PROFILING ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF SMARTPHONE USERS FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY EFFICIENT BUSINESS DECISIONS

The recent proliferation of electronic products has led to a strong unmet need for understanding environmental implications of new technologies. According to Nielsen, 66 % of Americans ages 24-35 own a smartphone, providing strong evidence that this technology can be considered ubiquitous. However, a ma-jority of users and service providers are not sensitive to energy implications of data usage. As parameters affecting data deliv-ery and usage are primarily driven by user behavior, this study is focused on using empirical data to investigate its correspon-dence to energy footprint. A large cohort of smartphone users (n = 21,853) and the means for which data is accessed, i.e. via 3G/LTE or WiFi, is examined to develop a model for estimat-ing the energy cost of the various modes of data usage. Finally, alternate business scenarios are developed through simulating behavior change in cohorts based on existing data and then as-sessed with regards to economic and environmental efficiencies