An ethnographic study in a coffee shop
Posted by fatmirgjoni on February 18, 2011
Tirana University
Entrepreneurship MBA Program
Professors: Besa Shahini, Dr; Marja Soila-Wadman, PhD;
By: Fatmir Gjoni fatmir.gjoni@hotmail.com
An ethnographic study in a coffee shop
Keywords: coffee shop, mobile phone, communication, behaviour, people
Introduction
The mobile phone has become one of the inherent fellows of our lives, known for its attribute of rapid transmission of our messages or conversations. On the other side, common places in which people have chosen for years to communicate messages or to conduct conversations are cafés, used well before the mobile phones.
Referring to the handset users, it seem like many of them agree that the mobile phone has already changed their lives. In a study on mobile phone use and communication, professor James Katz[1] states that “Particular age cohorts and subcultures have began to appropriate cell phones for idiosyncratic uses that help to define their niche or social identity” According to empiric studies, mobile phone users are aware of the changes and the “dependency” from the small apparatus, which is reflected in our work and family life. However, there still are other behavioural aspects that are not visible or noticeable per se. observing in a number of coffee shops how costumers are more mobile users than drinking consumers, it can be said that in a metaphorical view the phone is now a coffee used by us to communicate our messages to other people.
But, how has actually mobile phone impacted their behaviour in the cafés and how the cafes and mobile phone interact nowadays? How do they affect each other when they are brought together?
This field study is based on an ethnographic research in three cafes in Tirana, examining the effect of mobile phone on the behaviours of people in the coffee shops.
This field study is done based on qualitative research methods, mainly ethnographic and interviews.
According to “America Untethered”[2], there are many changes on behaviour of people which are using mobile phones.
Based on these findings, as well as other academic and non-academic data and research[3] this field study will focus on the reasons to see behaviour change of café clientele on the presence of cellular phones. Main questions addressed in this paper will explore whether the mobile phone effects people behaviour even in coffee shops. Can presence of mobile phones effect the coffee culture?
As mentioned above both mobile phones and cafés are seen as best communication messengers. But how do they merge, when are both used at the same time?
I will argue in this paper that mobile phones are not only affecting the behaviour of people in cafes, but this actually affects the whole coffee culture as a place for communication.
The conclusions are drown based on ethnographic field study that was conducted in three coffee shops in Tirana; one in entertainment area; one in business area and another one in neighbourhood. Direct observation and interviews with costumers using mobile phones were applied during this study. The aim was to get a better view of the changes and also to be able to compare the observations with view of mobile users and other people around them.
I was trying to see the changes coming from presence of mobile phones on a specific place where communication itself is the base for its existence. This was to highlight some aspects of these changes and further studies can be made from different perspectives in this topic.
Snapshot from a coffee shop
People run into coffee shops. They come in small groups of 2 or 3 people, make a quick scan of the place, choose e table, grab their chairs, take their coats off, and sit. Within the frame of a second, they stand up again. In a hurry and eagerness, they search in their pockets, worried, until they find their mobile phones. Triumphant, they place the mobile phones on the table where they will have the drink.
Only when mobile phones of each member of the group is on the table, costumers (friends, colleagues, siblings) seem to feel comfortable and ready to start the coffee ritual. Just as they sit, each gives a quick look to his mobile phone, although the seating process didn’t last more than some seconds. Looking around its easily noticeable that every costumer (including myself), has put its’ mobile phone(s) on the table.
In each table there usually are 3 people and 5 mobiles phones displayed. Some of them use 2 mobile phones for 2 different networks.
One of the mobiles on the table vibrates, and the discussion suddenly gets interrupted. Everybody checks at his mobile, although the device that vibrates can easily be seen even from the place where I am sitting. The owner picks it up and answers. Others on the table start their own discussion. The subject seems to have changed from the previous one and the communication flow has shifted its focus. Now, the communication ruler on the table is clearly the mobile phone.
