Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior

Consumer Attitude Toward Mobile Marketing INTRODUCTION Starting from background of the research area and why this study is important, this section of the study will continue with necessary definitions of the terms which will be used in this research. Additionally, this section will present problem discussion to enlighten the reader about current situation of the study area. Finally outline of the thesis will be shown to inform the reader about what will be encountered in the upcoming chapters of this study.BACKGROUND After high penetration of the internet, mobile broadband subscription rate also increased dramatically. Subscriptions of mobile broadband outnumbered the subscriptions of broadband by 2008, which is indicating tremendous potential for mobile internet (International Telecommunication Union, 2009). Another research conducted by ITU (International Telecommunication Union, 2010) shows that 90% of the world population has internet access, and 80% of people who is living in ru ral areas also have internet access.Different reasons are playing a role in rise of mobile devices usage, according to Grant et al. , (2007) Improvements in mobile technology, and integration of data, video and audio context in one mobile device absolutely increased the usage of mobile devices. Flexibility in communication and information sharing became possible with improvements in mobile technology and integration of internet and computing in to mobile medium (Siau et al. , 2005). The possibility of reaching the information anytime and anywhere triggered the improvements of mobile devices lately (Deans, 2005).Grant also states that potential of interaction with consumer, target marketing and managing consumer relationship made mobile devices especially important channel for marketers (Grant et al. , 2007). Mobile services and marketing has become powerful source for marketing communication and distribution (Nysveen et al. , 2005). Backed up marketing activities with mobile devices provide companies an opportunity to directly communicate with consumers anytime, anywhere (Haghirian et al. , 2005).Internet has been used as an effective channel by companies for building and managing consumer relationship (Deans, 2005). With the mobile internet, marketing opportunities are defined by different authors like Ahonen, (2002) that when mobile internet subscriptions outnumber the broadband subscriptions mobile internet will have the larger potential audience. Marketing potential of the mobile devices also found by Friedrich et al. , (2009) as, probably mobile medium have more potential * Mobile TechnologyCertainly mobile technologies have a very crucial and important impact on today’s businesses (Haghirian et al. , 2005). As a result mobile technologies are providing many opportunities for marketing activities, especially direct communication opportunity with consumers anytime, anywhere (Haghirian et. al. , 2008). Latest improvements in an area of internet and w ireless technology during the late 1990s paved the way for unique telecommunication service mobile internet (Okazaki, 2005). According to Siau et al. (2005) Mobile technology holds great strategic importance, and it is integrating internet and computing into wireless environment, and improving the communication, information sharing and interworking. Even mobile phones and assistive networks seem to be dominant mobile commerce providers, other technologies and devices will probably have important role in mobile commerce soon (Balasubramanian et al. , 2002). For instance, there are new devices that combine mobile phones and personal digital assistants’ (PDA) features in one device (ibid). Guo et al. , 2010: â€Å"Mobile communication devices, such as cell phones, laptops, PDAs, etc. have provided people with new approaches to accessing web contents, emails, instant messaging, and commerce services in a convenient and flexible fashion which fully takes the advantages of mobilit y and timeliness of mobile communication technologies. † More information about mobile technology will be provided in chapter 2 (3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Software and Technology, SMS & MMS) * Electronic Commerce and Electronic Marketing Definitions of electronic business, electronic commerce, and internet commerce are gathered together under the same roof, and threated as the same term as electronic commerce (Elliot, 2002).Electronic commerce defined by Turban et al. , (2006): â€Å"The process of buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging products, services and/or information via computer networks, including the internet. † (p. 4). Providing interactive environment and personalizing the content of message enabling powerful digital marketing channel (mobile devices and internet) to interact with consumers (Strandvik et al. , 2006). There are four categories of electronic commerce identified, which are business-to-business (B2B), business-toconsumer( B2C), peer-to-peer (P 2P) and consumer-to-business (C2B) as it shown in figure 11 (rayport et al. 2004) in next page. And B2C defined by Rayport as electronic commerce refers to exchanges between businesses and consumer. Business originating from†¦ Business Consumers B2B| C2B| B2C| P2P| And selling to†¦Business Consumer FIGURE 1: Four categories of electronic commerce. According to Strauss et al. , (2006): â€Å"Electronic marketing, is the use of information technology in the process of creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers, and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders†.Chaffey et al. , (2009), also adds that electronic marketing is part of the digital marketing and have more aspects than internet marketing (wireless media, email) such as electronic CRM (Customer relationship management) and digital customer data management. * Mobile Commerce and Mobile Marketing Business experts are estimating potential of mobil e world without time and place boundaries (Balasubramanian et al. , 2002). Widespread usage of mobile phones accelerated the growth of usage of mobile devices to conduct mobile commerce (Xu, 2007).Haghirian et al. , (2005), (p. 32c): â€Å"In a mobile world, these activities (process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, services, and ideas to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals) are performed via mobile devices, such as cellular phones and pagers, cordless telephones, personal digital assistants, two-way radios, baby crib monitors, wireless networking systems, global positioning systems (GPS) based locators and maps†.Commonly mobile commerce is considered as part of the electronic commerce (Lian et al. , 2010). Currently there is no formal agreement of definition of mobile commerce, but widespread acceptance of mobile commerce is the use of mobile devices to interact with consumers and transacti ons that takes place on private or public networks (Balasubramanian et al. , 2002). By