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African Journal of Business Management Vol.3 (9), pp. 444-452, September, 2009
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/ajbm ISSN 1993-8233 2009 Academic Journals
Ful Length Research Paper
Attitudes of young consumers towards SMS advertising
D. L. R Van der Waldt*, T. M. Rebello and W. J. Brown
Department of Marketing and Communication Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. Technological advancements have provided various new mediums for advertising to consumers and
have further allowed organisations to better reach consumers with regards to the frequency and impact
of advertising. Advertisers have to be more creative in the formulation of advertisements and selection
of advertising mediums so as to gain the attention of their target market. The need to create new
mediums for advertising has lead to the creation of new-age media such as inter alia, short message
service (SMS) advertising. Before this medium can be effectively used to reach South African
consumers, the attitude of consumers towards SMS advertisements need to be determined. This study
therefore focuses on determining the perceptions of the younger consumer segment towards SMS
advertisements. It is expected that this segment, due to their changing consumer behaviour and media
habits, will be the future focus of a great deal of SMS advertising campaigns. Quota sampling was done
in a large university and self-administered questionnaires were completed by 198 respondents.
It was found that consumers’ perceptions of the entertainment value, informativeness and credibility of
SMS advertisements are positively correlated to consumers’ overall attitudes towards SMS
advertisements. The study further found consumers’ perceptions of the irritation aspect of SMS
advertisements is negatively correlated with consumers’ attitudes towards SMS advertisements.
Consumers have generally negative overall attitudes towards SMS advertisements and it must be
cautiously used when attempting to gain the attention of a younger segment of consumers. Permission-
based marketing, the sending of SMS advertisements to only those who have agreed to receive
promotional information, is an important element for the success of SMS advertising.

Key words: SMS, advertisement, consumer, organisation.

INTRODUCTION
Organisations today operate in an environment that is mediums for advertising to consumers and have further characterised by constant change and an increase in al owed for organisations to better reach consumers with competition as a result of globalisation. Zyman and Brott regards to the frequency and impact of advertising (Du (2002:31) suggest that the biggest change in the market Plessis, Bothma, Jordaan and Van Heerden, 2003: 339). place is that consumers have a greater selection with These advances in technology, combined with the market regards to products and services and those organisations place’s need to increase advertising to consumers, has should become more conscious of their advertising led to the fact that “Advertising is everywhere” (Cook, efforts. Organisations now view advertising as an invest- 2001:1). The constant exposure to advertising might ment and tend to value over-communication with con- cause consumers to become immune to advertising. umers, resulting in greater budgets for advertising Advertisers have to be more creative in the formulation of departments than in the past ( Zyman and Brott, 2002:22- advertisements and selection of advertising mediums so as to gain the attention of their target market (Cappo, Technological advancements have provided various new This need to create new mediums for advertising has lead to the creation of new-age media such as: the internet, which includes electronic-mail (e-mail) and *Corresponding author. Email: Delarey.vanderwaldt@up.ac.za. websites; wireless application protocol (WAP); voice-over Tel: (012) 420-3415. Fax: (012) 362-5085. internet protocol (VoIP) and cel ular technology and short message service (SMS). WAP is a wireless system that al ows users to access the internet using their cel The general consensus among academics and phones. VoIP involves the sending of voice messages practitioners is that SMS advertising is an ideal medium over the internet (Du Plessis et al., 2003: 344-354). for reaching young consumers (Scharl, Dickinger and In 2005, approximately 14 mil ion South African adults Murphy, 2005: bn168). This study is therefore a partial (46% of the total population) owned a cel phone (AMPS, replication of the study conducted by Tsang, Ho and Ling 2005) which created the opportunity for a new medium of (2004: b65-78) but in a South African context. The focus advertising. Mobile communications and its most is on the attitudes of a younger segment of consumers successful application, short message service (SMS), (students at a large University in the Gauteng province) now al ows for the direct and two-way communication towards SMS advertisements. The main objective of the between an organisation and consumers (Dickinger, research is to determine whether there is a correlation Haghirian, Murphy and Scharl, 2004: 1; Haghirian, between consumer perceptions of the value of entertain- Madlberger and Tanuskova, 2005: 7). According to ment, informativeness, irritation and credibility of SMS advertisements and consumers’ overal attitude towards www.engr.sjsu.edu.innopac.up.ac.za:80/gaojerry/course/ 296A/wireless-add-paper2.pdf (Downloaded: 2006-04- 07)] “Short messaging service (SMS) is a digital cel ular network feature and it al ows users to send short text and Literature background
