Social factors

Research questions on Social factors

Egon:
1. What type of devices do consumers prefer to use for accessing location-based services, e.g. cellular phone, PDA, in-vehicle device?
2. What are the lifestyle characteristics and demographic profile of those most interest in location-based services, telematic services and GPS navigation systems?

Fabian:
1. Which current technologies (habits) will decrease (printed city maps, tourist information...)
2. Tracking and tracing children rather than trusting them

Reza:
1. Would the consumer reaction be influenced by background / culture?
2. Which cultures are willing to use such a new product quicker than the others?
3. Is that also based on their sex/age/education/ etc..?

Werner:
1. To which extend will LBS be seen a 'value-adding' ? Can there be made a distinction between basic and diversified LBS ?
2. Is it positive to become dependant on LBS ? (eg. Replace city maps)
3. Is being trackable percieved as a positive development ?

Final questions to focus on
1. What type of devices do consumers prefer to use for accessing location-based services, e.g. cellular phone, PDA, in-vehicle device?
2. What are the lifestyle characteristics and demographic profile of people interested? Who would be "best adaptable to the technique"?

Originally, LBS were developed to use on the cellular phone by the means of GSM. People would send text messages to a server which tracked their position on a more or less good accuracy. People then could choose from a list provided which location they want to go to and send text messages back and forth until they received a sufficient result. This scenario wasn't very interactive and not very detailed either due to a limited screen on the cell phone.
The technology is changing quicker and quicker. Nowadays, technical devices emerged which combine several technologies like GPRS, GPS, WLAN etc. with much better screens. These technologies can be used in laptops, PDAs, Cell phones, in-car equipment, or in new devices that combine the these functionalieites.
To use LBS in an efficient and effective way, people need more highly technical devices. I think the more technical the device someone uses is, the more he is willing to use the service. People who want to be mobile in terms of receiving information in any regards tend to travel a lot. These people will have the most benefit in using the LBS rather than people who mostly stay/live in their hometown.

3. Good to be dependent on LBS (decreasing/replacing of city maps, tourist information, etc.)?

If you come to a new, unfamiliar city and you need to ge somewhere right away, the use of LBS is a very good opportunity to make use of. However, today's accuracy limits it to use in cars. Using GPS while walking is not accurate enough at the moment. On the other hand, there aren't geo data that are suitable enough to use for pedestrians (pedestrian zones, parks, etc.) However, since GPS technology is more and more emerging in PDAs rather than only in cars, it is just a matter of time until electronical city maps for pedestrians will be available.
"Older" people that are not very familiar with new technologies (and of course anybody who does not have a capable device) will still use printed city maps. Also the tourist information in the cities won't dissappear since it is also a place where the respective city represents itself and advertises its local products and informs the guests about its history. Of course, you can put all the information on a website that can be accessed easily using mobile devices (or any other browser). But there will still be a demand of actually takling to the local people and get a feeling of the culture and local environment which cannot be delivered through electronical devices.

4. Is tracking & tracing "good or bad" (privacy....)?

5. What is exactly value-adding?