Men are slaves to fashion when choosing their mobile phones

A survey last year found that nearly one in three American adults say the mobile phone is the invention they most hate, but cannot live without.

The handset narrowly beat the alarm clock and television for the distinction, according to the Lemelson-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Invention Index study.

'Most people dislike cellphones because they either feel tethered to them or they are annoyed by others who use them in inappropriate public places, such as restaurants or movie theatres,' said Merton Flemings, director of the Lemelson-MIT Programme, a non-profit organisation that celebrates inventors and inventions.

But people's opinions can vary considerably. A new study by research firm International Data Corp (IDC) found that style and status have become important reasons to own a mobile phone for an influential segment of the world's consumer population.

IDC found that young men were more likely than women to buy mobile phones as fashion statements. About 84.6 per cent of male respondents in the IDC survey cited style and status as reasons for buying and using mobile phones. But only 15.4 per cent of female survey respondents considered those factors important.

The data was gathered from 1,795 members of IDC's Mobile Advisory Council. This council is part of IDC's International Technology Advisory Council, made up of more than 28,000 buyers and users of mobile devices, consumer electronics and personal computing products and services around the world.

The IDC study found that mobile users primarily derived one of three fundamental benefits from their devices: safety and security, productivity and convenience, or style and status.