited art places, as well as their time spent at the different art places. This data is collected by CITYDATA.ai, a geospatial AI platform and registered data broker compliant with global and regional privacy regulations. An interesting but almost unobserved trend is to understand how COVID-19 affects the visitors to art places. During this period, there could also be a fundamental shift in how people feel and react towards art places. The contribution of this paper helps planners to understand the dynamics of change for the visitors to art places and subsequently enables the planners to have the right strategies to reposition Singapore as a Creative City.

RICE FARMER'S USING MOBILE IN MARKETING OPERATIONS: AN ANALYTICAL STUDY IN THE SPECIFIC REGION OF BANGLADESH

Rice is a major staple crop in Bangladesh, and its production has a profound effect on the country's agricultural sector. Large distribution networks in Bangladesh may drive up rice prices. The scarcity of marketing information prevents farmers from making decisions when planning their output and sales. This study aimed to analyze the variables that influence mobile usage and the effects of mobile use in rice marketing. 100 farmers were selected by two steps sampling procedure from the rural area of Upazilla, Bangladesh. 100 farmers in all, mostly small-scale rice farmers with an average plot size of 1.88 acres, were approached using a concise interview format &amp; questionnaires. The data was evaluated using a variety of statistical methods, including correlation and regression analysis using a binary logistic regression model. The analysis was carried out utilizing the SPSS. Studies showed that 75% of mobile phone owners utilize it for paddy marketing. Income and education have a significant influence on cellphone usage, as shown in regression analysis. In the Likert scale study, there was a highly positive impact on having access to a broad variety of information, the accuracy of that information, negotiating power, and reducing market intermediaries' and transportation corporations' oppressiveness. Most farmers can save time and money by acquiring information themselves. It can be concluded that the adoption of mobile phones facilitates marketing activities and all potential consequences for rice farmers. Assuring mobile phone utilization could be essential in this area to improve the calibre of rice marketing.

Impact of mobile phone usage on empowerment of rural women entrepreneurs: Evidence from rural Bangladesh

Mobile phones have emerged as the predominant technology in developing countries, especially within agricultural enterprises. This research investigates the influence of mobile phone utilization on the empowerment of female entrepreneurs in rural farming communities. Data were gathered from 150 female agricultural entrepreneurs in the rural regions of Bangladesh. The empowerment of these women was assessed across five dimensions: economic, social, technological, psychological, and political. The findings indicate that the composite empowerment index was notably higher at 61.92% post-mobile phone adoption, in contrast to 37.47% prior to its use. This underscores the positive impact of mobile phone utilization on the empowerment of rural female farmers. The research highlighted significant enhancements in all five empowerment dimensions, with these augmentations being statistically meaningful. The most pronounced improvement was observed in economic empowerment, while political empowerment witnessed the least growth. Furthermore, the shifts were profoundly correlated with the other three dimensions: social, technological, and psychological. The evidence establishes a link between mobile phone adoption by rural female farmers and their subsequent empowerment, with empowerment metrics showing a steady rise from the low-usage to the high-usage categories. Consequently, the correlation is positive. The results advocate that mobile phone utilization assists rural female farmers in augmenting their empowerment. It is thus recommended that policymakers and developmental organizations prioritize mobile technology as a tool to empower rural women in Bangladesh. This can be realized by enhancing accessibility, confronting socio-cultural barriers, and fostering digital literacy.

Mobile money and financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa

In this paper, we utilize survey data collected in 2017 from 12,735 individuals across nine Sub-Saharan African countries. We merge the survey data with geographic information related to the proximity of mobile network towers and banking facilities, based on the geo-locations of the respondents. Our estimation approach comprises a two-stage model. In the first stage, consumers make choices between adopting a feature phone or a smartphone. In the second stage, they make decisions regarding the use of mobile money services. Our findings reveal that network coverage significantly influences the adoption of mobile phones. Moreover, we observe that mobile money services are more favored by younger and relatively wealthier individuals for sending money, while older individuals and those with lower incomes tend to use mobile wallets for receiving money. Consequently, mobile money services facilitate younger migrant workers residing in areas with better infrastructure in providing support to their older relatives in less developed regions.