taking advantage of technology and applications, mobile internet become advantageous subsidiary channel for traditional electronic commerce, which is indicating big potential (Wang et al. 2010) Current improvements in mobile technology resulted in widespread usage and different functions of mobile devices, the mobile medium has turned into a powerful marketing channel, which allowed businesses to set up electronic presence alongside with their consumers without time and place boundaries (Toker et al. , 2010). The Mobile Marketing Association, (2008) defines mobile marketing as â€Å"The use of wireless media as an integrated content delivery and direct response vehicle within a cross-media marketing communications program. † Anyway, it is important to clarify mobile marketing and mobile advertising (Leppaniemi et al. 2004). Hence Leppaniemi et al. , (2004) defines mobile advertising as â₠¬Å"Any paid message communicated by mobile media with the intent to influence the attitudes, intentions and behavior of those addressed by the commercial messages. †(p. 93-97) which can be also inferred from definitions mobile advertising is part of mobile marketing. After stating two types of mobile advertising which are push and pull advertising, Leppaniemi et al. , (2004) explains it as following: Leppaniemi et al. , (2004): â€Å"Advertising that is â€Å"pushed† to the users’ devices is generally used in conjunction with mobile advertising.Push advertising may be unsolicited such as special promotions delivered by SMS to users within the context of an existing customer relationship, or it may be solicited where users agree to have certain services or promotions pushed to them at certain times (sponsored sports score alerts, for example). Pull advertising, on the other hand, is defined as an advertising that is attached to content or services that users requ est or â€Å"pull† to themselves. For instance, when a customer requests the local weather from mobile service provider, the content of the response, including any related advertising, is pull advertising. (p. 93-97) The increasing growth in the area of mobile commerce gives new dimensions to interactive marketing (Okazaki, 2009). Direct interaction with consumers is possible via mobile marketing without time and place boundaries (Dickinger et al. , 2005). Personal nature of the mobile phones provide an opportunity to understand buying habits and trends of individual consumers which is impossible in PC environment, that’s why marketers should see mobile internet as a powerful medium (Keefe, 2008). * Attitude According to Antonides et al. (1998), â€Å"Attitude is the individual predisposition to evaluate an object or an aspect of the world in a favorable or unfavorable manner. † (p. 197) More information about consumer attitude will be provided in chapter 2, wit h focus on marketing activities. PROBLEM DISCUSSION Lehmann et al. , (1998): â€Å"The most important phase of any research is the definition of the problem to be addressed. † Large variety of media channels increased the competition for drawing the attention of the consumer (Strandvik et al. , 2006). Mobile medium especially changing the marketing dynamics and pointing consumer needs and interests (Friedrich et al. 2009). In order to take advantage of mobile devices to establish marketing efficiency, it is important to understand how consumers perceive mobile advertising (Haghirian et al. , 2005). Mobile marketing allows marketers to immediately track success of their campaign and provide an opportunity to be more precise about place and how advertisements are conveyed to the consumers (Keefe, 2008). Mobile marketing is the only individual medium that enables interactive, direct interaction without time and place boundaries (Leppaniemi et al. 2004).According to Haig, (2002) The fact is that mobile phones are the most individual device we own and it is possible to interact and target individually (ibid. ). High potential of innovative and creative mobile marketing indicates that it is extremely important to understand and gain deeper knowledge in consumer behavior in mobile commerce medium (Haghirian et al. , 2008). Because of the innovativeness, consumer’s reactions toward mobile marketing become critical for the success of mobile commerce (ibid). To improve the personalization of the advertising, behavioral advertisers are profiling the mobile consumers and tracking them (King et al. 2010). Personalized advertising is adding more value and improving experience for consumers (Dickinger et al. , 2004). Mobile phones have started to commercialize (Wei et al. , 2010). Latest improvements in communication technology opened the way for mobile advertising to be crucial component of marketing mix (Leppaniemi et al. 2004). Mobile marketing is gaining po pularity with improvements in wireless technology and widespread usage of smart phones (Sun et al. , 2010). Despite the fact that mobile marketing increases quickly Haghirian et al. (2005) stated that Potential consumers didn’t have opportunity to express their feeling toward mobile marketing. According to Leppaniemi et al. 2004, even though a lot of research conducted in the area of mobile advertising, only few of these researches delivered useful knowledge to this area. Roach, (2009), (p. 124-138): â€Å"The fast pace of development within the mobile commerce industry has brought about a new field of academic research, in which studies have examined the variety of factors influencing the acceptance of mobile phone marketing from both consumer and organization perspectives.The current literature remains largely inconsistent and fragmented. † There is an accelerating growth of the articles in an area of mobile marketing since 2005, after some time it is stabilized arou nd 42% per year (Toker et al. , 2010). The distribution of articles by year is shown in Figure22. FIGURE 2: Distributions of articles by year. Even though correlation between attitude towards mobile advertising and mobile marketing adoption is indicated, there are several different research investigating the attitude and outcome of it (Toker et al. , 2010). According to Soroa-Koury et. al. (2010) there is probably a positive correlation between positive attitude towards mobile advertising and eagerness to accept mobile advertising. Consumers’ mobile marketing experience and usage frequency of mobile marketing is also another important issue. Some mobile device users may have experienced the mobile marketing, some may have not. One type of usage segmentation is ? Volume Segmentation? and it is explained by Goldsmith et al. , (1999) as; Volume segmentation combines two different factor (frequency of use and usage rate) to divide market into three different categories which are: heavy users, light users and nonusers.In order to understand the relation between frequency of usage and attitude Solomon, (2007) uses the ABC model of attitudes in order to draw attention to relation between components of ABC model of attitudes