Scope and data

Our aim is to understand how trust is negotiated within the context of mobile and remote communication. To get insight into this problem, we have studied the cell phone behavior of 1,000 French users who subscribed in November and December of 1997 to OLA Itineris service, which provides one or two hours of calls for a fixed rate. These offers were aimed at first-time subscribers who tended to favor private use of the cell phone – 40% used the phone strictly for private use while 40% opted for mixed private/professional use. Half of the sample came from Paris and half from the Toulouse area in southwestern France. The age distribution in the sample was as follows: 8% of the sample were below 20, 27% were in their 20s, 24% in their 30s, 22% in their 40s, and 19% were 50 or more. This age distribution was within a few percentage points of the average age distribution of OLA subscribers at the time. The sample was 55% male and 45% female.

We followed a dual methodology that analyzed quantitative calling patterns and qualitative interviews. First, we asked the users to allow us to do a statistical analysis of their usage, which we studied from June 1998 to February 1999, and then to answer questionnaires. The first set of questions was brief and generic, asked over the phone to ascertain a few socio-professional parameters.