A new study finds that emotions have a lot to do with why people prefer smartphones with bigger screens over ones with smaller screen size.
When it comes to smartphones and other electronic devices, people often state that bigger is better. However, apart from its practical use, there may be another driving force behind why people opt for phones with a bigger screen. In a new study, Penn State researchers found that emotions trigger a person's preference for buying phones with bigger screens.
"There are basically two different reasons that 'bigger is better' for screen size: utilitarian reasons and affective, or emotional, reasons," said lead author S. Shyam Sundar in a press statement. "There are so many things on smartphones that we can use, but an even more powerful factor of the larger screen is its hedonic aspect -- how attractive and pleasing it is to users."
The study was conducted on 130 university students that were divided into two groups. One group was given a smartphone with a 3.7-inch screen and the other was given a phone which had a 5.3-inch screen size. Both groups were asked to surf the internet using the phone and find the departure time for a shuttle bus. The participants were then asked to fill up a questionnaire about their overall user experience, how convenient it was using the device and whether or not the smartphone helped them locate the bus schedule.
According to the study, people prefer phones with bigger screens because they find such devices more emotionally satisfying, especially for entertainment and communication purposes.
"The screen size has increased the bandwidth of user interactions on smartphones, making it more than a talking-texting device," said Sundar. "With high definition screens, people now can watch television and movies, as well as multi-task, something that wasn't possible in earlier smartphone versions."
This preference even extends to larger monitors and TV sets because they have a positive impact of user experience. However, there is a major obstacle smartphone engineers face in this regard. Enlarging screen size may lead to compromising on convenience in carrying the device around.
"We have not reached the point where the screen is too big yet, and I believe there may be some room for expansion of the screen size," said Sundar. "Finding the idea size is something that I'm sure industry engineers and designers are working to find."
Findings of the study were published online in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