and usage segments: Solomon, (2007): â€Å"Most researchers agree that an attitude has three components: affect, behavior, and cognition. Affect refers to the way a consumer feels about an attitude object. Behavior involves the person’s intentions to do something with regard to an attitude object. Cognition refers to the beliefs a consumer has about an attitude object.We can remember these three components of an attitude as the ABC model of attitudes. All three components of an attitude is important, but their relative importance will vary depending on a consumer’s level of motivation with regard to the attitude object, whether they are light or heavy users, and so on. † (p. 237) General idea about internet advertising is rather entertaining or informative (Tsang et al. , 2004). Although the difference between internet advertising and general advertising is known, it is unclear how consumers feel about mobile advertising and the relation between attitude and behavior (ibid).There is a big potential for marketers, but there is still lot to learn about mobile marketing by investigating it further (Haghirian et al. , 2005). It is found that younger people are faster than older people about adoption of new technology (Leek et al. , 2009). Consequently highest usage of mobile phone is the 18- 29 years old age group (ibid). Researches indicate that mobile phone is the most common way of communication among young people who uses email more than traditional voice calls (Okazaki, 2009).As technology behind mobile phones improves more and increase their capacity to download and store video and music content, they are going to become more popular for young people (Grant et al. , 2007). As a result the reason why young people use mobile phones and how they use is topic worthy for researchers (ibid). The purpose of the research is to bring light and create understanding of consumers’ attitude formation toward mobile marketing, that’s why the following research problem is formulated: How is the young consumers’ attitude toward mobile marketing? RESEARCH PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONSBased on the problem discussion above to accomplish purpose the research is focusing on different factors that affecting consumer attitude toward mobile marketing. Basic aim of the research questions is to understand the effect of each factor on consumer attitude toward mobile marketing, whether positive or negative. Therefore; to increase awareness about the factors that influencing consumer’s attitude toward mobile marketing among young consumer;. Starting from available theories and models, the study will try to find important variables that affect consumer attitude toward mobile marketing.In order to understand the effect of content on attitude toward mobile marketing with the focus on youth generation, first question is formulated to analyze further if consumer form a positive or negative attitude when content is considered. R. Q. 1: How content of mobile marketing play a role in formation of attitude toward mobile marketing? The main aim of the second question is to investigate further of the effect of personalization of mobile marketing on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing. In order to understand the effect of this variable on consumer attitude, second question is formulated as following: R. Q. : How personalization of mobile marketing play a role in formation of attitude toward mobile marketing? The study conducted by Soroa-Koury et al. , 2010 found that perceived usefulness of mobile marketing predicted attitude towards mobile marketing, whereas perceived ease-of-use of mobile marketing did not predict attitude towards mobile marketing. Howev er situation may differ in mobile marketing context, hence the following hypotheses are developed: H. 1: Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing. H. 2: Perceived ease-of-use has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing.RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS Hypothesis 1: Perceived Usefulness Analysis of hypothesis 1 â€Å"Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing. † is presented for each case separately. Male All five of the male respondents agreed on that usefulness of mobile marketing has an positive impact on their attitude toward it, and they are more open to useful mobile marketing activities. According to Soroa- Koury et al. , (2010) perceived usefulness of mobile advertising predicts attitude toward it and positively influences consumer attitude towards mobile advertising.During the interviews all of the respondents found different reasons to feel that mobile marketing i s useful, their reaction towards useful mobile marketing was having positive feelings toward it. Female All five of the female respondents also stated different motivations to find mobile marketing useful. Usefulness of mobile marketing is directly correlated to reaction toward it, and all of the respondents underlined that usefulness of mobile marketing generates positive feelings towards provider and mobile marketing activity.At this point findings of Soroa-Kory et al. , (2010) with responds of interviewees are matching. * Hypothesis 2: Perceived Ease-of-Use Analysis of hypothesis 2 ? Perceived ease-of-use has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing is presented for each cases separately. Male During the interviews perceived ease of use not found to be as important as usefulness of mobile marketing. All of the respondents agreed on that easiness of mobile marketing doesn’t necessarily creates positive attitude towards it. In accordance with Soroa-Kor y et al. (2010) findings which is implying that perceived ease-of-use is not predicting consumer attitude toward mobile advertising, respondents also agreed that perceived ease-of-use is not effecting consumer attitude in a positive way and not a merit to measure consumer attitude toward mobile marketing. Apart from that one of the respondent doesn’t find mobile marketing easy to use while four of the respondent found mobile marketing easy to use and interact with. Female Three out of five respondents highlighted that mobile marketing is not easy to use and interact with.All of the respondents underlined the fact that easiness of mobile marketing is essential and not an extra, consequently outcome of easiness doesn’t found to be positive by respondents. Findings of Soroa-Kory et al. , (2010) also approves that easiness of mobile marketing is not necessarily predicts the consumer attitude. During the interview one of the respondent highlighted that easiness is not carry ing as LITERATURE REVIEW The previous chapter provided background and problem discussion to the study area of this thesis. This chapter will present the review of earlier studies and literature related to this research purpose.Aim of this chapter is to deliver relevant literature about mobile marketing and attitude towards it. Firstly attitude patterns of the consumers towards mobile