Context-Based Research Group's Global Ethnographic Study of Wireless Use Reveals Key Lessons for Companies Making Wireless Products and Services.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2001

Anthropologists in Six Countries Watched Wireless Users in Action To

Uncover Their True Needs, Desires and Opportunities

Reluctance to Buy Into Wireless, Treating Devices as Companions,

Global Cultural Differences Seen as Trends

A first-of-its-kind global ethnographic study of wireless use, desires and opportunities has found that cultural differences, difficulty learning to use devices, and not enough emphasis on the social utility of wireless are keeping the wireless industry from reaching its potential.

According to the recently completed study by Context-Based Research Group (www.contextresearch.com), companies that address these issues will close the gap between expectations and actual user experiences and enable wireless to deliver on its promise to create more satisfying communications and relationships, and make it easier to access information.

For the study, a Context team of ethnographers observed and conducted structured interviews and photo essays with 180 participants in nine major cities in the United States, China, Japan, Sweden, France and England.

In addition to observing wireless users in action, the researchers examined the expectations of wireless users, explored how wireless use has changed behavior among certain groups, interacted with non-wireless users, and analyzed how wireless is advertised and communicated in the media.

"While everyone's talking 'wireless,' our findings suggest that no one has truly figured out what consumers really want and fully tapped into the opportunities wireless presents," says Context Principal Anthropologist Robbie Blinkoff, Ph.D. "We got inside the minds of consumers and what they are saying to wireless manufacturers and marketers is don't over-promise what the devices can do and make it easier for me to use them."

Key findings of the study include:

-- There are many cultural differences across the world when it comes to
wireless use and knowledge. These variations in consumer behavior from one part
of the world to another are not reflected in current wireless marketing and
product design.

-- Wireless technology is far from user-friendly and wireless companies are
doing a poor job helping people answer the question "how do I learn to use your
device?" The result is a gap between usage and what devices are capable of
doing, with many wireless features on people's devices going unnoticed or
unused. Context's analysis suggests that wireless companies should use the
device itself to deliver tips that show users how to better take advantage of a
device's features.

-- At the heart of consumer confusion about the wireless web is the insistence
of companies to design wireless devices and applications for business while
putting social utility in the back seat. This situation exists despite findings
that show the stickiest applications around the world are socially or fun
based, not business based. One implication is that developers would be wise to
look at social interaction models in developing business applications.

-- The trend among youth and some women is to treat their wireless devices as
companions, identity reflectors, and fashion statements. Some even go so far as
to paint, attribute gender and humanize their wireless devices with accessories
such as cell phone chairs.

-- People want devices that function as personal tour guides.

-- The gap between a device's real capabilities and the messages provided by
wireless marketing and promotion lead to consumer frustration. Terms such as
'wireless web,' for example, lead people to believe that they will be able to
do everything on their phone or PDA that they can do on their desktop computer,
yet wireless devices are now and always will be different from desktops.

-- Non-users across the globe are mystified by wireless ads and other marketing
messages, making them reluctant to buy into wireless.

-- With the U.S. lagging behind Europe and Asia, the Short Messaging System
(SMS) services popular in other parts of the world should be the first big step
toward greater wireless adoption in the U.S.

-- In the U.S., telephones and computers were previously attached to the home.
Now, with mobile technology, communication devices get attached to individuals,
and that trend is moving to younger and younger consumers. How this plays out
in personal privacy dynamics in Japan, Europe and the U.S., however, differs.

Baltimore-based Context-Based Research Group is a global research company that uses a proprietary network of 1,800 anthropologists around the world to uncover consumer and cultural trends.

Employing techniques such as participant observation, photo and video diaries, and structured interviews, these ethnographers place consumers' interactions with products and services in the proper context and gain greater insight into their true needs and desires. More information about Context, a subsidiary of Richardson, Myers & Donofrio, is available online at www.contextresearch.com.