Thilo von PapeThe evolution of mobile communication devices and services has taken up a dynamic that makes any prognosis in the field almost impossible. Whereas part of this dynamic may remain inscrutable, we believe that a much higher degree of explanation can be achieved by systematically paying closer attention to the process of appropriation. To seize upon this potential, we present an integrative model to analyze mobile phone appropriation (the ''MPA model''). The model is based on existing theoretical approaches of the quantitative ''adoption'' paradigm (namely, Innovation Diffusion Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior) as well as the mostly qualitative research paradigm devoted to ''appropriation'' (Cultural studies and Frame Analysis), with the Uses-and-Gratifications approach playing a role on both sides. The model has been developed, operationalized and empirically applied in the context of mobile phone appropriation; however, with certain modifications it can be adapted to other information and communications technology (ICT) innovations.

No abstract

No abstract

It is becoming increasingly important to understand in greater detail how people process information and make decisions while searching on the World Wide Web. With the distinction between systematic and heuristic processing, dual-process theories and decision theory provide a useful framework for analyzing this decision-making. A laboratory quasi-experiment was conducted, combining a client-oriented Web content analysis, think aloud technique, and an online questionnaire. From the data obtained, two different search sequence levels were created and analyzed. The results show that within these sequences, different degrees of heuristic and systematic processing occurred, depending on the situational demands as well as the Web experience and the domain specific involvement of the user.

Domestication is a productive concept for analyzing the sensemaking processes behind the integration of media technologies into everyday life. However, researchers have yet to take advantage of the full heuristic potential of this metaphor. So far, most studies have focused on single devices and employed qualitative methods, mainly case studies, to generate insights into the process of domestication. The authors suggest broadening of perspective to the overall domestic ecology within which media cohabitate and compete. Toward this goal, they conducted a large-scale multimethod study involving observations and interviews in 100 households, thereby analyzing not only the "birth" of individual media devices into households, but also examined how these devices reside in certain "mediatopes" (media environments), how they compete as different media "species," and how they change their social and spatial positions during their lifecycle. More generally, the study demonstrates how to apply domestication research to the topography of a domestic media environment that is complementary to the ethnographical descriptions that have dominated the literature thus far.