numeric messages to and from digital cel phones using cel phones and e-mail addresses based on public SMS SMS advertising
messaging gateways over the internet.” When defining SMS advertising, it is first necessary to Based upon the benefits and proliferation of cel analyse the definition of mobile marketing as this defini- phones, one can expect an increase in the volume of tion may in part apply to the definition of SMS advertising. SMS-type advertisements and its importance in the Dickinger et al. (2004:2) define mobile marketing as communication mix of an organisation. SMS advertising “Using interactive wireless media to provide customers can be classified as traditional advertising, direct with time and location sensitive, personalized information marketing or an interactive medium al owing for two-way that promotes goods, services and ideas, thereby gene- communication between an organisation and customer/s rating value for al stakeholders.” Mobile marketing is (Du Plessis et al., 2003:350-351). Organisations are based upon sending information to consumers using starting to use this medium as a method of sales promo- either SMS or MMS (Multimedia Message Service) tion and send coupons to consumers’ cel phones via (Kavassalis, Spyropoulou, Drossos, Mitrokostas, Gikas SMS. This has proven to be an effective form of sales and Hatzistamatiou, 2003: 56). It can therefore be promotion as consumers have their cel phones on them assumed that mobile marketing involves some degree of at al times and have the coupon available when needed SMS advertising with the latter being a component of (Cravens and Piercy, 2003: 401-402; Dickinger et al., mobile marketing. For the purpose of this study, SMS 2004: 4; Du Plessis et al., 2003: 351). In this research advertising wil be defined as “Using short message SMS advertising wil be investigated as a component of service (SMS), sent to consumers’ cel phones, to provide the advertising and direct marketing elements. consumers with time and location sensitive information that promotes goods, services and ideas, thereby gene- Problem statement
rating value for al stakeholders” (Kavassalis et al., 2003: Little research has been conducted with regard to Studies have highlighted a vast number of advantages consumers’ perceptions of SMS advertising and also the of SMS advertising and includes that this medium al ows impact of sending advertisements to consumers’ via SMS for real-time communication with consumers anytime and (Haghirian et al., 2005: 7). This is particularly important in anywhere (Tsang et al., 2004: 68). SMS advertising also the South African context where the success of a new increases the probability that the advertisement reaches medium such as SMS advertising relies on the accep- the target market as consumers general y have only one tance of the medium by consumers (Bauer, Reichardt, cel phone which is very personal in nature and carried Barnes and Neumann, 2005:182). Before this medium around with them at al times (Kavassalis et al., 2003: can be effectively used to communicate with South African consumers, research needs to be conducted with SMS advertising is the only channel relevant for regards to their attitudes towards SMS advertising. The recipients when on the move and is a great benefit for majority of research conducted with regard to consumer targeting young consumers who often have active attitudes towards mobile or SMS advertising has been lifestyles and are not exposed to the more traditional conducted in foreign countries where the findings, due to advertising channels (Heinonen and Strandvik, 2002: cultural differences and differences in the adoption of 142.) The younger generation of consumers have also technology, may not directly apply to South African con- been quicker than older generations in learning to use and adapt to new technologies such as the internet and identified in the model developed by Ducoffe (1996: 29) cel phones (Spero and Stone, 2004: 156). but it contains two additional constructs namely credi- Another benefit of SMS advertising is that, if effectively bility, which is an antecedent of consumer attitudes planned, an SMS advertising campaign is low in cost. towards an advertisement (Mackenzie and Lutz, 1989: The low cost of SMS advertising is amplified by the ability 50), and relevant