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Young consumers motives for using SMS and perceptions towards SMS advertising
Ian Phau and Min Teah
The School of Marketing, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine young consumers motives for using short message service (SMS), their SMS usage frequency, and their attitudes towards SMS advertising. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using convenience sampling via a self administered questionnaire in a large Western Australia university. A total of 211 useable responses were collected and retained for analysis. Findings Factor analysis on the motives for using SMS revealed seven factors. The results showed that convenience and economical reasons inuence SMS usage frequency. Social involvement is also found to inuence attitudes towards SMS advertising. Research limitations/implications The sample is only limited to young consumers in an Australian context. As such, limited generalization can be derived. Future research can look into cross cultural studies or other consumer segments. Practical implications Marketers and advertisers can look into crafting relevant and targeted messages to reach young consumers. Furthermore, referrals can be another option to reach the young consumer market. Pricing strategies and integrating SMS advertising with other forms of media can be further explored. Originality/value Many prior studies have focused on an Asian or European context. Limited research has been done to investigate the relationship between motives for using SMS and attitudes towards SMS as an advertising tool. Keywords Mobile communication systems, Advertising, Consumer behaviour Paper type Research paper

Consumers motives for using SMS 97

Introduction The number of global mobile phone users has soared to more than 3.3 billion in recent years thereby escalating the adoption of mobile commerce (Australian IT, 2008). The mobile communications industry is a high cost and high revenue industry that is making substantial contribution to the Australian economy (The Allen Consulting Group, 2005; Zhang and Mao, 2008). Mobile phones have surpassed just being a utility-based communication tool and have now served as a fashion item, a status symbol, and a channel for individuals to express themselves (Sultan and Rohm, 2005). A popular part of mobile technology is the use of short message service (SMS). SMS, widely used around the world (Leung, 2007), is a store and-forward communication system for the mobile phone (Bamba and Barnes, 2007, p. 815). SMS is a form of Instant Messaging system and allows users to send alphanumeric messages of up to 160 characters to any GSM phone (Leung, 2007). International Data Corporation stated that SMS is the most popular mobile data application and with a recorded 65 percent of mobile phone users sending text messages daily (Forbes, 2006). Another study by GSM Association found that mobile phone users send more than 10 billion SMS each month,

Direct Marketing: An International Journal Vol. 3 No. 2, 2009 pp. 97-108 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1750-5933 DOI 10.1108/17505930910964768

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making this the most widely used mobile data service (Dickinger et al., 2004; Bamba and Barnes, 2007) and a major contributor to the mobile telecommunications industry. Sharp peaks of use of SMS are observed during signicant times in the community, such as celebrative festivities (i.e. Christmas and New Year or Valentines Day). It is also been observed that many industry innovations are developed around the use of SMS (The Allen Consulting Group, 2005), which are mostly focused in European and Asian markets (Leung, 2007; Holloway and Valentine, 2003), but is gaining momentum in Australia (Dhalokia and Dhalokia, 2004). The use of SMS as a communication tool is most prevalent in the young consumer segment (Maneesoonthorn and Fortin, 2004; Carroll et al., 2007; Leung, 2007). For example, DeBaillon and Rockwell (2005) found that mobile phones have replaced landline telephones for daily use for these young consumers. Mobile phones are necessities in the young consumers lifestyles, not only as a form of fashion statement but a portal to keep a presence and connection to peer networks (Grant and ODonohoe, 2007; Carroll et al., 2007). The mobile telecommunications technology has made consumers life more mobile and the most signicant benet is the accessibility and freedom for people to remain in contact, while on the move (Sultan and Rohm, 2005; The Allen Consulting Group, 2005). There is also an increasing popularity of reality TV voting programs, radio programs, and other contests that utilizes SMS responses (Grant and ODonohoe, 2007; Leung, 2007; Bughin, 2004). It is found that the use of SMS is particularly attractive to young consumers falling within the age group of 15-24 (Barnes, 2002). Furthermore, Jupiter Research found that 18- to 34-year olds are more interested in participating in sweepstakes, game shows, and TV promotions than adults over 35 years old (Rodgers, 2003). It is projected by Informa Telecoms and Media that the international mobile advertising industry will be worth US $ 12.09 billion by 2013 (Jaques, 2008). With the increase usage of mobile technology in Australia, it is believed that SMS is the new advertising medium. Prior studies have examined consumer attitudes towards SMS advertising, including specic areas such as acceptance (Carroll et al., 2007; Rettie and Brum, 2001), uses and gratications (Leung, 2007; Leung and Wei, 2000), interpersonal inuences (Muk, 2007), demographic effects (Okazaki, 2007; Barnes, 2002), permission use (Bamba and Barnes, 2007), and other dimensions of SMS advertising. However, little has been done to investigate the relationship between motives to use SMS technology and attitudes towards SMS as an advertising or promotional tool (Vrechopoulous et al., 2003; Zhang and Mao, 2008). Furthermore, while studies have focused on American, European, and Asian consumers (Muk, 2007; Leung, 2007; Yan et al., 2006), Australia is yet to be understood as a major mobile commerce player. Although, this medium is suggested to be a potentially effective and protable channel to advertise targeted messages (Leung, 2007), the Australian youth markets reception towards this medium is still under researched (Grant and ODonohoe, 2007). This paper aims to bridge this gap and by examining young Australian consumers motivations for using SMS, their attitudes towards SMS advertising, both in relation to their SMS usage frequency. The paper begins with an overview of mobile advertising and a review of relevant literature, leading into methodology, analysis, and ndings. Finally, the paper will conclude by providing managerial implications, limitations and future research directions.

