In what now seems like a hundred years ago, we used to have people who deciphered our personality based on whether we minded our “P”s and “Q”s, dotted our “i”s and crossed our “t”s.
Then there were studies that said one's personality could be decoded by the car he drove, the bag he carried or the genre of music he listened to.
Quite interestingly, a recent research suggests that the phones we use say what kind of people we are.
Social analyst David Chalke said a person's mobile phone could give outsiders insight into their attitudes towards work, rest and play.
A research by Roy Morgan revealed most attributes differed between the owners of mobile phone brands.
The typical iPhone user thinks computers give them control over their lives. “iPhone is the Alfa Romeo,” Chalke said. Sony Ericsson users like a full social life and fast food.
Users of an LG handset are usually women aged 14 to 24, not mechanically minded and unlikely to have pay TV. “LG is the Kia”.
Game players
Samsung users tend to be conservative dressers over 50 who don't like taking risks. “Samsung is the Daihatsu”. BlackBerry users are high-earners aged 35 to 49. Nokia users are unlikely to be aged 14 to 24 and less likely to have played arcade video games in the past three months, according to him. “Nokia is the security blanket; it is the Toyota of phones”.
So do these findings hold true in India?And how accurate are these kinds of studies anyway?
According to businessman Sendil Jeevan, “Since studies like these are undertaken in more developed nations, they aren't necessarily mirrored in India. While iPhone users might think computers control their lives, the findings on people who use other brands of phones seem inaccurate. With a world population of close to seven billion, it is rather difficult to assess the exact personality type of a consumer based on something as subjective as his choice of mobile phone.”
Mobile phone dealer Rajesh Kumar informs: “With BlackBerry phones becoming more affordable now, youngsters in the age group of 18 to 25 are snapping up these models. The BlackBerry Messenger is another huge reason to buy these phones. In general, the number of consumers for mobile phones is on the rise and with a higher standard of living and more disposable income on hand, people are spoilt for choice and they may have different reasons for wanting to purchase a particular product. Studies like this are too generalised.”
“More than having anything to do with one's personality, when it comes to the products we buy, factors that play major roles are affordability, desired/required features, availability, after sales service provided, etc. Hence, studies like this should just be taken at their face value and not be treated as some kind of universal theory,” suggests Arnab Ghosh, a retail merchandiser at an electronics store.
Typecasting?
Concurring with him is PG student of Psychology, Shyamalika Nagendra, who thinks: “These studies are fun to read and maybe true to an extent but one can't rely on them too much. Those who do think highly of these articles will start typecasting people based on a single phone so it shouldn't be taken too seriously.”
Quite like the survey about the relation between musical taste and personality undertaken by Professor Adrian North of Heriot-Watt University, which found that contrary to popular belief, heavy metal fans are not the rebels in perpetual depression but are in fact “delicate things”.
And that those who play blaring music belong to a higher earning bracket than those who listen to mellow numbers — offbeat researches do appear to garner attention.
And now that we've gotten to know our phones define who we are, we just have wait for the next groundbreaking study, which would perhaps reveal the kind of person we are, depending on whether we prefer sambar or chutney with idli for breakfast!
