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New Connectivities in China pp 39–51Cite as

Beijing Calling… Mobile Communication in Contemporary China

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Abstract

Subsequent to the recent wave of industrialization, China has become the “factory” of the globalized world. The modernization of this country, however, is not confined to the provision of production at a low added value: it also entails technological appropriation and innovation. In particular, China represents the biggest world market for mobile phones and will soon dominate the Internet market. In this country, the total number of mobile and fixed-line subscribers exceeds 750 million, and the total number of Internet users is more than 162 million. The present study focuses on how, after a decade of mobile phone use, the inhabitants of Beijing evaluate the changes in the social and communicative sphere as a result of the introduction of the mobile phone. Here we present some results of a quantitative research, specifically focused on mobile communication. Based on face-to-face questionnaires administered to a convenience sample of 487 respondents, this study addresses the following research questions: After a decade of mobile phone use, how do Chinese people perceive the importance of this device? To what extent do the adoption and use of mobile phones increase or decrease social connectivity in contemporary China? To what extent does the use of mobile phones in everyday life enhance or reduce the communications—do they make you feel closer to or more distant from other people? What are the variables that predict users’ attitudes toward mobile phones in China?

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For spatial reasons, it was not possible to present in this chapter also the results related to behavior and practices of use of the mobile phone. This data have been illustrated and discussed in the following papers: Fortunati et al. (2008, 2009, 2010).

  2. 2.

    One euro is about 10  yuan.

  3. 3.

    χ 2 (1)  =  19.33, p  <  0.0001; χ 2 (3)  =  27.44, p  <  0.0001.

  4. 4.

    χ 2 (2)  =  27.23, p  <  0.0001.

  5. 5.

    χ 2 (1)  =  7.59, p  <  0.01 and χ 2 (3)  =  27.44, p  <  0.0001.

  6. 6.

    χ 2 (3)  =  12.88, p  <  0.01.

  7. 7.

    χ 2 (1)  =  12.42, p  <  0.0001.

  8. 8.

    χ 2 (3)  =  15.35, p  <  0.01.

  9. 9.

    χ 2 (1)  =  23.10, p  <  0.0001.

  10. 10.

    χ 2 (2)  =  60.35, p  <  0.0001.

  11. 11.

    χ 2 (3)  =  26.93, p  <  0.0001.

  12. 12.

    χ 2 (1)  =  5.10, p  <  0.05 and χ 2 (3)  =  10.46, p  <  0.05.

  13. 13.

    χ 2 (2)  =  8.66, p  <  0.05.

  14. 14.

    Univariate ANOVA with factor between income: F (3,453)  =  3.19, p  <  0.05.

  15. 15.

    For TV: t (485)  =  −2.15, p  <  0.05; for the radio: t (482)  =  −2.70, p  <  0.01; for the computer: t (481)  =  −4.75, p  <  0.0001; for the Internet: t (480)  =  −2.46, p  <  0.05; for the newspaper: t (484)  =  −2.23, p  <  0.05.

  16. 16.

    Univariate ANOVA with factor between age: for the computer (F (3,478)  =  4.43, p  <  0.01); for the Internet (F (3,477)  =  7.99, p  <  0.0001).

  17. 17.

    Univariate ANOVA with factor between education: for the computer (F (2,479)  =  94.55, p  <  0.0001), for the Internet (F (2,478)  =  71.49, p  <  0.0001), for the newspaper (F (2,482)  =  4.68, p  <  0.01), and for the mobile phone (F (2,481)  =  3.70, p  <  0.05).

  18. 18.

    Univariate ANOVA with factor between income: for the computer (F (3,477) =  21.93, p  <  0.0001), for the Internet (F (3,476)  =  16.51, p  <  0.0001), and for the mobile phone (F (3,479)  =  2.63, p  <  0.05).

  19. 19.

    For the computer: t (478)  =  7.93, p  <  0.0001 and for the Internet: t (477)  =  7.81, p  <  0.0001.

  20. 20.

    For amusement (t (473)  =  −2.36, p  <  0.05) and social communication (t (473)  =  4.15, p  <  0.0001).

  21. 21.

    Univariate ANOVA with factor between age: F (3,473)  =  3.67, p  <  0.05.

  22. 22.

    Univariate ANOVA with factor between education: for amusement (F (2,474)  =  15.30, p  <  0.0001), for social communication (F (2,474)  =  12.98, p  <  0.0001), and for study/work (F (2,474)  =  4.59, p  <  0.05).

  23. 23.

    Univariate ANOVA with factor between income: for amusement (F (3,472)  =  3.41, p  <  0.05), for social communication (F (3,472)  =  7.77, p  <  0.0001), and for study/work (F (3,472)  =  5.78, p  <  0.01).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

    Leopoldina Fortunati

  2. Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Anna Maria Manganelli

  3. Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

    Pui-lam Law

  4. Department of Sociology, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Shanhua Yang

Authors
  1. Leopoldina Fortunati
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  2. Anna Maria Manganelli
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  3. Pui-lam Law
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  4. Shanhua Yang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pui-lam Law .

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  1. , Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Hong Kong SAR

    Pui-lam Law

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Fortunati, L., Manganelli, A.M., Law, Pl., Yang, S. (2012). Beijing Calling… Mobile Communication in Contemporary China. In: Law, Pl. (eds) New Connectivities in China. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3910-9_4

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