marketing will be presented, and secondly mobile marketing enabling technologies will be described. Finally review of the theories concerning the factors that affecting mobile marketing will take place. * Enabling Technologies & Types of Mobile Marketing Improved technology in mobile devices allowed us to surf the internet, find the location with GPS (Global Positioning System), tweet with friends or chat with them, watch movies and play games and so on (Liu et al. 2010) This part of the study will deliver information about technology that making mobile marketing possible and present types of current mo bile marketing applications. * 3G and Wi-Fi The term 3G is one of the latest broadband mobile communication system that uses internet and variety of multimedia communications (Bao, 2010). Zeng et al. , (2009) explains the benefits of 3G by stating that; 3G enabled better data and voice transfer rate, and it is providing various different services like web browsing, video conferencing, e-commerce applications (Video, voice communication, online media, Mobile TV and etc. and personalized information services. Large variety of 3G mobile services transformed mobile devices from traditional voice phones to entertaining, life and business media (Yang, 2010). When we compare surfing on the internet via computer with via 3G there is some advantages of 3G can be seen like without time and place limitations, which are becoming an opportunity for mobile commerce to go further (Zeng et al. , 2009). And if special services can be introduced to people, it can accelerate the improvement of mobile commerce (ibid. ).These days Wi-Fi is becoming more and more popular way to connect to the internet, people are taking advantage of connecting to internet without wires in hotels, at the university campus, in the office, and Wi-Fi is becoming synonymous with WLANs (wireless local area networks) allowing access to the internet (Hayes et al. , 2009). Currently Wi-Fi is available through wide range of mobile devices as a default function (Henry et al. , 2002). Wi-Fi hotspots are providing free internet access to everyone who is carrying a device with Wi-Fi function (ibid). * Mobile banner advertisingDevelopments in mobile screen technology increased the resolution and provided an opportunity for advertisers to implement higher quality images and banners on mobile devices (Mobile Marketing Association, 2007). Consequently advertisers can produce more efficient advertisements with higher quality, richer and bigger (ibid). Example of mobile banner advertising is shown in Figure 43 in next page. FIGURE 4: Example of Mobile Banner Advertising. * Location based marketing Location based services are tried to be produced by many marketers; the main value proposition is the location (Becker et al. 2010). However, location is not the main goal it is an instrument that empowering the services like mapping, advertising and search to be more valuable (ibid). Location-based services are very beneficial for local advertising campaigns: for example consumer may receive short message about the nearest restaurant or bus station with directions (Dickinger et al. , 2004). Location-based advertising utilizes the location by using individual consumers to target consumer in particular location (Tsang et al. 2004). Location based advertising is time sensitive in a way that advertisement can be sent to signed up client when this client pass through a certain point of purchase (Dickinger et al. , 2004). By tracking mobile devices technical address it is possible to detect local position o f the user in the environment of mobile commerce (Lee et al. , 2007). As an example Telia (Swedish company), one of the biggest telecommunication company in Europe, applied real-time SMS game by using mobile devices osition to allow users to interact with each other while playing (Dickinger et al. , 2005). Contextual marketing is also possible with location based marketing. Example for contextual marketing, information or coupon about a specific product can be sent to consumer via mobile device while consumer is in the department store to buy specific product (Lee et al. , 2007). * Bluetooth According to Groten et al. , (2009): â€Å"Bluetooth is a radio interface for short-range connections between electronic devices† (p. 1134-1138).If Bluetooth is enabled, any user with a mobile device can download rich content like graphics, video, sound, wallpaper, text, and software (Leek et al. , 2009). Interaction within mobile devices is possible via Bluetooth, mobile devices can conn ect to other mobile devices with Bluetooth if it is in range (Groten et al. , 2001). * Bluetooth wireless proximity based marketing The proximity path is the use of Bluetooth to interact with consumers which is called proximity marketing, or the local delivery of the content to mobile devices (Becker et al. 2010). The Bluetooth path is the usage of Bluetooth on mobile devices as a communication channel (ibid). Bluetooth technology provides a powerful opportunity for marketers to use location specific areas to reach consumers with rich content, and it is also cheaper and less complex than SMS (Short message service) and MMS (Multimedia message service) (Leek et al. , 2009). Bluecasting is the use of Bluetooth for mobile marketing purposes (Becker et al. , 2010). According to Becker et al. (2010) Bluetooth marketing can be explained as the placement of Bluetooth access point in any public place like airport, train station or any live event, and when consumer walks by this device and t he Bluetooth is enabled on mobile device access point request automatically request interaction with mobile device. If user accepts the request Bluetooth access point sends rich content like game, ringtone sound, picture or any other form of content to users phone (ibid). As an example of this, rock group Coldplay (English famous rock group) used Bluetooth marketing when launching the new album X&Y, 20,000 people ownloaded content like sample tracks and clips from main rail terminals in London for two weeks (Tsiandar, 2006). * Software and Technology Mobile applications are available for mobile devices like enterprise digital assistants, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA) (Ho et al. , 2010). Latest advances in mobile technology let mobile phones to have big memories, convenient internet connections and faster processers (Liu et al. , 2010). Lately mobile application market improved dramatically, number of content providers, application developers and advertisers inc reased which improved the mobile services and or functions (Ho et al. 2010). Example for large mobile application platforms are Google Android Market, Microsoft Windows Market, BlackBerry Application World, Nokia Ovi and Ovi Store etc. (ibid). Ho et al, (2010): â€Å"Mobile communication follows the development trend of internet, users can link with mobile software stores through internet, and download all kinds of applications, which has provided