Abstract
In this article, I conduct an analysis of age-based marketing strategies employed by
network providers and present insights obtained from mobile phone history
interviews with young people in provincial Vietnam. From these data I argue that
young people are a perpetual demographic market frontier in the commercialized
mobile media landscape of Southeast Asia. I indicate how network providers
contribute to shaping contemporary childhood and youth with their age-based
marketing strategies. However, young people’s navigation of the commercial terrain
of competing network providers is not determined by commercial forces solely but is
also informed by various non-economic factors. This article finds that an appreciation
of young people as consumers in the mobile phone era requires appreciating the
powerful influence of network providers as well as the multiple relationships in which
their economic decision-making is embedded.
network providers and present insights obtained from mobile phone history
interviews with young people in provincial Vietnam. From these data I argue that
young people are a perpetual demographic market frontier in the commercialized
mobile media landscape of Southeast Asia. I indicate how network providers
contribute to shaping contemporary childhood and youth with their age-based
marketing strategies. However, young people’s navigation of the commercial terrain
of competing network providers is not determined by commercial forces solely but is
also informed by various non-economic factors. This article finds that an appreciation
of young people as consumers in the mobile phone era requires appreciating the
powerful influence of network providers as well as the multiple relationships in which
their economic decision-making is embedded.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 23-31 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Financial Information:The financial support of the Political Economy of
Resources, Environment and Population (PER) research
group of the International Institute of Social Studies is
gratefully acknowledged. I also thank Tran Thi Ha Lan
and Tran Phuong Ha for their excellent research
assistance.
Research programs
- ISS-PE