Relevant literature and hypotheses development SMS advertising a part of mobile marketing SMS advertising is a part of mobile marketing that utilizes the SMS technology. It allows marketers to send messages to consumers through the use of a mobile device (Zhang and Mao, 2008) and is considered as a form of one-to-one marketing (Xu, 2006/2007). It enables marketers to promote goods, services, and ideas through personalized, context driven and relevant messages that are sent directly to individual consumers (Rohm and Sultan, 2005; Grant and ODonohoe, 2007; Xu, 2006/2007; Muk and Babin, 2006). SMS messaging system has been predominantly used as a communication tool between friends, family, and peers. However, businesses have effectively implemented SMS advertising to update their customers, and track people and parcels (Leung, 2007). Furthermore, SMS advertising has also prompted marketers to send coupons to consumers mobile phones (Xu, 2006/2007; Varshney and Vetter, 2002). For example, consumer brands like Adidas, Coke, and Dunkin Donuts have already implemented and developed mobile marketing communication campaigns targeted at the youth market (Grant and ODonohoe, 2007). In addition, SMS advertising is also commonly used to reinforce other traditional media such as broadcast and print media (Zhang and Mao, 2008). SMS advertisements have the capability to capture consumers attention, cause a response action, and help build brand awareness (Muk and Babin, 2006; Yunos et al., 2003). For marketers, SMS advertising offers several advantages such as, usefulness, perceived ease of use, cost effectiveness, ubiquity, immediacy, intrusiveness, and niche targeted (Rettie and Brum, 2001; Zhang and Mao, 2008). However, mobile phone users are stunting the potential growth of mobile advertising due to the fear of being charged heavily on content downloads by mobile service providers (Sinclair, 2008). Furthermore, it is reported that 79 percent of online consumers nd receiving mobile ads through their mobile phones irritating (Muk, 2007; Klassen and Cuneo, 2007; Xu, 2006/2007). Grant and ODonohoe (2007) also discovered that young adolescent consumers do dislike and resent excessive intrusive use of SMS advertising. On the other hand, studies have found that mobile advertising campaigns generate higher response rates as compared to direct mail and internet banner ads (Jelassi and Enders, 2004; Zhang and Mao, 2008). Barnes (2002) also found that SMS advertising is better able to attract the younger consumer market, whereas other media have found it a challenge to do so. For the young consumers, it is said that SMS is now the preferred way to communicate (Tran, 2003). Marketers have found that it is easier to communicate in a language that young people understand. As such, these reports clearly indicate that this form of advertising has lots of potential and should not be underestimated. SMS usage frequency Currently, marketers have moved past penetration rates and are focusing on the usage frequency of mobile service subscribers (Grant and ODonohoe, 2007). Higher frequency of SMS usage shows a greater acceptance and familiarity of use of this technology. Therefore, if consumers are already SMS procient, it is easier for marketers to target them as they would not require additional knowledge on how to use SMS. Based on prior studies, there is evidence that consumers utilize SMS on the basis of its convenience, usefulness and ease of use (Peters et al., 2007). Furthermore,

