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Article history:
Received 1 October 2011
Received in revised form 1 November 2012
Accepted 1 February 2013
Available online 14 June 2013
Keywords:
Global marketing
Mobile marketing
Consumer acceptance of new marketing
platforms
Innovation diffusion
Branding
Wireless communications
Youth consumers
a b s t r a c t
This study examines factors inuencing consumers' acceptance of mobile marketing across three inuential
markets, namely U.S., China, and Europe. The authors develop an integrative conceptual model on consumers'
attitudes and behaviors toward mobile marketing. The authors incorporate three individual-level characteristics,
namely personal attachment, innovativeness, and risk avoidance and investigate how permission-based acceptance inuences the relationship between consumers' attitude and mobile marketing activity. Focusing on Generation Y consumers, the model is empirically tested with data from U.S., China, and Europe. The ndings illustrate
several cross-market differences and similarities regarding the relationships between individual-level characteristics, attitude, and mobile marketing activity. Research and managerial implications of these ndings are discussed.
2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
New developments in mobile technologies (such as latest generation
smartphones and tablets) have begun to turn the mobile device into
an innovative, powerful platform with which to engage consumers
(Shankar & Malthouse, 2007; Shankar, Venkatesh, Hofacker, & Naik,
2010). Indeed, the signicant growth in the worldwide penetration of
mobile phones has fueled the growth of mobile marketing spending
and focused marketers' attention toward building and promoting
brand presence on mobile devices, creating a marketing platform
referred to as brand in the hand (Sultan & Rohm, 2005). In this
study, we dene mobile marketing as a set of programs and practices
that rms employ to communicate and engage, in an interactive manner,
with consumers and enable them to access information, download
content, or purchase products on mobile devices (MMA, 2008). This
denition underscores the potential for companies to conduct branding,
The authors would like to acknowledge the nancial support of the Institute for Global
Innovation Management, the Center for Emerging Markets, and the Provost's Ofce at
Northeastern University for funding related to this research. They also thank Ting
Cheng, Suping Huang, Jiao Wang, and Ting Zhang for assistance with survey translations,
and Pu Liu and Wei Zhang for their assistance in data collection in China.
Corresponding author at: Marketing and International Business, Peter B. Gustavson
School of Business, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada. Tel.: +1 250 721 8264.
E-mail address: t.gao@comcast.net (T.(T.) Gao).
0148-2963/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.05.046
2007; Sultan, Rohm, & Gao, 2009). Accordingly, our study of mobile,
location-based marketing is focused on the following three markets:
U.S., China, and Western Europe, across which markets technology
adoption seems to be converging. The number of smartphone users in
China, concurrent with the launch of 3G mobile data services, reached
almost 200 million by the end of 2011 (Ablott, 2011). And the potential
for continued growth in highly populated yet still developing markets
such as China (Ericsson.com, 2010) is signicant. In Europe, mobile
phone penetration now exceeds 100% (averaging more than one mobile
phone per person) in several countries including Germany and Italy.
In turn, mobile device penetration in the U.S. has surpassed 90%,
smartphone penetration is approaching 50%, and stiff competition
in industries ranging from consumer products to nancial services
is leading domestic brands to embrace new and innovative forms of
digital marketing communications in order to reach consumers
(Nielsen Research, 2010). Yet, with respect to areas such as online
privacy, there are apparent cultural differences (Daley, 2011). For instance, European laws and public policy toward protection of personal
information online are signicantly stricter than it is in markets such
as the U.S.
By nature of our proposed conceptual model and in light of the
trend toward globalization of consumer cultures and inuences
(Khanh and Hau 2007), we examine cross-market differences and
similarities in consumer acceptance with respect to mobile marketing
practices. The objective of our study, however, is not to focus on cultural
characteristics, but rather to examine antecedents to acceptance and
marketing-related activity related to mobile marketing and how
the relationships among these antecedents differ across three global
markets.
In the next section, we review the extant literature and present our
conceptual model of mobile marketing acceptance. We then detail our
research methodology and model analysis. Finally, we discuss the
study results, implications for theory and practice, study limitations,
and directions for future research.
2. Conceptual framework
Our study lies at the intersection of two issues: (1) the inuence of
technology adoption factors as well as individual characteristics on
consumers' attitudes toward mobile marketing and subsequent mobile
marketing activity, and (2) the analysis of cross-market differences
related to mobile marketing acceptance among youth consumers across
the U.S., China, and Western Europe. The conceptual framework shown
in Fig. 1 highlights the proposed relationships and hypotheses, the
rationales for which are presented below.
