iPhone6
While some things are better with age, that’s not the case with technology.
Amber Epp is an assistant professor of marketing at the Wisconsin School of Business. “We’re kind of wired for a bias toward novelty. We want the newest, the best thing that’s out on the market.” She says, smartphones are embedded in our everyday lives — for use with social media, instant texting, taking selfies, and making purchases.
Epp recently conducted a study on long-distance families. She says grandparents love using the latest video technology to stay in touch with their grandchildren.
Also, she says, companies — especially Apple — do a great job at inciting consumer desire for new technologies. “If you noticed the iPhone 6 was completely shrouded in secrecy with no information provided to the public about what the new features might be. People were clamoring to find out not just about the product in general but to be part of the phenomenon of having something new.”
Even though a current device might work just fine, clamoring for the latest technology could have something to do with being part of a community of like-minded individuals; some might consider it a status symbol; or maybe it’s as simple as ‘keeping up with the Jones.’
The new Apple iPhones go on sale this Friday (September 19), but devoted fans were already pre-ordering the objects of their desire last Friday (September 12).