Factors That Influence the Response of Mobile Marketing

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1. Overview Nowadays mobile phone plays the key role in communication in many countries including Malaysia. The rapid growth of the Malaysia Mobile industry has largely been due to the development of a simple and highly popular mode of mobile communication. The SMS (Short Messaging System) Statistics from Communication & Multimedia Malaysia had indicated that over 3,406 million SMS have been sent in the first period of year 2005. It seems like the fifth factor that everyone has to have it. Besides the convenience of usage in anywhere or at any time, the user can also listen to music, play games or surf the internet. Another increasingly popular function is the message services in forms of short message service (SMS) and multi-media service (MMS). Technology developments have created new marketing communication channels or media such as email, SMS (Short Messaging Service) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). These digital media are considered to potentially improve the possibilities to reach consumers by allowing personalization of the content and context of the message (Forrester Report 2001). Simultaneously there is a potential downside to the development of new digital channels. In a Forrester report companies using SMS expressed fear for invasion of consumer privacy (80%) and negative consumer reaction (60%) as disadvantages of the media (Forrester Report 2001, p. 3). A crucial question is thus whether there are obstacles for the marketer to use mobile media to its potential. Are customers more reluctant to receive marketing information through mobile media than through traditional media or is it the other way around?

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate factors that influence consumers’ response to SMS and MMS ads in Malaysia. The factors considered are brand familiarity, relevant on advertisement, brand loyalty, trust and attitude toward SMS and MMS.

2. Research background

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