Attachment
Perceived
Ease of Use
H5b (-)
PermissionBased
Acceptance
H5a (+)
H2 (+)
H7a (+)
H1 (+)
Perceived
Usefulness
Attitude Toward
Mobile Marketing
H3b (-)
Innovativeness
H3a (+)
2537
H4a (-)
H4b (-)
Risk
Avoidance
Fig. 1. Conceptual framework.
H7b (+)
H6 (+)
Mobile Marketing
Activities
2538
2539
H5a. Personal attachment with the mobile device positively inuences consumers' attitude toward mobile marketing.
H5b. As personal attachment increases, the effect of perceived usefulness on consumers' attitude toward mobile marketing decreases.
2.5. Attitude, acceptance, and activity related to mobile marketing
Consumers' attitudes, acceptance of, and behavior related to mobile
marketing are the key outcome variables in this study. Attitude is a central
concept in marketing, particularly with respect to emergent forms of
marketing communications and commerce. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975)
dene attitude as a learned predisposition, based on which individuals
respond to stimuli in various ways. Specic to our research, attitude
toward mobile marketing relates to respondents' feelings and beliefs
toward using their mobile phones for accessing information from
brands, downloading content, purchasing products, and/or receiving
incentives such as coupons.
According to the Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein & Ajzen,
1975), attitude precedes actual behavior and it has been used as a key
adoption determinant in user acceptance research (Venkatesh, Morris,
& Davis, 2003). Based on a meta-analysis, Sheppard, Hartwick, and
Warshaw (1988) conrm the strong positive relationship between attitude and behavior, while other studies (e.g., Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw,
1989; Taylor & Todd, 1995; Venkatesh & Davis, 2000) similarly note its
prediction of technology usage. We extend this research to the study of
mobile marketing and propose that:
H6. Consumers' attitude toward mobile marketing is positively related
to their mobile marketing activity.
Acceptance, or behavioral intent, has been dened as the strength
of one's intention to perform a specied behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen,
3. Methodology
This study is based on data collected from identical written surveys
administered to young mobile phone users in three global markets
(China, U.S., and Western Europe) in late Fall of 2009 and early Spring
of 2010. The China survey was administered to undergraduate students
at two large universities in Northern China; the U.S. survey was administered to undergraduate students at a large university in the Northeast;
and the Western Europe survey was administered to undergraduate
students from several Western European markets studying in an international exchange program at a large university in Italy. Both the U.S.
and Western Europe surveys were conducted in English (the language
of instruction in the Italian university's international exchange program
is English.), while the China survey was written and administered in
Chinese and then back-translated to English to check for consistency
with the English version. The choice of a sample representative of Gen
Y consumers was based on the widespread usage of mobile devices
for communications and data services among the youth market.
3.1. Survey development
Each construct was represented by multiple scale items either
adapted from existing scales for application to the mobile setting or
developed for this study where existing scales did not exist. The
scale for mobile marketing activity was specically developed for
this study. We included four common marketing uses of the mobile
phone in this scale and use the sum of these activities to form the
overall indicator for this construct. Prior to administering the survey,
2540
Table 1
Conrmatory factor analyses by market.
Constructs and items
US
a
b
c
.85
(.78;
.88
.74
.82
(.85;
.77
.87
.82
(.87;
.84
.81
.83
(.72;
.64
.67
.91
China
Europe
.72
(.72; .75; .51)
.67
.71
.74
(.76; .77; .53)
.78
.71
.70
(.75; .76; .53)
.75
.74
.67
(.74; .77; .53)
.74
.62
.81
.83
(.77; .80; .59)
.72
.75
.81
(.82; .83; .62)
.77
.83
.73
(.78; .79; .56)
.80
.71
.72
(.78; .82; .60)
.79
.69
.83
.81
.76
.82
.82
.80
1.00c
.78
.81
1.00c
.81
.76
1.00c
2 = 470.63,
df = 182,
p b .001,
RMSEA = .06,
CFI = .97,
NFI = .96.
2 = 362.94,
df = 182,
p b .001,
RMSEA = .05,
CFI = .96,
NFI = .93.
2 = 554.50,
df = 182,
p b .001,
RMSEA = .06,
CFI = .95,
NFI = .92.
.84; .67)
.86; .67)
.87; .70)
.79; .56)
The numbers reported in the parentheses are Cronbach's alpha, composite construct reliability, and average variance extracted (Fornell & Larcker, 1981), respectively.
Standardized factor loadings.
Loadings were xed to 1 for the formative scale.
2541
usefulness is explained by ease of use, regardless of the market. The results further reveal that in all three markets, consumers' attitude toward
mobile marketing enhanced both their permission-based acceptance of
mobile marketing and their actual participation in mobile marketing
activities.