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SMS is infused with the fun factor (Grant and ODonohoe, 2007), which makes it especially attractive to young consumers. Based on the fact that young consumers today are more tech savvy and are more receptive to this form of communication (Vigar-Ellis et al., 2007; Sultan and Rohm, 2005), they will be more frequent users of SMS technology (Maneesoonthorn and Fortin, 2006). Uses and gratication theory Motivations to use SMS technology can be explained by the uses and gratication theory. This theory purports that the consumer is actively involved in the decision to determine their media use and is motivated by the need to fulll certain needs (Peters et al., 2007; ODonohoe, 1994). Furthermore, these consumers select the media contents that they wish to be exposed to (Katz, 1959). Based on the studies conducted by Katz et al. (1973), the use of mass media is goal oriented, and the consumer seeks to link the need gratication with their choice of media. The consumers use of the media also competes with other sources of need satisfaction, and gratications from media use usually encompass diversion, entertainment, and information. In addition, McQuail et al. (1972) emphasized that escapism is a common motivation for users of mass media. The consumer also seeks to satisfy the need to express personal identity and to build relationships (McQuail et al., 1972; Weiss, 1971; Katz et al., 1973) through the use of media. Furthermore, social inuences as well and psychological states of consumers also impact on the decision. As media use is considered a natural composition of the environment, its use is therefore a part of the consumers social action and routine. As such, consumers would interpret SMS messages by incorporating it as part of their daily routine (ODonohoe, 1994). The utilitarian dimension of uses and gratication theory can be applied to examine the consumers motives for using SMS text messaging (Leung, 2007). Various studies have identied a number of gratication seeking motives from television usage (Lull, 1980; Rubin, 1984), telephone usage (Leung and Wei, 2000), and more recently internet usage (Maignan and Lukas, 1997; Parker and Plank, 2000; Stafford et al., 2004). However, the nature of SMS technology is dissimilar to other media; it is ubiquitous, text based, and personal in nature. Based on the preceding discussion, the following research questions are formulated: RQ1. What are the motives for using SMS? RQ2. How do SMS motives inuence SMS usage frequency? Attitudes towards SMS advertising Attitudes are conventionally regarded as an indicator of the effectiveness of advertising (Jun and Lee, 2007). According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), an attitude towards an object is dened as an individuals internal evaluation based on his or her beliefs. Similarly, consumer attitudes towards SMS advertising can be determined by the values that they attribute to SMS advertising (Ducoffe, 1995). As suggested by Jun and Lee (2007), when consumers are provided with benets such as entertainment and information, they will perceive advertising in a more favourable light. In addition, SMS advertising is found to be attention grabbing, a source of information, interesting, and interactive (Maneesoonthorn and Fortin, 2004; Lee et al., 2006).

