The Right of Interpretation: Who Decides the Success of Picture Mail?

Abstract

This chapter is an empirical research report describing the diffusion of mobile camera phones and picture mail services in Japan between the years 1997 and 2005, based on annual consumer surveys conducted by Ericsson Consumer & Enterprise Lab. A general framework based on sociocultural values and attitudes to telecom for describing the telecom market from a consumer perspective is presented. This framework is then used to put different consumer life stage segments in relation to each other in respect to product diffusion. The change over time of attitudes and behavior is described, and the conclusion is drawn that the product terminology spontaneously created by consumers themselves in order to relate to the product is an important step for mass market diffusion. Furthermore, the group of people who develop this terminology becomes a crucial catalyst for diffusion—and in the Japanese case presented here consists of female students.