TY - JOUR
T1 - Cosmetic Customization of Mobile Phones
T2 - Cultural Antecedents, Psychological Correlates
AU - Lee, Seoyeon
AU - Sundar, S. Shyam
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© , Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2015/1/2
Y1 - 2015/1/2
N2 - Mobile phones are seen as extensions of the self, with users individualizing their phones via customized accessories and features. A Korea–U.S. comparison survey (N = 551) examines the degree to which aspects of cultural psychology predict aesthetic motivations for mobile-phone customization, including the possibility that repression of self-expression in predominantly collectivistic Eastern cultures may be fueling the need to publicly express oneself through visible accessories. Furthermore, it explores psychological correlates of the tendency for cosmetic customization. Analyses using structural equation modeling show that culture predicts other-directedness, which is associated with aesthetic motivations for cosmetic customization of mobile phones, which in turn is related to product attachment—a relationship that is mediated by the degree to which users perceive their phones as reflecting their self. Theoretical contributions include an empirically based explication of the social psychology underlying the phenomenon of personal-media accessorizing, with practical implications for the design of customization options and cross-cultural marketing of mobile phones.
AB - Mobile phones are seen as extensions of the self, with users individualizing their phones via customized accessories and features. A Korea–U.S. comparison survey (N = 551) examines the degree to which aspects of cultural psychology predict aesthetic motivations for mobile-phone customization, including the possibility that repression of self-expression in predominantly collectivistic Eastern cultures may be fueling the need to publicly express oneself through visible accessories. Furthermore, it explores psychological correlates of the tendency for cosmetic customization. Analyses using structural equation modeling show that culture predicts other-directedness, which is associated with aesthetic motivations for cosmetic customization of mobile phones, which in turn is related to product attachment—a relationship that is mediated by the degree to which users perceive their phones as reflecting their self. Theoretical contributions include an empirically based explication of the social psychology underlying the phenomenon of personal-media accessorizing, with practical implications for the design of customization options and cross-cultural marketing of mobile phones.
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U2 - 10.1080/15213269.2013.853618
DO - 10.1080/15213269.2013.853618
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84920696597
SN - 1521-3269
VL - 18
SP - 1
EP - 23
JO - Media Psychology
JF - Media Psychology
IS - 1
ER -