The effects of push vs. pull notifications on overall smartphone usage, frequency of usage and stress levels

Abstract: Consumers of media (e.g. television, the Internet, smartphones) have been found to experience both media overuse and the development of negative media habits due to different personality traits, life events, operant conditioning processes and deficient self-regulation (Ifinedo, 2016; LaRose, Lin, & Eastin, 2003; McIlwraith, 1998; Oulasvirta, Rattenbury, Ma, & Raita, 2012). Recent research found that smartphones, too, seem to be conducive to both overuse and habit formation (Haug et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2014; Oulasvirta et al., 2012). This study turns its attention toward a smartphone staple functionality – smartphone notifications, in order to determine their effect on overall usage and frequency of usage, as they were already found to cause stress and inattention (Kushlev, Dunn, & Proulx, 2016). The study recruited three participant groups. Each group had different notification settings (none, maximum, control group) during a ten-day study period. Analysis of variance statistical method (ANOVA) was used and results indicate that manipulating the daily amount of smartphone notifications does not affect overall smartphone usage, possibly due to already established device usage habits and past experience.