FINANCIAL INNOVATION: THE IMPACT OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES ON FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

The world around us has become increasingly digital in recent years, from the quick adoption of mobile phones to the emergence of the Internet and, more recently, social media and big data. With profound effects on all productive sectors, the “digital revolution,” considered as the widespread use of digital technology, has fundamentally changed the financial sector. This is presently in the midst of a profound and unheard-of change known as FinTech, which is the direct outcome of the application of technology to finance. Among other things, blockchain has recently gained popularity in the financial services industry. Therefore, a greater comprehension of how this novel technology could affect the financial industry is necessary. In this paper, we explore how blockchain may impact on financial intermediaries and banks.

User Experience Co-Design of a Mobile Application to Support Childrearing in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

The widespread adoption of mobile phones and increasing mobile connectivity globally create opportunities to access remote and disadvantaged populations. Mobile health interventions in low- and middle-income countries have substantial reach and potential to promote the socio-emotional and cognitive development of children. This study presents co-design workshop findings relating to the user experience of a mobile application - Thrive by Five - which intends to promote healthy early childhood development globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Here, findings from workshops conducted in 11 countries in Asia, Africa, and Oceania are presented. Key feedback on the mobile application user experience indicated several necessary changes, such as simplifying and localising the language, incorporating short videos or animations, adding more bright colours and illustrations, and making numerous improvements and additions to the app features and functionality. The findings contribute to advancing mobile health, context-sensitive technologies, user experience design, and low-resource setting technology co-design.

Leveraging Mobile Phones in Crop Pests and Disease Surveillance - Perspectives of Farmers in Kenya

Agriculture plays a crucial role in ensuring food security and employment in Kenya. However, farmers in the country have been struggling with low crop yields due to pests and diseases. To address this issue, mobile-based digital surveillance technologies have been recommended as potential solution. However, these technologies have not been widely adopted by farmers, prompting this study to investigate the reasons behind this and propose strategies to improve their uptake. This paper reports on the farmers perspectives in Homa Bay County, Kenya on the adoption of mobile phone based digital tools in crop pest and disease surveillance. The study employed quantitative approach, involving surveys with 326 selected farmers. The study identified several factors contributing to the low adoption, including lack of training and capacity building, limited technical support to the farmers, limited access to necessary infrastructure, and neglect of co-creation of these solutions with the farmers. Given these findings, it follows that these solutions are intentionally designed to be farmer-centric, and handholding provided to the farmers on use of these technologies including providing farmer training and capacity building.

A Predictive Cyber Threat Model for Mobile Money Services

Mobile Money Services (MMS), enabled by the wide adoption of mobile phones, offered an opportunity for financial inclusion for the unbanked in developing nations. Meanwhile, the risks of cybercrime are increasing, becoming more widespread, and worsening. This is being aggravated by the inadequate security practises of both service providers and the potential customers' underlying criminal intent to undermine the system for financial gain. Predicting potential mobile money cyber threats will afford the opportunity to implement countermeasures before cybercriminals explore this opportunity to impact mobile money assets or perpetrate financial cybercrime. However, traditional security techniques are too broad to address these emerging threats to Mobile Financial Services (MFS). Furthermore, the existing body of knowledge is not adequate for predicting threats associated with the mobile money ecosystem. Thus, there is a need for an effective analytical model based on intelligent software defence mechanisms to detect and prevent these cyber threats. In this study, a dataset was collected via interview with the mobile money practitioners, and a Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) was applied to handle the class imbalance problem. A predictive model to detect and prevent suspicious customers with cyber threat potential during the onboarding process for MMS in developing nations using a Machine Learning (ML) technique was developed and evaluated. To test the proposed model's effectiveness in detecting and classifying fraudulent MMS applicant intent, it was trained with various configurations, such as binary or multiclass, with or without the inclusion of SMOTE. Python programming language was employed for the simulation and evaluation of the proposed model. The results showed that ML algorithms are effective for modelling and automating the prediction of cyber threats on MMS. In addition, it proved that the logistic regression classifier with the SMOTE application provided the best classification performance among the various configurations of logistic regression experiments performed. This classification model will be suitable for secure MMS, which serves as a key deciding factor in the adoption and acceptance of mobile money as a cash substitute, especially among the unbanked population.