The second mobile rings and a second answer follows. The ringing tones and messaging signals continue whilst the waiter gets impatient waiting to take the orders. The waiter finds it difficult to understand what they want because the order is mixed with phone answers. Other on the table wait for the conversation to finish and take advantage of the few second to check again their mobile phones. In the meantime, they examine the facial expression of the friend who is having a mobile conversation and try to catch on the communication messages.
The story of phone calls continues from one mobile to the other, changing the subjects of discussion and sometime changing also the mood and atmosphere on the table.
When coffee are finished, the bill is paid and mobile phones are put back in the pocket, people leave the table to the next clientele, which seem to follow the same culture of connection, dependency and behaviour with mobile phones.
The mobile phone as the “must have” item in a coffee shop
In all the coffee shops observed, people put their mobile phones on the table, facing up and easily accessible to be checked very frequently if they ring or vibrate. Mobile phones are the first ones to be placed; visibly on the table and are the last ones to be taken off the sight. Females also take the mobile phones out of their handbags to put them on the table. The mobile phones are very often put close to the drink, creating a close relation, as companion of the owner for the time spent in the coffee shop. Mobile phones seem to play the role of “un-missible toys” on the table and people seem to be quite dependent on them, both as a mean of communication and behavioural regulator. If the phone does not ring, people dial a number, so that they feel comfortable in the mobile-depending culture of the coffee-shop time.
People play with their mobiles when they don’t talk or text. They rotate them on the table, have close looks to the screen, change the ringing tone, and share pictures with others on the table.
Two interviewed participants accepted that in the coffee shop the mobile phone is more like an item with which they can play with (not for the games as program) especially when alone or waiting for others in the coffee. Mobile phones are the items with which the person having the coffee, plays the most, touches the most and moves the place the most, a symbol of conversation, but not the communicator per se in the given time within the coffee shop.
The mobile phone as behaviour influential
People in the coffee shops show a very high level of alertness towards the mobile phones. The mobile phone, although displayed on the table, is checked now and then without any specific reason, no ringtone, no call, and no message. Very often they press one button just not to let the “power saving screen” off, as if they want to keep it awake. Those that still keep it in their pocket or handbag do the same. The table conversation is very often interrupted, changed or loses the initiated enthusiasm after one person from the table uses the mobile phone. Usually after the phone calls, the person joins back the conversation with a smile in his face, even though this may be by that time outside the context of discussions.
Conflict of mobile phone with coffee culture
Many people choose the coffee shops for discussions, relaxing or short time off. These seem to be accepted as true for timing referred before the mobile phones. Many of the people accepted that they had to leave a coffee early or later than planned because of “interferences” from cellular phones. Analyzing the people’s attentions to the mobile ringtone, talks on the phone, mobile video callings and video playing, it’s noticeable that there is an increase on level of the noise (noise pollution), making coffee shops loosing the “relaxing” place that they are meant to be. The coffees seem more a place where people enter in a “strange” relationship with their mobile phones rather than a place where people focus on the drink culture and face to face conversations.
Although the observations were conducted in 3 totally different environments, still the impact of mobile phones on their behaviour and coffee culture seem to be similar.
In this perspective, use of the mobile phones on the coffee shops has its own characteristics on which coffee shop owners, network providers and mobile phone producers can identify issues as well as opportunities in which they can work on. From this point of view, the mobile phone used in the context of the coffee shop is not seen in the light of the communication tool; I have rather observed it in the context of the interaction with the whole environment and the impact on the behaviour done unconsciously. Yes, the mobile phone is changing our life and shaping our behaviour, furthermore in different environments shows to produce different changes and behaviours altogether, affecting the environment in which activities happen.
Additionally, with the presence of the mobile phones, it looks like the coffee shop becomes a more complex place to be in.
[1] http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/forums/cell_phone_culture.htm – accessed 03/02/2011
[2] a summary on some other ethnographic studies (Fatah, American Demographics, March 2003),
[3] Other experiences, colleagues, family and personal.
