Preference Pattern for Mobile Phone and Conventional Tools in Task Performance by Students of Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria

Abstract

Mobile phones have become very popular among people in different countries of the world and apart from the traditional role of making and receiving of calls; they have been adopted for several other uses. Its use for those activities tends to pose challenge to the conventional media tools that are used traditionally to perform those activities. The study thus aims at determining the pattern of mobile phone usage by students of Delta State University, Abraka; their preference pattern for mobile telephone and conventional media tools in carrying out certain activities; and the implication of their use of mobile telephone on conventional media toolsThe study adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which explains how a person comes to accept and use an information technology. Survey and questionnaire were used as the research method and instrument respectively. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. The study found that the students preferred using mobile phones to perform tasks that were originally performed with conventional media tools; and the use of mobile phone by the students also suggested a diminishing patronage of conventional media tools. The study recommends that providers of those conventional media tools should improve on their services to avoid losing patronage, and they should make their products and services adaptable to mobile phone users in order to boost patronage.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2017.v8n2p281