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While SMS advertising is identied to be a more effective medium to generate consumer response, young consumers hold increasingly negative attitudes towards advertising (Zanot, 1984; Tsang et al., 2004) This could be attributed to the accumulated past negative experiences (Muk and Babin, 2006). High frequency SMS users also want to have control of the types of SMS advertising that they receive. Consumers may choose to switch service providers or delete the SMS ads without reading them if they nd such ads personally intrusive (Carroll et al., 2007). It is therefore crucial to examine if attitudes towards SMS advertising would discourage SMS usage frequency. As such, attitudes towards SMS advertising could in fact affect the behavioural outcome of using SMS (Jun and Lee, 2007). Hence, the following hypotheses are formulated: H1. There is a positive relationship between motives for using SMS and attitudes towards SMS advertising. H2. There is a positive relationship between SMS usage frequency and attitudes towards SMS advertising. H3. Attitude towards SMS advertising moderates the relationship between motives of using SMS and SMS usage frequency. Methodology Data collection Data were collected using a convenience sampling method via a self administered questionnaire, in a large university in Western Australia. Students are an ideal target to examine young consumers as they fall within the age group of 18-35, which is the segment of largest mobile phone and SMS user (DeBaillon and Rockwell, 2005). Measurement and scaling The survey instrument comprised of four sections. Section A consists of a screening question to determine if the respondent has used SMS before. A question on the usage frequency on a weekly basis was addressed, followed by questions asking respondents if they have ever received, read, or responded to SMS advertising. Section B consists of an adapted scale from various sources that examine consumer attitudes towards SMS advertising (Carroll et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2006). Section C comprised of the uses and gratication scale adapted from Leung (2007) that measures the motives for using SMS. Both Section B and C are measured on a seven-point Likert scale with 1 strongly disagree and 7 strongly agree. Section D consists of questions that capture demographic information. Results Sample A total of 230 responses were collected. Nineteen responses were discarded due to incompletion or if the respondent has not used SMS before. The remaining 211 responses were retained for analysis using SPSS version 15. A total of 53.6 percent of the respondents were males and the majority of the students (89.6 percent) fall between the age group of 18-24. A total of 67.1 percent of the respondents earn under $ 15,000 p.a. 95.7 percent of the students are undergraduates and the remaining 4.3 percent are

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postgraduate students. A total of 73.5 percent of the respondents are high SMS users (who send more than nine messages week) and 26.5 percent are low SMS users (who send less than nine messages per week). When respondents were asked if they have received SMS advertising in the past, 91 percent have received SMS ads, 5.2 percent did not, and 3.8 percent do not remember. When asked if the respondents read the SMS ads, only 43.6 percent read the ads, and 56.4 percent deleted the ads. When asked if the respondents participated or responded to the SMS ads, only 21.3 percent did, and the remainder of 78.7 percent did not. Factor analysis An exploratory factor analysis was conducted using varimax rotation on the 30-item uses and gratication scale. As shown in Table I, seven factors emerged from the analysis namely, convenience, social involvement, enjoyment, escape, personal communication, economical reasons, and public expression. These seven factors explain 63.38 percent of the total variance. Regression analysis Regression analysis was conducted on motives for using SMS towards SMS usage frequency. It is found that convenience has a signicant positive inuence on SMS usage frequency (Sig. 0.000, b 0.302). Economical reasons is also found to have a signicant negative inuence towards SMS usage frequency (Sig. 0.044, b 2 0.143). Both factors account for 11.8 percent of the variance. The other factors did not possess a signicant inuence towards SMS usage frequency. Motives for using SMS and attitudes towards SMS advertising Regression analysis was conducted on motives for using SMS on attitudes towards SMS advertising. As shown in Table II, social involvement has a signicant positive inuence on attitudes towards SMS advertising (Sig. 0.000, b 0.323, adjusted R 2 0.091). However, the other factors do not have any signicant relationships with attitudes towards SMS advertising, hence H1 is partially supported. SMS usage frequency and attitudes towards SMS advertising Regression analysis was conducted between SMS usage frequency and attitudes towards SMS advertising. As shown in Table III, there is no relationship between the SMS usage frequency and consumers attitudes towards SMS advertising. Hence, H2 is rejected. Hierarchical moderated regression Hierarchical moderated regression was conducted to test for the moderation of attitudes towards advertising on the relationship of convenience and SMS usage frequency. Table IV showed that there are no signicant relationships. As such, H3 is rejected. Discussion and managerial implications SMS advertising presents important future implications for marketers and is projected to be a booming advertising medium (Carroll et al., 2007; Muk, 2007). In summary, this paper has identied seven factors that inuence SMS usage. However, only