demographic variables which can have of this medium to target and provide specific customers an impact on consumer attitudes towards internet adver- with relevant information and obtain a high response rate tising (Brackett and Carr, 2001: 24, 31). among recipients of the message and reduce wastage The framework depicted in Figure 1 has in the past been used to test consumer attitudes towards SMS ad- Although SMS advertising has a great advantage over vertising (Tsang et al., 2004: 65-75) and the constructs more traditional mediums of advertising, it is often entertainment, informativeness, irritation and credibility stressed that the medium should not be used in isolation. wil be used in this study to test hypotheses. Demo- SMS advertising should be complimentary with the graphic variables such as gender, income and occupation traditional mediums of advertising (Kavassalis et al., 2003: 56; Scharl et al., 2005: 168). The complimentary nature of SMS advertising may be based upon the fact that mobile marketing and SMS advertising are stil in the Hypotheses
early stages of commercial deployment. Consumers may Entertainment
not as yet be ful y adapted to cel phone technology and the receiving of SMS advertisements (Bauer et al., 2005: McQuail (in Ducoffe, 1996:23) defines entertainment as “…the ability to fulfil an audience’s needs for escapism, diversion, aesthetic enjoyment, or emotional enjoyment.” The model of consumer attitudes towards SMS advertise- Consumer attitudes
ments as developed by Brackett and Carr (2001: 25) in This study focuses on determining consumer attitudes Figure 1, theoretical y depicts the relationship between towards SMS advertisements and it is surmised that the consumer perceptions of the entertainment value of inter- attitudes towards SMS advertisements wil affect both the net advertising and consumer attitudes towards internet success of SMS advertising campaigns and the purchase advertising. This model has in various studies been used intentions of consumers who receive SMS advertise- as the basis for hypothetical testing of the relationship in ments. It was il ustrated by Andersson and Nilsson (2000: the SMS advertising or mobile marketing context (Bauer 18) that SMS advertisements and the SMS advertising et al., 2005: 181-192; Haghirian et al., 2005:1-10; Tsang medium, in general, wil affect the attainment of the et al., 2004:65-78). Based upon the model, the fol owing advertising campaign objectives. Consumer attitudes consist of three components that is cognition, affect and conation according to Du Plessis and Rousseau (2007: 1: Consumers’ perceptions of the value of entertainment of SMS advertisements are positively correlated to 194-197). For the purposes of this study the first consumers’ overal attitudes towards SMS advertising. According to Fishbein’s Attitude Theory (in Andersson The above hypothesis can be further supported by the and Nilsson, 2000: 18), a stimulus, such as an SMS uses-and-gratification model (Katz, Gurevitch and Haas, advertisement of a particular brand, has an affect on a 1973: 166) which states that individuals have needs with consumer’s belief system which in turn influences and regards to the mass media and these needs are leads to the consumer developing a specific attitude classified into five groups. Of reference to this hypothesis towards the advertised brand. The attitude which a con- is individuals’ “needs related to strengthening aesthetic, sumer has with regards to a brand has an impact on a pleasurable and emotional experience – or affective consumer’s intention to purchase the brand offering. needs” (Katz et al., 1973: 166.) One can assume that The framework for the study of consumer attitudes advertising that satisfies consumers’ need for aesthetics, towards SMS advertising relies on the models developed pleasure and an emotional experience wil be positively for the study of consumer attitudes towards internet or evaluated and accepted by consumers (Bauer et al., web advertising and advertising in general (Brackett and 2005: 185). In the study conducted by Bauer et al. (2005: Carr, 2001: 25; Mackenzie and Lutz, 1989: 50). Ducoffe 181-192), the relationship between consumers’ perceived (1996: 29) developed a model depicting the perceptual entertainment utility of mobile marketing and consumer antecedents of entertainment, informativeness and irrita- attitudes towards mobile marketing was tested. The study tion, used to determine consumers’ attitudes towards found that consumers’ perceived entertainment utility of internet advertising and formed the basis for the model mobile marketing has a positive influence on consumers’ developed by Brackett and Carr (2001: 24-25) to test perceptions of the overal utility of mobile marketing, which consumer attitudes towards web advertising. The model, in turn has a positive influence on consumer attitudes as il ustrated in Figure 1, has the same three constructs towards mobile marketing (Bauer et al., 2005:188).
