Mobile Phone Dependency and Effect on the Academic Lifestyle of Female Students at a University: A Case Study of a University of Technology

Abstract

Mobile phones are now being used by all members of society, men, women and the children. When members of society use them it affects their lives, thus the research is interested in exploring how mobile phone usage affects the lifestyles of female university students. The study explored the dependency and effect of mobile phone usage among female students at a university of technology. A cross-sectional survey was carried at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), Soshanguve South campus. The study focused on the following objectives: exploring the classification of female university students who own cell phones, establishing the general phenomena influencing the use of mobile phones by female university students at a university of technology and perceived gratification and finally establishing the patterns of mobile phone use by female students and the lifestyle patterns generated thereafter. The study collected data from 100 female students at the institution using a survey. The findings indicated that the main reasons female university students at TUT use a mobile phone are for socialising, sharing academic work and solutions as well as for safety and privacy purposes. The major reason for choice of brand was seen to be usability and price. The respondents showed some signs of addiction to their mobile phones. The findings of this study are beneficial to marketers of mobile phones in Pretoria and the rest of the country; it is also useful to mobile phone developers, universities, parents, and researchers exploring mobile phone adoption and usage pattern in a developing country such as South Africa.