ABSTRACT

People want to stay in touch and have easy access to infonnation anywhere and anytime (Ling et al. ,2006). :N urvidathi (2002) stated that the most frequently cited reasons for having a mobile phone is its mobility, usefulness in emergency, and the feeling of selfassurance. This enhances users' feelings of family security and personal security. Mobile phones also have facilitated the formation of social networks for their users (Srivastava, 2005) and have increased social inclusion and connection (Mathews, 2004; Wei and Lo, 2006). Young users believe that using a technologically advanced mobile phone improves their status among peers (Ozcan and Kocak, 2003). Consumers use cell phones not only for communication but also for facilitating universal information access (Ling et aI., 2006), quick communication through instant messaging, and voice calling (Weiss, 2002), or technological features of cell phones such as camera and mobile Internet (Ling et aI., 2007). Besides these factors, Walsch et al. (2008) revealed that some young people are extremely attached to their mobile phone with symptoms of behavioral addiction revealed in participants' descriptions of their mobile phone use. Therefore, impact of mobile phone on users' daily life cannot be ignored (Ling et aI., 2006).