Figure 1. Model for testing consumer attitudes towards SMS advertisements.
Source: Adapted from Brackett and Carr (2001:25).
Informativeness
(2005: 181-192) supports this assumption and highlights that there is a positive relationship between consumers’ In the context of this study, informativeness can be perceptions of the information utility of mobile marketing defined as “…the ability of advertising to inform consu- and consumers’ perceptions of the overal utility of mobile mers of product alternatives so that purchases yielding marketing. The study further identified the positive asso- the greatest possible satisfaction can be made” (Ducoffe, ciation between consumers’ perceptions of the overal utility of mobile marketing and consumers’ attitudes The model of consumers’ attitudes towards SMS towards mobile marketing (Bauer et al., 2005:188). advertisements (Figure 1) il ustrates that there is a rela- tionship between consumers’ perceptions of the informa- tiveness of internet advertising and consumers’ attitudes Irritation
towards internet advertising (Brackett and Carr, 2001: 25). The model has been used in studies to il ustrate that Ducoffe (1996:23), in the context of advertising, defines there is a positive correlation between consumers’ per- irritation as: “When advertising employs tactics that ceptions of the informativeness of SMS advertisements annoy, offend, insult, or are overly manipulative”. The and consumers’ attitudes towards SMS advertisements relationship between consumers’ perceptions of the (Tsang et al., 2004: 71; Haghirian et al., 2005: 4; Brackett irritation of an advertisement and consumers’ attitudes towards an advertisement is theoretical y supported by Based upon the relationship between informativeness the attitude model developed by Bracket and Carr (2001: of a SMS advertisement and consumers’ attitudes to- 5). Tsang et al. (2004: 71) tested the relationship be- wards the SMS advertisement, the fol owing hypothesis tween these two constructs and found that consumer per- ceptions of the irritation of SMS advertisements is negatively correlated to consumer attitudes towards SMS advertisements. The fol owing hypothesis can therefore 2: Consumers’ perceptions of the informativeness of SMS advertisements are positively correlated to con- sumers’ overal attitudes towards SMS advertisements. H3: Consumers’ perceptions of the irritation of SMS The stated hypothesis can be further supported by the advertisements are positively correlated to consumers’ uses-and-gratification model. The model suggests that overal attitudes towards SMS advertisements. individuals have “Needs related to strengthening infor- mation, knowledge, and understanding – these can be Credibility
cal ed cognitive needs” (Katz et al., 1973:166). If an advertisement satisfies a consumer’s need for infor- Advertisement credibility has been defined by Mackenzie mation and knowledge about a service or product, it can and Lutz (1989:51) as “the extent to which the consumer be assumed that the advertisement wil be favourably perceives claims made about the brand in the ad (adver- perceived by the consumer. The study by Bauer et al. tisement) to be truthful and believable. ” The model of consumers’ attitudes towards SMS advertisements Table 1. Cronbach’s alpha values for the
(Figure 1) further supports the relationship between consumer perceptions of the credibility of the advertise- ment and consumer attitudes towards the advertisement Construct
Cronbach’s alpha
(Bracket and Carr, 2001: 25). Research conducted by various researchers has identified that there is a positive correlation between consumer perceptions of the credi- bility of an advertisement and consumer attitudes towards the advertisement (Brackett and Carr, 2001:29; Tsang et al., 2004: 71). The fol owing hypothesis can therefore be H4: Consumers’ perceptions of the credibility of SMS advertisements are positively correlated to consumers’ Reliability