Preserving Indonesian Culture in the Digital Age: Implementing Augmented Reality to Address Cultural Appropriation Issue

Abstract—Cultural appropriation is a complex issue that can lead to the loss of a nation's cultural identity. With the widespread adoption of mobile phones in Indonesia, there is an opportunity to use technology, specifically augmented reality (AR). To address this issue, our user-friendly AR app allows users to interact with Indonesian culture in a virtual environment. Through AR technology, users can engage with Indonesian culture in an immersive and fun way. Our target market is the younger generation, and our app provides a user-friendly interface that allows users to scan AR markers to access different cultural settings. Users can choose from two cultural regions, Bali and Papua. Once a region is selected, a scene showcases the desired region's iconic places and objects accompanied by a traditional folk song. In developing the AR app, we used the agile software development method for approximately two months with four developers. At the end of the development phase, we conduct four testing aspects of the application—namely, angle testing, functionally testing, usability testing, and hardware testing. The testing revealed that the application could perform well under various testing conditions. Through our AR solution, we aim to raise awareness of the importance of Indonesian culture and provide an educational experience that can inspire users to take ownership of their cultural heritage.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Economic Growth in Asia: A Panel Data Analysis

Information and communication technology (ICT) plays an increasingly important role in driving economic growth and sustainability. Asia, being the most heterogenous region in terms of ICT development, consist of both most connected and least connected countries based on the global ICT Development Index 2017. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of ICT on economic growth for 20 Asian countries from year 2000 to 2020. Using the robust panel Fixed Effect model and Panel Feasible Generalized Least Squares method, findings revealed that fixed telephone subscriptions, mobile cellular subscriptions and Internet users are the ICT variables that have significant and positive effects on economic growth in Asia. Fixed telephone subscriptions however, emerged insignificant which could be due to its high cost and low practicality relative to other forms of ICT. Findings from this study benefit related parties such as firms and policymakers by encouraging adoption and usage of mobile phones and the Internet through provision of adequate infrastructure and affordable ICT services.

Youth Perspectives on the Recommended Age of Mobile Phone Adoption: Survey Study.

Despite increasing prevalence of phone ownership in early adolescence, there is a deficit of evidence-based guidance on the appropriate time to provide youth their first phone. This survey study explored age recommendations for phone ownership among a diverse panel of youths, as their experiences are an important contribution to the development of ownership guidelines. Participants were recruited from MyVoice, a national panel of over 765 youth (14 to 24 years old) who respond to weekly SMS text message-based surveys. Questions were distributed between January 24 2018, and March 20, 2018. Inductive qualitative analysis was used to identify major themes among youths' open-ended responses. In all, 469 youth (mean age 18.8 years; female: 299/469, 63.8%; White race: 332/468, 70.8%) responded. On average, respondents obtained their first phone at 12.2 years of age. Most participants (325/459, 71.1%) stated they received their first phone out of necessity rather than for entertainment or social reasons. Youth recommended that early adolescents receive their first phone between 12 and 13 years of age primarily for reasons of necessity (146/448, 32.6%). According to the participants, phones supported safety and independence by allowing communication with parents and participation in activities. Youth-serving professionals and parents can incorporate these youth perspectives into shared decision-making about phone ownership among families. This can include discussions about essential features, safety, or phone use, as well as maturity and responsibility milestones, which were all key considerations reported by participants in the survey.

The bright side of digitization: Assessing the impact of mobile phone domestication on left-behind children in China's rural migrant families.

This study examines the mobile phone practices of rural left-behind children (LBC) whose one or both parents migrate to cities for better earnings and the impact of such practices on migrant families in China. The study has used ethnographic approach by conducting participant observations and interviews of 21 LBC, residing in Guangren village, south China's Guangxi Autonomous Region. The study uses domestication theory to analyze these LBC's adoption of mobile phones in their daily routines and spaces in and out of their households. The key findings are as follows: (a) the LBC used mobile phones primarily to engage with their distant parent(s); (b) through collaborative efforts, they tried to enhance familial connections; and (c) they overcome the separation issue by co-participating in ongoing events, thus making the domestication of mobile phone a distant solving of real-world problems faced by migrant parent(s) and their LBC. The study concludes that LBC's innovative uses of mobile phones empowered them by building shared virtual space with their migrant parent(s), via which they handled the separation issue. In such shared virtual spaces, LBC's families have developed rich expressions of familial connections in various forms based on the limited perpetuate connectedness.