- Katz, J. E.
- Making Meaning of Mobiles – A theory of Apparatgeist; 2002; Katz, J. E.
- Comparing Internet and mobile phone digital divides; 2002; Katz, J. E.; Rice, R. E.,
- Mobile phones as fashion statements: Evidence from student surveys in the US and Japan; 2003; Katz, J. E., Sugiyama, S.
- Mediating the Human Body: Technology, Communication and Fashion; 2003; Fortunati, L.; Gilleard, C.Katz, J. E.; Gilleard, C.Riccini, R.; Gilleard, C.
- A Nation of Ghosts? Choreography of Mobile Communication in Public Spaces; 2004; Katz, J. E.
- Mobile Discourtesy: National Survey Results on Episodes of Convergent Public and Private Spheres; 2003; Rice, R. E., Katz, J. E.
- Social Conduct, Social Capital and the Mobile Phone in the U.S. and Japan A Preliminary Exploration...; 2003; Sugiyama, S., Katz, J. E.
- Comparing internet and mobile phone usage: Digital divides of usage, adoption and dropouts; 2003; Rice, R. E., Katz, J. E.
- Machines That Become Us: The Social Context of Personal Communication Technology; 2002; Katz, J. E.
- Perpetual Contact: Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance; 2002; Katz, J. E., Aakhus, M.
Bibliography
Models that emphasize perceptions of the function of various communication channels have dominated the field of communication for a half century. Among the most popular is uses and gratification theory. By contrast, models that emphasize the symbolic and socially competitive aspects of communication technology have received little attention, except as a foil for cultural and other forms of criticism. The role then of fashion as a non-functional attribute of communication technology has been largely ignored in the communication literature. This would seem to be the case despite its acknowledged importance given to the issue by marketing and advertising specialists. In this paper, we use a survey of college students in the US and Japan to demonstrate the statistical correlation between fashion attentiveness and the acquisition, use and replacement of mobile phones. Some new theories that emphasize communication technology as a symbolic tool and physical extension of the human body and persona have predicted these relationships. Hence it may be useful to further investigate this dimension of human behavior and social consequences relative to the emerging class of communication technologies.
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