Reaching the Mobile Respondent: Determinants of High-Level Mobile Phone Use Among a High-Coverage Group

The aim of this study is to identify the key determinants of high-level mobile phone use in a high-coverage target group by replicating an Australian study conducted by Walsh and White. Factors predicting high-level mobile phone use and relations between self- and prototypical identity are investigated by using an extended version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). A total of 215 Austrian university students participated by completing two questionnaires, 1 week apart. The first questionnaire assessed attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intention as well as self- and prototypical identity variables. The second questionnaire assessed mobile phone use in the previous week. It was found that all three TPB variables significantly predicted intention. The addition of identity variables improved the model with self-identity becoming the second strongest overall predictor. In terms of predicting high-level mobile phone behavior, intention and subjective norm, but not PBC, were significant predictors.