Post 5

Cell phones and the contracts which come with them are an every day advertisement I see.  Mainly, this is by television commercials, but other forms of advertising is done by companies like Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint.  The Sunday paper typically has ads which might include ones for phones and plans and when driving outside of Athens, sometimes billboards have phone company ads.  These companies appeal to the need to keep contact with the people you know whether this is through actual phone calls (who does that anymore?), texting, or using the data plan on the contract to update facebook or Twitter.    Cell phones can help people to share faster and more often.  Companies appeal to idea they can get you what you need immediately with their unlimited 4G and texting.  Society today has this really selfish need to share everything about each person's individual life, and a cell phone/smartphone/iphone can do all of this.  For any need, there's an app for that.  The audience is high school age teens, all the way to older adults.  Within this are people with various backgrounds including rushing businessmen/women trying to schedule appointments and calls and sports fanatics wishing to watch the game live on the go.  There are also people looking to save some money so companies offer "great deals" as low as $69.99 a month to those who might want to begin using a phone or may be thinking of switching over to a new plan and a new carrier.  Little children are not a target, and older adults not willing to change and learn new device are not either. Most cable networks have advertisements for phones so many people are exposed to a large number of these.  Constraints for these companies are a phone is not absolutely necessary.  Yes, they can make life easier especially when I lose my mom in the grocery store while back home.  A quick text lets me know what is going on and where to find her, but a little searching would get me the same result.  While companies try to create a family plan, families with little children are not going really be too interested.  This depends on the decision of the parents as to what the appropriate age for their child to get a phone.  This usually is not until later junior high.  This leads into the pricing as another constraint.  Parents have to decide at what age are they willing to spend a heavy amount on phones for themselves and their children.