human beings with more diversified information application forms, and gradually changed people's living habits and operation mode. It is indicated by research reports that growth rate of global smart phone in 2010 is as high as 78. %, showing that smart phone gradually becomes the mainstream in mobile phone market. Smart phone has the function of installing applications, provides users with more diversified mobile value-added services and will change the use habits in the future† (Ho et al. , 2010). * Application marketing Mobile ap plications can be used to create rich software experiences for consumers and can be provided to mobile devices like Ipad or smartphones (Becker et al, 2010). Mobile applications are similar to computer programs which are installed on mobile devices, and applications can serve in many ways like bank account balances, games (ibid).Mobile applications can be used for branding and advertising purposes and can be sold to get money (Becker et al. , 2010). According to Mobile Marketing Association, integrating advertising into mobile applications generates new revenue streams for service providers, application developers and distributors. Mobile telecommunication companies already started to provide mobile television and digital video services in many places (Ograd, 2006). Mobile television is also another type of application that holds great potential for advertising, Ograd, 2006 explanes the mobile TV as:Mobile TV will provide users an experience that they are already familiar with tradi tional broadcast television, and allow them to choose content (Ograd, 2006). With several multimedia options like camera, music player, radio and video recorder mobile TV will offer more interactive, active and individual experience than traditional broadcast TV (ibid). * QR Codes Another type of mobile marketing is Quick Response (QR) codes which is defined by Hirakawa et al. , (2009) as a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code).Flat surface advertising like paper and cyber media already become popular around the world (Hirakawa et al. ,2009). New method of flat surface advertisement is developed which is cooperating with URLs or QR codes (Quick response code) (ibid). Figure 54 in next page shows the example of QR code. FIGURE 5: Example of QR code. * Interactive Voice Response Interactive voice response is providing and option to send or receive voice calls with people and communicating with them without any live person is involved on the other side of the communication (Becker et al. , 2010). * SMS ; MMSShort Message Service (SMS) defined by Taylor et al. , (2008) as a service enabling to send and receive short messages (up to 160 caracter) via mobile phones. According to Dickinger et al. , (2004) SMS is first and most prosperous type of mobile data transmission. MMS (multimedia message services) is the improved version of short messaging service which allows users to send combined video, sound and pictures (Okazaki, 2005). * SMS ; MMS marketing Personal nature of the mobile phones accelerated the usage rate of SMS and MMS in many parts of the world as a marketing channel (Taylor et al. 2008). Even tough MMS is used less than SMS, rapid growth in mobile technology will increase the rate of usage of music, videos, sounds and visuals in near future (ibid). SMS marketing can provide advantages like lower cost than other media channels, since the main expanse is buying mobile phone numbers (Dickinger et al. , 2004). According to Dickinger et al. , (2004) ther e are several different types of text messaging applications exists which are; information services, mobile couponing, mobile CRM (customer relationship management), branding, entertainment and product launches.Mobile couponing is one type of specific promotion tool wich integrates classic couponing with mobile communications (Wehmeyer et al. , 2005). â€Å"Advertising funded information services include news, weather, traffic, market rates, horoscopes, or songs just played on the radio† (Dickinger et al. , 2004, p. 159-173). User may pay little or nothing for this kind of services and information (ibid). Companies are changing their focus from mass marketing media to more targeted personal media and replacing them with more personalized media (Leppaniemi et al. , 2008).CRM is supported by text messages by allowing registered consumers to receive newsletters, special discounts, prizes and coupons (Dickinger et al. ,2004). According to Dickinger et al. , 2004 mobile marketing is such a tool that enables branding. Wella, one of the world’s leading cosmetic company, with special campaign they sent SMS messages to registered consumers with a kiss and consumers positive feelings about this campaign resulted in word of mouth by forwarding messages to friends (Dickinger et l. , 2004). Entertainment included marketing activities are capable of increasing the customer loyalty and add value (ibid). Attitude Attitude is a major factor in information systems and marketing researches (Tsang et al. , 2004). Attitude is outcome of what we say, feel and know (Mooij, 2005). For Solomon, (2009) â€Å"Attitude is a lasting general evaluation of people (including oneself), objects, advertisements or issues. † (p. 237) It is important to highlight that attitude toward mobile advertising refers to consumers’ attitude toward advertising in general rather than one specific type of advertisement (Haghirian et al. , 2008). Our feelings about product advertis ing are directly effecting how we feel about the product itself (Solomon, 2009).General public attitude toward advertising has been a main concern and focus for a long time (Tsang et al. , 2004). Consumer attitude toward mobile marketing has been popular among different researchers, especially focusing on mobile advertising (Tsang et al. , 2004; Xu, 2007; Haghirian et al. , 2008; Brackett et al. , 2001; Dickinger et al. ,2005). According to Shavitt et al. , (1998), even tough old studies show that there is an unfavorable manner toward advertising among consumers; some researchers found that there is favorable view of advertising.However, situation in mobile marketing and advertising may differ. According to Dickinger et al. , (2004) mobile marketing is â€Å"Using interactive wireless media to provide customers with time and location sensitive, personalized information that promotes goods, services and ideas, thereby generating value for all stakeholders† (p. 159-173). Accord ing to Xu, (2007) it can be expected that mobile advertising is more valuable for consumers when considering location based services and time sensitive events.Xu, (2007) also stated that personalization of mobile content can change the negative attitude of the public toward advertising. * Factors That Affecting Consumer Attitudes This part of the study will present current theories and models in the relevant literature to discuss different variables that playing a role in consumers attitude toward mobile marketing. The effect of