overal attitudes towards SMS advertisements. The Cronbach’s alpha values for the constructs are The stated hypothesis can be further supported by the uses-and-gratification model (Katz et al., 1973:166). The As can be seen in Table 1 al the Cronbach’s Alpha va- model states that individuals have “Needs related to lues are higher than the acceptable level of internal strengthening credibility, confidence, stability, and status – these combine both cognitive and affective elements.” In Table 2 the number of SMS messages sent and Based upon these needs, it can be assumed that received by the respondents is il ustrated (per day). advertising and advertisements that satisfy consumers’ The findings in Table 2 suggest that the respondents need for credibility, wil be positively perceived and are involved to a great extent with the SMS communi- cation function of their cel phones and are experienced with the usage of cel phones and, more specifical y, the SMS function. The findings imply that respondents, through their high level of involvement with their cel phones, depend on cel phones as a means of commu- nicating with friends, family and possibly advertisers. The target population for the study consisted of ful -time registered undergraduate students at a large university in Gauteng. As the study made use of quota sampling, the above mentioned target HYPOTHESES TESTS
population was subdivided into an equal proportion of male and female students. The realised sample was 200 students who own a The assumption of normality was assessed through the cel phone and have in the past received an SMS advertisement Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Tests for normality were also from an organisation advertising a product or service. assessed through a visual examination of histograms and The use of a student sample is often criticised by researchers who believe that such a sample is not representative of the greater normal probability plots. It showed that the data deviate market of general consumers (Wel s and Mithun, 2003: 45). The to a great extent from a normal distribution. use of a student sample for this study is justified as experts agree The first hypothesis (H1) investigated whether or not that SMS advertising is an ideal medium for reaching younger there is a positive correlation between consumers’ perce- ptions of the entertainment value of SMS advertisements With the use of quota sampling, the researcher selected respondents outside of the lecture hal s provided they met the and consumers’ overal attitudes towards SMS quota criteria and requirements as stated for the target population of the study (Cooper and Schindler, 2003: 200-201). Hypothesis 1 was tested using the non-parametric test, Spearman’s Rank Order correlation at a 95 percent level of confidence. Table 3 indicates the result of the Measuring instrument
The resulting p-value (p < 0.001) is less than 0.05 and A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used. The therefore the hypothesis can be accepted. There is entertainment, informativeness and irritation scales used in the study were adapted from ducoffe’s (1996: 28) study of consumer therefore a positive correlation between consumers’ attitudes towards advertising on the world wide web. The credibility scale was adapted from the scale developed by brackett and carr (2001: 25) in the study of consumer attitudes towards web adver Hypotheses tests
tising. For the purpose of this study the wording of scale items was slightly adapted to be more in line with consumer attitudes towards sms advertising. A five-point likert-type scale, label ed from (1- The assumption of normality was assessed through the strongly disagree) to (5-strongly agree) was used and no items Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Tests for normality were also assessed through a visual examination of histograms and Table 2. Number of SMS messages sent and received by
Number of SMS messages Sent (%) Received (%)
Between 1 and 5
Table 3. Results of spearman’s rank order correlation – hypothesis 1.
Entertainment value
Table 4. Results of spearman’s rank order correlation – hypothesis 2.
