It has always been kept in mind that a car, a good house or expensive clothes are synonymous with high incomes. However, as the price of mobile devices has increased, more and more people cannot afford the more premium units, which begs the question: Is a smartphone a social badge like a car?
It is the fastest social badge in the world
Fortunately or unfortunately, the smartphone is the social distinctive that we can analyze the fastest about a personsince if you have the highest-end model from Apple, Samsung and even Xiaomi in your hands, we are talking about a user who has spent more than 1,200 euros on a unit.
It is also true that there are more and more people who do not make a complete disbursement, but rather finance up to 24 months without interest, which makes it easier to acquire. Of course, the price remains the same, so the outlay of more than 1,000 euros is also made.
Today, specialist critics affirm that the perception of status depends on many factors, and sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists have carried out many studies on this. However, there are certain points that determine the social economic level of a person, and the smartphone is of vital importance because paying a lot for a product is associated with people of high status or success.
According to the media International Business Insiderrecently published that the Mobile devices have replaced clothing as symbols of social status and this is observed in large company CEOs, who wear cheap clothes but always have a high-end device. In addition to this, it can be observed that adolescents generally prefer an iPhone (a device associated with status), while they see Android devices as less attractive.
This relationship between devices and social status is seen more in men than in women, affirming the 60% of men compared to 30% of women, that the smartphone is considered one of the first objects that determine how the rest of the people will perceive us.
Why does the iPhone give more status than Android?
One of the easiest differences to analyze and quantify is the number of units that are They launched in 2023 under the Android and iOS operating system. Apple launches four units in September, offering an exclusive product for one year. On the other hand, in the Android universe, practically Every month a new product is launched which has a similar price to the recently acquired generation and which presents different features, improving in some areas and not in others. This is a reason for social status, but there are others as well.
Apple has always been characterized as a company that sells its products to a segment of users who have a greater purchasing power by default. This means that everyone who has an iPhone has a certain standard of living, a priori. However, devices like Samsung or Xiaomi have smartphones from low-end to high-end, which causes that aura to be lost.
To conclude, there are many aspects that must be taken into account beyond the device and that Apple has been able to enhance better than Android. The most obvious of all is that Apple develops and optimizes at the same time hardware and software, an aspect that provides a “differentiation” that Android will never be able to achieve due to its own reason for being. It should also be highlighted the application suite that are unique in their ecosystem and that work tremendously well, such as Final Cut Pro, Garaje Band, among others. In this way, Apple is synonymous with status and studies make it increasingly clear. And you, do you consider that a smartphone is an object of social status?
The entry Do smartphones define your social class? It was first published in La Manzana Mordida.