personalization and content on attitude toward mobile marketing will be presented (Xu, 2007). Xu’s model of factors contributing to Attitude and intention toward mobile advertising is shown in Figure 65 below.Entertainment Informativeness Intention Attitude Irritation Creditability Personalization FIGURE 6: Factors Contributing to Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising. * Personalization and Content According to Xu, 2007 by personalizing the mobile advertising message consumer attitude can be improved. There is a direct correlation between content (Informative, irritation, credibility and entertaining variables of the content), of mobile marketing and personalization with consumer’s overall attitude (ibid). * PersonalizationMobile commerce holds a great potential for personalization, because of the nature of mobile devices they provide personal information of users (Lee et al. , 2003). Personalized advertising improve the experience for companies and consumers (Dickinger et al. , 2004). By allowing mobile advertising providers to collect data about demographics and location of the consumers, personalization improves the quality of mobile commerce and turns it into important medium (Xu, 2007). The impact of the message can be increased by personalizing the message (Dickinger et al. 2004). Success of the target marketing is based on well-structured and maintained databases (ibid). Marketers are gaining the advanta ge of personalization of the message and collecting consumer feedback and their choices, this is improving customer relation by enabling companies to communicate with them in very individual way (Haghirian et al. , 2005). Personalization of the message is not only making consumer more favorable about the mobile advertising, it is also improving the consumer attitude by turning unfavorable attitude to favorable attitude (Xu, 2007).It is obvious that privacy concerns of the consumer is crucial and must be taken into account (Taylor et al. , 2008). Permission for personal information can be gathered but in some situations this information may be gathered without consumers will (Wei et al. , 2010). Barnes and Scornovacca, 2004 as cited in Leek et al. , 2009, personalized marketing messages are adding value to information service, and there is also a potential of decreasing the negative reaction of the consumer. * Content There are several researchers argue the importance of content in m obile marketing (Leppaniemi et al. 2004; Dickinger et al. , 2004; Haghirian et al. , 2005; Xu, 2007; Rebello et al. , 2009). According to Xu, 2007 personalization, entertainment and informativeness are the attributes of content that have positive effect on overall attitude, but irritation has negative impact on overall attitude. Attributes of the content is defined by Haghirian et al. , 2005 as entertainment, informativeness, credibility and irritation. According to Leppaniemi et al. , 2004 content of the message is crucial in all type of advertising and it is also valid in mobile advertising.In order to communicate properly and efficiently with consumers, underlying factors of mobile advertising must be identified (ibid). Information and entertainment are found to be the most important acceptance attributes of mobile marketing (Bauer et al. ,2005). * Entertainment Customer loyalty can be increased with entertainment services, furthermore extra value can also be created for costumer s (Haghirian et al. , 2005). Informative and entertaining messages with creativity is holding potential to generate positive attitude toward mobile marketing activity among consumers (Bauer et al. 2005). Entertainment of the mobile advertising message is highly important (Haghirian et al. , 2005). According to Tsang et al. , 2004 Entertainment is the most important attribute of the content that has an impact on overall attitude. Loyalty of the consumer can be increased with entertainment services and extra value for the customer can also be created with entertainment services (Haghirian et al. , 2005). Research conducted by Tsang et al. , 2004 found that entertainment is the major attribute that affects consumer attitude towardmobile advertising. Informativeness Assuming the mobile platform as a relatively new marketing channel, marketing centered activities like content and information sharing are main motivations for consumer acceptance of mobile marketing (Sultan et al. , 2010). The user needs easy access to the information that he or she is looking for (Haghirian et al. , 2005). The main difference between personalized mobile marketing with informativeness is that personalization highlights the individual preferences and adjusted to personal needs and interests (Xu et al. , 2007). * CredibilityAdvertisement credibility is defined by Lutz et al. , 1989 as how consumers perceive the brand is truthful and believable, which mentioned in the advertising. Credibility of the advertisement should be considered as an important variable when determining the attitude toward advertisement; in addition to that attitude towards advertisement and mood should be ignored when considering the impact of them on attitude toward advertisement (ibid). There are no academic findings about the impact of the credibility that delivered to mobile devices (Haghirian et al. , 2005). * IrritationAccording to Haghirian et al. , 2005 Confusion among consumers may cause negative reaction toward mobile advertising. Complex mobile advertising message can cause irritation among consumers, and this disturbance decrease the value of the advertising for consumers (ibid). According to Tsang et al. , 2004 there is a negative relation between attitude toward mobile advertising and irritation. * Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use Several different researchers found that there is a powerful relation with user behavior and perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use (Davis, 1989).Perceived ease-of-use and perceived usefulness are important variables when considering consumer adoption process of technologies (Soroa-Koury et al. , 2010). From different perspectives, perceived ease-of-use and perceived usefulness are significantly influential on consumer’s decision to adopt information technology (Davis, 1989). Theoretical model of Soroa-Koury et al. , (2010) shown in Figure 76 below. FIGURE 7: Theoretical model. Perceived usefulness Misperceptions Pluralistic Ignoranc e False consensus False uniqueness Attitude toward Mobile AdvertisingPerceived Ease of use Intention to Adopt Mobile Advertising FIGURE 7: Theoretical model. Individuals’ acceptance is explained by Davis, 1989 with Technology acceptance model, and main drivers of this model are perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are examined by Soura-Koury et al. , 2010 as predictors of attitude towards mobile advertising. * Perceived usefulness Perceived usefulness is defined by Davis, 1989 as â€Å"The degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job erformance. † (p. 319-339) There is a positive correlation between perceived usefulness of mobile commerce and consumer satisfaction in mobile commerce environment (Lee et al. , 2007,). The study conducted by Soura-Koury et al. , (2010) also found that perceived usefulness is one of the key variable for prediction consumer attitude to ward mobile advertising. * Perceived ease of use Perceived ease-of-use Is the evaluation of the user of how easy for him or her to interact with technology or particular information system (Zhiping, 2009).Perceived ease of use, in contrast, refers to â€Å"the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort† (Davis, 1989, p. -319- 339). It is also claimed by Davis, 1989 easier applications have bigger potential to be accepted by users. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter will deliver information about research methodology, and selected type of research will be presented which suits best to this study. This chapter will start with defining the purpose of the study and continue with describing the research approach.After that this chapter provides information about: Which strategy is chosen for this study, sample selection methods, how the information will be gathered for research, and analysis method and quality aspect of the study. * Res earch Purpose According to Chisnall, (1997) there are three main commonly accepted research design techniques listed as descriptive, exploratory and casual. These classified methods differ depending on research questions, research purpose, certainty of hypothesis that are presented and data collection method that employed (Aaker et al. , 2004).When seeking insights to general problem of the research and relevant variables exploratory research technique is commonly adopted (Aaker et al. 2004). According to Lehmann et al. , (1998) exploratory research is used to identify basic information about the research area and formulating the hypothesis. Exploratory researches are focuses on identification of main nature of the research problems and formulation of hypothesis (ibid). â€Å"Descriptive studies, in contrast to exploratory research, stem from substantial prior knowledge of marketing variables† (Chisnall, 1997).Descriptive research is largely used in marketing research studies (Aaker et al. , 2004). The main aim of descriptive research is to search for different aspects of the market environment (ibid). According to Lehmann et al. , (1998) descriptive studies are playing a bridge role between exploratory and casual studies. This type of studies is assuming the different variables as known facts and hypothesis are of general (ibid). Casual studies investigates the market behavior and evaluation of the relationships and interactions of market behavior and factors that affecting them (Chisnall, 1997).For instance the relationship between demand elasticity and the degree to which advertising efforts may affect the sales (ibid). Casual studies are assuming not only the different variables, they are also assuming that how is the relation between them (hypothesis) (Lehann et al. , 1998). The purpose of this study is to seek insights in to the study, hence it is exploratory, but this research also aims to test different hypothesis which makes it partly casual.Si nce casual studies concerned with hypothesis, and exploratory studies are good for seeking insight into general problem and investigatingthe relation between different variables to gain deeper understanding, this research is primarily exploratory and partly casual. * Research Approach There are different choices of research approaches are available, either the qualitative or quantitative research approach. Qualitative data is most used method when collection method of the study uses or generates non-numerical data (Saunders et al. d, 2007). one main purpose of the qualitative research is to seek insights into research problems (Hair et al. 2006). By asking questions to relatively small samples of respondents and observing respondents behaviors, qualitative data mainly focuses on collection of primary data with details (ibid). Qualitative data was perceived by different authors and researchers as less powerful and pure than quantitative data some time ago (Lehmann et al. , 1998). But recently, advantages of qualitative data is taking attention like cost saving feature, and realization of that truth is not necessarily correlated to size of sample made qualitative research more popular for marketing research (ibid).According to Lehmann et al. , (1998): â€Å"Exploratory research tends to be qualitative and is very important in that it prevents preconceived notions from excluding potentially useful results† Since purpose of this study is to provide deeper understanding of the relation between consumer attitude and factors that effecting attitude, qualitative research approach found to be more convenient. Because qualitative research is more useful in terms of providing insights to research problem as Lehmann et al. , (1998) mentioned. * Research Strategy According to Saunders et al. (2007) there are several types of research strategy exists, which are presented as: survey, case study, grounded theory, experiment, archival research, and ethnography. â€Å"C ase studies are exploratory research that involves intense investigation of one or a few past problem situations that are viewed as similar to the researcher’s current problem situation† (Hair et al. , 2006). According to Hair et al. , (2006) If case study strategy is employed in research it requires in-depth examination of the facts of interest. These facts could be salesperson, customer, store, market area, film, and so on (ibid).Case study strategy have good ability to answer questions starting with ? why , ? what and ? how , and case studies are also good at answering questions like ? how? and ? what? (Sounders et al. , 2007). Because of this reason exploratory and explanatory researches most often employ case study strategy (ibid). According to Sounders et al. , (2007): â€Å"A case study strategy can incorporate multiple cases, that is, more than one case. The rationale for using multiple cases focuses upon the need to establish whether the findings of the first caseoccur in other cases and, as a consequence, the need to generalize from these findings.Case study strategy can be very worthwhile way of exploring existing theory. † (Sounders et al. , 2007) Case study is employed in this study as main research strategy. Since research questions of this study starts with how and case study deals very well with ? How questions, case study found to be most appropriate strategy for this study. Exploratory research approach of this study also requires case study as main strategy. In order to improve the quality of the research, the study incorporates with multiple cases, which are male case and female case. Sample selection Probability sampling is mostly used in cases of survey-based research techniques where it requires interferences