Informativeness
Spearman's rho
Overall Attitude
Correlation Coefficient

normal probability plots. It showed that the data deviate
ceptions of the entertainment value of SMS advertise- to a great extent from a normal distribution. ments and consumers’ attitudes towards SMS advertise- The first hypothesis (H1) investigated whether or not ments. This is supportive of the findings of Green, there is a positive correlation between consumers’ Salking and Akey (1999:238). This implies that manage- perceptions of the entertainment value of SMS advertise- ment need to consider the entertainment aspect of SMS ments and consumers’ overal attitudes towards SMS The coefficient of determination (r2= 0.4502) implies Hypothesis 1 was tested using the non-parametric test, that 45% of the variance in consumers’ attitudes towards Spearman’s Rank Order correlation at a 95 percent level SMS advertisements can be explained by the variation in of confidence. Table 3 indicates the result of the consumers’ perceptions of the entertainment value of SMS advertisements (Diamantopoulos and Schlegelmich, The resulting p-value (p < 0.001) is less than 0.05 and normal probability plots. It showed that the data deviate The second hypothesis (H2) investigates the correlation to a great extent from a normal distribution. between consumers’ perceptions of the informativeness The first hypothesis (H1) investigated whether or not of SMS advertisements and consumers’ overal attitudes there is a positive correlation between consumers’ towards SMS advertisements. Table 4 depicts the results perceptions of the entertainment value of SMS advertise- of the Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation which was ments and consumers’ overal attitudes towards SMS The p-value (p<0.001) calculated in the test is Hypothesis 1 was tested using the non-parametric test, significant at the 0.05 level and therefore the hypothesis Spearman’s Rank Order correlation at a 95 percent level can be accepted. Management needs to realise the of confidence. Table 3 indicates the result of the effect which the information content of a SMS advertise- ment has on the attitudes of consumers and design The resulting p-value (p<0.001) is less than 0.05 and advertisements that provide consumers with relevant and therefore the hypothesis can be accepted. There is therefore a positive correlation between consumers’ The Coefficient of determination (r2= 0.3058) implies therefore the hypothesis can be accepted. There is that 30 percent of the variance in consumers’ attitudes therefore a positive correlation between consumers’s per- towards SMS advertisements can be explained by the Table 5. Results of spearman’s rank order correlation – hypothesis 3.
Irritation
Table 6. Results of spearman’s rank order correlation – hypothesis 4.
Credibility
variation in consumers’ perceptions of the informa- Brackett and Carr (2001:24-25) be applied to consumer attitudes towards SMS advertisements in a South African Hypothesis 3 is concerned with testing whether or not context. The findings indicate that young South African there is a positive correlation between consumers’ consumers’ are highly engaged in the use of cel phones perceptions of the irritation of SMS advertisements and and the SMS functions, as a means of communicating consumers’ overal attitudes towards SMS advertise- ments. Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation was used to test the hypothesis and the results are displayed in Table Managerial implications
The p-value (p<0.001) is significant at the 0,05 level and the alternative hypothesis can be accepted. The coefficient of determination (r2= 0.2992) implies that Based upon the consumers’ negative attitudes towards nearly 30% of the variance in consumers’ attitudes SMS advertisements, marketers need to recognise that towards SMS advertisements can be explained by the SMS advertisements, although offering many benefits in variation in consumers’ perceptions of the irritation of terms of reaching the youth, may not be as effective in creating favourable attitudes towards the advertised Hypothesis 4 is concerned with testing whether or not product or service. Consumers with negative attitudes there is a positive correlation between consumers’ towards SMS advertisements may choose to ignore, and perceptions of the credibility of SMS advertisements and not pursue the information of the SMS advertisement. consumers’ overal attitudes towards SMS advertise- Marketers wil find it difficult to create awareness of a ments. Table 6 shows the results of the Spearman’s product or service when using SMS advertisements to Rank Order Correlation which was used to test the consumers with negative attitudes towards the medium. With regard to the fairly negative perceptions of the The p-value (p<0.001) calculated for the test is entertainment value of SMS advertisements, marketers significant at a 95% level of confidence (p<0.05). The need to look at ways of increasing