We tested the moderating effect hypotheses using a series of hierarchical regression analyses (Cohen & Cohen, 1983), with the results
presented in Tables 4 and 5. The moderating effects of innovativeness
(H3b) and risk avoidance (H4b) on the inuence of perceived usefulness on attitude toward mobile marketing were conrmed for Western
Europe. The moderating effect of personal attachment (H5b) related to
perceived usefulness and attitude was conrmed for the U.S. and China.
These results show that among the Western Europe respondents, innovativeness and risk avoidance not only inuence their attitude toward
mobile marketing through the main effects, but also weaken the effect
of perceived usefulness on attitude. In the U.S. and China samples,
personal attachment had a signicant main effect on attitude toward
mobile marketing while negatively moderating the effect of perceived
usefulness on attitude. Taken together, the tests of the moderating
effects of innovativeness, personal attachment, and risk avoidance highlight the cross-market similarities and differences regarding the unique
roles of these constructs in contributing to attitude formation.
As Table 5 shows, the moderating effect of permission-based
acceptance on the relationship between attitude and mobile marketing
activities was conrmed in all three markets. Therefore, as consumers'
express permission for mobile marketing increases, the positive inuence of attitude on mobile marketing activities will become stronger.
5. Discussion, implications, and future research
In this study, we investigate the effects of technology attributes (related to mobile marketing programs and functions) and individual characteristics (including innovativeness, attachment, and risk avoidance) on
consumers' attitudes toward mobile marketing and self-reported mobile
marketing activity among young consumers in the U.S., China, and
Western Europe. Interestingly, we found that results from the U.S.,
China, and Western Europe samples were largely similar. The seven
proposed main effects were all supported in the China and Western
Europe samples and all but one (the inuence of risk avoidance on
attitude) were supported in the U.S. sample.
5.1. Theoretical implications
Taking into account past research examining cultural differences
along the dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and collectivism
(Hofstede 1980), these ndings indicate cross-market similarities and
differences in consumer responses to mobile marketing programs. On
the one hand, the Gen Y respondents in these three markets show
surprising similarities regarding the relationships among technology
acceptance factors, individual characteristics, attitudes toward and
Table 2
Descriptive statistics of study constructs by market.
Variables
US
China
Europe
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
USChina
USEurope
ChinaEurope
3.39
3.09
3.54
2.27
3.74
3.02
2.52
0.97
1.19
1.31
1.11
1.06
0.82
1.06
1.06
1.22
3.62
2.89
2.60
2.43
3.92
2.61
3.10
1.85
0.88
0.95
1.08
0.88
0.88
0.84
1.05
1.06
2.79
2.69
3.27
2.42
3.31
2.59
2.51
0.80
0.97
1.03
1.16
0.93
0.94
0.95
0.99
1.15
0.24
0.20
0.94
0.15
0.18
0.41
0.58
0.88
0.59
0.40
0.27
0.14
0.43
0.43
0.83
0.20
0.67
0.02
0.17
0.01
0.60
0.02
0.60
1.05
2542
Table 3
Testing results of main effect structural equation model by market.
Hypotheses
Parameter estimates
US
China
Europe
US vs. China
US vs. Europe
.58
.93
.39
.46
.94
.45
.27
.11
.39
.46
.45
.95
.33
.12
.10
.36
.54
4.28
4.17
.18
1.35
6.15
1.71
5.81
.67
2.41
5.91
.81
4.65
4.22
.92
.51
5.12
4.86
1.24
.45
2.98
.02
.09
.68
.41
1.23
.87
.88
.91
.84
.76
.55
.17
.21
.30
.46
.15
.17
2
U.S.: = 606.47, df = 197, p b .001, RMSEA = .07, CFI = .96, NFI = .95.
China: 2 = 391.68, df = 197, p b .001, RMSEA = .05, CFI = .96, NFI = .92.
Europe: 2 = 640.90 df = 197, p b .001, RMSEA = .07, CFI = .95, NFI = .91.
Signicant at .05.
Signicant at .01.
Signicant at .001.
Table 4
Testing results of moderating effects on attitude by market.
Predictor variables
.56
.20
.04
.07
.01
.01
.06
China
Europe
.38
.25
.09
.16
.49
.19
.07
.06
.08
.10
.01
.01
.08
.03
the U.S., risk avoidance related to the mobile platform may have a stronger impact on attitude, whereas in Asian societies such as China dened
by higher degrees of collectivism, and where individual well-being is
subsumed within a system of collective welfare, the relationship between risk avoidance and activities such as accessing content in the
mobile setting may be heightened by communal, rather than individual,
concerns. One explanation for the unexpected nding about the U.S.
sample may be that younger consumers in media intensive markets
such as the U.S. increasingly perceive the line between commercial
advertising and real life as blurred (witness the recent popularity of
reality television programming and rise of product placement advertising) and they are becoming less risk averse, or more immune, to
the intrusion of commercial content in their daily lives, even when
delivered on their mobile phones.