from sample about the general population to answer research question(s) or objectives (Sounders et al. , 2007). Whereas non-probability sampling has ability to provide information-rich case study that explores th e research question (ibid). Hence non-probability sampling is chosen as sampling strategy in this study. Purposive or judgmental sampling is one of the non-probability sampling that identified by Sounders et al. 2007 and described as it gives an option for researcher to use their judgment to choose cases which is most appropriate for researcher to answer research question and met the objectives of study. Research targets are exchange students and master student who are studying at Lulea university of Technology and who have experience in using mobile devices and aged between 18- 29. Master and exchange students are coming all around the world, by choosing respondents among exchange students and master students; this study is trying to collect broader data without restricting respondents to one particular country.After starting to collect data ten students found to be sufficient to meet with research objective. Five male and five female respondents has chosen among students to be int erviewed, which makes the number of respondents of each case equal. * Data Collection Interview is defined by Chisnall, (1997) as: â€Å"Interview is concerned with a purposeful exchange of meanings, and it is this interaction between interviewer and the respondent which contributes so much to the success of the interview† (Chisnall, 1997).Valid and reliable data can be collected through interview which helps researcher to answer research questions and meet with research objectives (Sounders et al. , 2003). Hence this study employs interview technique to collect data, by doing so as Sounders et al. , 2007 stated, interview technique can be very handy in answering question ? how? and highlight on exploring ? why? this method found to be most appropriate technique, since this study aims to answer ? how questions. Required data has been collected by using semi-structured interviews. According to Sounders et al. (2003) in Semi-structured interviews have different types of themes and questions to be answered during the interview, and these may differentiate from interview to interview. In order to explore relationship between different variables in exploratory study semi-structured interviews may employed (ibid). Following Table 27 shows different types of interview in each of main research categories. As it can be seen from Table 2 below: Semi-structured interview technique suits best to this study by providing precise data for exploratory and explanatory research. One arrow in the table 2 means less frequent and wo arrows mean more frequent. ExploratoryDescriptiveExplanatory* Structured| | * | * | Semi-Structured| * | | * | In depth| * | | | TABLE 2: Uses of different types of interview in each of the main research categories. * Analysis Four dominant analytic techniques stated by Yin, 1994 which are: pattern-matching, explanation building, time series analysis, and program logic models. Each one of those technique is appropriate for bot single and multipl e-case studies (ibid). For case study analysis, one of the most appropriate strategy is to use pattern-matching logic (Yin, 1994).For case studies which are explanatory, there may be correlation between patterns and dependent or independent variables of the research (ibid). According to Sounders et al. , 2003: â€Å"The process of qualitative analysis generally involves the development of data categories, allocating units of studies’ original data to appropriate categories, recognizing relationships within and between categories of data, and developing and testing hypotheses to produce well-grounded conclusions† (Sounders et al. , 2003). In order to approve validity of the assumption gathered data from sample and mean of sample is calculated (Aaker et al. 2004). Within case and cross case analysis will be employed in this study to reduce the data and compare the data. Comparison between male (case 1) and female (case 2) respondents will be presented during the cross ca se analysis. Youth generation chosen as main target group, and for mobile marketing personalization found to be one of the concerns. But it is also important to understand if there is any difference between any gender to be more precise in personalizing the message and targeting the consumer. Finally findings of the analyses will be presented. Validity and Reliability â€Å"Reliability and validity are crucial aspects of research practice and the importance of these criteria should be full recognized by all who are engaged in survey work of any kind† (Chisnall, 1997). Reliability and validity are not completely separate terms, these terms are interconnected and in some degree they overlap with each other (Chismall, 1997). According to Sounders et al, (2007): ? Reliability refers to extend which your data collection techniques or analysis procedures will yield consistent findings? (Sounders et al. 2007). Taking as more as operational steps in research is the most common way to handle reliability problem (Yin, 1994). All the processes of research (questionnaires, interviews etc. ) conducted under control of supervisor of this research Hakan Perzon. Before conducting the interview on main respondent group, questions are tested on two representative respondents to improve structure and layout of the questionnaire. According to Sounders et al. , 2007 validity is about the reality of findings, whether the findings are actually what they seem to be.Documentation of the fieldwork when conducting qualitative research is highly important in establishing validity effectively, which allow others to examine and check the validity of the research process (Hair et al. , 2007). Hence during the interviews, all the answers and opinions of respondents will be saved in written format to be able to establish validity. Respondents are chosen among students that have prior experience in using mobile devices that enables them to have appropriate knowledge in research area, ex tra information is also provided to respondents to enlarge their idea about mobile marketing.To prevent misperception of mobile marketing and mobile advertising, respondents are also informed about this situation. Average time spend on each interview was around 50 minutes. CONCLUSIONS Based on analysis and finding, variables of content have different effect on consumer attitude. Some of the variables carry more importance than other variables and some of them have negative effect on attitude. For instance informativeness of mobile marketing perceived by both of the cases as most important factor in content of mobile marketing, whereas entertainment and credibility found to be less important than informativeness.Irritation of the content is negatively correlated to overall attitude toward mobile marketing. 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