the entertainment as hypothesis can therefore be accepted. The coefficient of wel as the level of enjoyment consumers associate with determination (r2 = 0.2034) implies that, although there is the receiving of SMS advertisements. In order to over- a positive correlation between consumers’ perception of the come the screen size and entertainment limitations of credibility of SMS advertisements and consumers’ overal SMS messages, marketers need to perhaps make use of attitudes towards SMS advertisements, the strength the MMS (multimedia message services), which takes between the two constructs is very weak . SMS messages to the next level and al ows for the The results of the hypotheses tests indicated that inclusion of visual elements, such as pictures and videos, consumers’ perceptions of the entertainment value, infor- as wel as sound. The use of MMS can help marketers mativeness and credibility of SMS advertisements are create more unique and entertaining advertisements that positively correlated with the consumer attitudes towards can be sent to consumers’ cel phones (Dickinger et al., SMS advertisements. This is consistent with the findings 2004: 7; Okazaki, 2006: 161). Marketers should also look of Tsang et al. (2004: 71) in their study of consumer at creating humorous SMS advertisements as these can attitudes towards SMS advertisements. A major finding is help to gain the attention of readers (Barwise and Strong, that consumers have fairly negative attitudes towards SMS 2002: 22). This would however require greater and more accurate capturing of consumer information so as to It is suggested that the framework developed by determine the consumers who have MMS enabled cel Recommendations for future research
The relationship between consumers’ perceptions of the irritation of SMS advertisements and consumer Future researchers could use a bigger sample of attitudes towards SMS advertisements, suggests that respondents and where possible make use of random marketers need to ensure that messages are sent to sampling when selecting respondents to participate in the consumers at a reasonable time during the day. A study. Future research should also attempt to determine recommendation is that marketers only send SMS how consumers of different ages, class or culture advertisements to recipients between 09:00 and 19:30 on (relevant demographic variables) differ in their attitudes weekdays and when sending SMS advertisements to towards SMS advertisements. South Africa is a diverse students, avoid sending the advertisement before noon country in terms of different cultures and a study that as students may be in class or sleeping (Dickinger et al., highlights differences in consumer attitudes towards SMS advertisements based on cultural differences could be Respondents’ perceptions of the credibility of SMS valuable. Future researchers should also develop a new advertisements proved to be relatively negative which wil scale to measure overal attitudes towards SMS have an adverse effect on consumers’ attitudes towards advertisements, which incorporates more items. SMS advertisements. This factor highlights the importance of permission-based marketing in protecting the credibility of the SMS advertising channel. Tsang et Conclusion
al. (2004:68) state that “Permission-based advertising differs from traditional irritating advertising in that Marketers need to understand the target audience for messages about specific products, services, or content SMS advertising campaign and send messages to are sent only to individuals who have explicitly indicated consumers whereby the language and content of the their wil ingness to receive the message.” Permission- SMS advertisement is in unison with the target based marketing ensures that advertisements are sent to only those consumers that are interested in receiving Although consumers have neutral perceptions of the information from the organisation and avoids targeting informativeness of SMS advertisements, consumers those consumers that wil perceive the advertisement as disagreed that SMS advertisements supplied relevant being intrusive or irritating. It is essential, for the success information. Marketers need to further ensure that they of an SMS advertising campaign, to first gain the send only relevant information to targeted consumers. permission of consumers before sending SMS Consumers value SMS advertisements that are short, advertisements to random consumers (Andersson and straight to the point and concern information that is Nilsson, 2000: 47; Kavassalis et al., 2003: 64; Nysveen, relevant to their interests. Marketers can also create Pedersen and Thorbjørnsen, 2003: 21). Leppäniemi and cryptic messages that stimulate the curiosity of those who Karjaluoto (2005: 209) add that SMS advertising “…is receive the SMS advertisement (Barwise and Strong, considered more acceptable when delivered by a trusted REFERENCES
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