Our research also adds support to past studies (e.g., Sultan et al.,
2009; Zhang & Mao, 2008) illustrating the varying roles of personal
attachment to mobile devices evident in all three samples as an
antecedent factor directly inuencing attitudes toward mobile marketing. The similar ndings with regard to attachment suggest that young
consumers in emerging markets in Asia such as China view their mobile
phones as a reection of the self and a status-based accessory with
which to convey personal identity, similar to the role of other fashion
items. In turn, personal attachment may inuence mobile marketing
activity in the form of accessing and sharing content. This nding is important to future theory development in that it illustrates the role of social
acceptance within certain consumer groups as an indicator of technology
acceptance and usage, especially among Asian societies.
Our ndings also show the role of consumers' attitudes toward
mobile marketing on permission-based acceptance. Whereas past research (e.g., Jayawardhena et al., 2009) has investigated permissionbased mobile marketing and its antecedents, we extend the current literature to include the moderating effect of permission-based acceptance on
the effect of attitude on behavior in the mobile marketing domain. Our
Table 5
Testing results of moderating effect on mobile marketing activities by market.
Predictor variables
China
Europe
.45
.15
.13
.33
.09
.09
.29
.03
.10
ndings show that permission-based mobile marketing acceptance signicantly enhances the inuence of attitude on mobile marketing activity
in all three markets. Industry organizations such as the Mobile Marketing
Association (mmaglobal.com) as well as regulatory agencies such as the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission stress the importance of consumer choice
and consent with respect to permission-based or opt-in marketing in the
wireless space. Against this background, our ndings point to the central
role of permission-based or opt-in approaches to the continued acceptance and growth of companies' mobile marketing efforts.
5.2. Managerial implications
Our ndings suggest several implications for companies and brands
developing global marketing communications and mobile marketing
strategy. Foremost, managers should recognize the similarities apparent
from this study related to the relationships between technology acceptance, individual characteristics, youth consumers' attitudes toward and
acceptance of mobile marketing, and related mobile marketing activity.
This study illustrates how perceived ease of use and perceived
usefulness are central to the continued acceptance of mobile marketing.
In general, the importance of ease of use and usefulness in relation to
wireless devices is illustrated by the concurrent growth of smartphone
penetration and usage and the growth of mobile marketing campaigns
and applications. Specic to this study, the mean for perceived ease of
use was highest in the China sample among the three markets. This
may in part be related to the function of mobile devices in China such
that, because of the characteristics of the Chinese language, fewer
keystrokes are needed to enter common words and phrases. In a similar
manner, the future growth of mobile marketing will in part depend on
continued advancements in the usability and usefulness of wireless
devices such as phones and tablets.
Our ndings related to the role of risk avoidance and its inuence
on attitudes toward mobile marketing, and subsequently acceptance
and mobile marketing activity, underline an important phenomenon
taking place in emerging markets such as China, where individuals'
initial exposure to the Internet often takes place through mobile devices.
Indeed, in developing Asian markets such as China, India, Pakistan, and
various African countries, some consumers' access to markets and information occur primarily through their mobile devices, resulting in high
dependence on the mobile platform. Even if an individual may be risk
averse with respect to online activity, in these emerging or developing
markets mobile communications and activity becomes compulsory simply because of a lack of alternatives. Additionally, the social structure in
many populous developing countries in Asia such as China is one in
which individuals (especially farmers) are often away from home for
long periods while pursuing work opportunities in urban areas. The
Chinese labor force in particular includes millions of workers from the
north and west that annually migrate to the south and for whom mobile
devices may be their only media and communication platform. Therefore,
mobile devices might play a central role within the lives of consumers in
markets in many Asian markets where existing communication infrastructures are less developed and where mobility is a central aspect of individuals' lifestyles.
However, the ndings reported here for the Western Europe sample
differ from those for China. Independent of acceptance level, mobile
marketing activity among the Western Europe respondents remained
comparatively low. One reason for lower mobile marketing activity
may be due to cultural differences related to privacy concerns, seen
through newly proposed laws that seek to balance freedom of speech
with consumers' right to privacy online (Daley, 2011) as well as an
overall and continued reluctance to buy goods and services online
(Lewis, 2009).
Lastly, to account for the positive role of perceived innovativeness on
attitude toward mobile marketing, companies will also want to further
explore the concept of social commerce or social media to enable consumers to purchase, talk about, and recommend products or services
2543
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