Always connected: a longitudinal field study of mobile communication

Twenty-five novice users of a new mobile communication device were closely tracked for a period of three months. The results of this longitudinal field study show that people’s motivations for using mobile communication technology are initially influenced more strongly by their perceptions about the expected use, which is more task-oriented. Over time, due to the quick habituation of the new mobile communication device important, initial gratifications, like permanent access and social interaction, appear to be less manifest reasons for using the mobile communication device and become more latent, while gratifications like fashion/status and entertainment appear to become more dominant. Moreover, the boundary between work and personal life slowly disappears as people can easily use mobile communication technology simultaneously for personal and business purposes in both social and work-related contexts.