Items

Factors 4

Convenience Very convenient 0.824 Keep in touch with friends 0.774 Keep up with everybody 0.737 Easy to use 0.718 It is quick 0.687 Make appointments 0.561 Respond to SMS sent to me 0.543 Social involvement Vote in reality shows 0.764 Express opinions in response to TV/radio shows 0.737 Donate to charities 0.719 Participate in contests 0.688 Enjoyment It is fun 0.757 It enjoy it 0.710 It is stimulating 0.544 Escape Put off something I should be doing 0.771 Play tricks on others 0.642 When I am bored 0.607 Personal Communication Say thank you for their kindness 0.780 Send messages to love ones 0.672 Say sensitive things that I cannot say face to face 0.636 Economical reasons Cheaper than phone 0.804 Help control cost 0.781 Public expression Look fashionable 0.832 Look stylish 0.782 Eigenvalue 8.153 3.983 1.693 1.528 1.384 1.208 1.065 Cronbach a 0.858 0.784 0.862 0.625 0.646 0.697 0.898 Cumulative (%) 27.18 40.46 46.10 51.19 55.81 59.83 63.38 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin 0.849 Percentage of total variance 63.38

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Table I. Factor analysis of motives for using SMS

B-values Convenience Economical reasons 0.140 2 0.049

SE 0.039 0.024

b
0.302 2 0.143

Adjusted R 2 0.118

t-value 3.607 2 2.025

Sig. 0.000 0.044 Table II. Regression analysis of motives for using SMS on SMS usage frequency

Note: Dependent variable SMS usage

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convenience positively inuences SMS usage frequency, whereas economical reasons negatively inuence SMS usage frequency, and only social involvement inuences consumers attitudes towards SMS advertising. There is no signicant relationship between SMS usage frequency and the consumers attitudes towards SMS advertising. Lastly, attitudes towards SMS advertising is not a moderator of motives using SMS and SMS usage frequency. Based on the ndings, convenience is paramount in inuencing SMS usage frequency of the Australian young consumers. This nding is reinforced by prior studies (Leung, 2007) that the benets SMS contribute to their lifestyles are because it is quick, easy to use and other utilitarian reasons. Furthermore, reasons that are more social, such as keeping in touch with friends and keeping up with everybody constitute a part of convenience. Prior studies have found that SMS is a form of keeping young consumers aligned with their social network or fellow peers. As such, mobile marketers and advertisers should pay more attention to the way advertising messages are crafted based on these issues. Advertisers should ensure that the SMS advertisements are well crafted and relevant so that these could well be forwarded and circulated within the social network. Marketing strategies such as referrals, promotional vouchers, and coupons that are relevant to the target group can be used to reach this market. Interestingly, economical reasons negatively inuence SMS usage frequency for high SMS users. This can be explained by the fact that heavy users are not concerned about the economical benets such as cost control as telephone calls are more expensive. As they are heavy users, the cost that their SMS habit would incur would be relatively substantial. Furthermore, the cost to send an SMS (AU $ 0.15 above) in Australia is more expensive than many other countries in Asia and Europe. Most mobile plan rates make it cheaper to call rather than to SMS (i.e. free calls to users of the same service provider). Hence, this could be a reason as to why SMS advertising and SMS technology adoption is much slower in Australia than other nations. Mobile phone service providers could lower costs to consumers and in turn will be able to attract more advertising revenue through SMS advertisements. A cost benet analysis should be performed to arrive with the best option of pricing strategies.
B-values Social involvement SMS usage 0.331 2 0.006 SE 0.082 0.056

b
0.323 2 0.008

Adjusted R 2 0.091 2 0.005

t-value 4.023 2 1.15

Sig. 0.000 0.909

Table III. Regression analysis

Note: Dependent variable attitudes towards SMS advertising

Table IV. Hierarchical moderated regression results for attitudes towards SMS advertising

Independent variables Convenience Convenience attitudes Convenience attitudes Convenience attitudes

Sig. 0.020 0.934 0.890

Adjusted R 2 0.120 0.116 0.112

F 29.672 14.826 9.844

df 1 1 1

R 2D 0.124 0.000 0.000

FD 29.672 0.107 0.019

df 209 208 207

Social involvement is found as the factor that inuences consumers attitudes towards advertising. Previous studies have found that there are many SMS advertising campaigns that are complemented with other forms of media (Zhang and Mao, 2008), for example SMS advertisements are sent out to consumers to respond to contests that are advertised on TV. In Australia, most of the SMS advertising campaigns are commonly used to vote for favourite personalities on reality shows (e.g. Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance), or to respond to promotions broadcasted on radio. This nding suggests that motivations to participate in contests, voting on reality shows and to donate to charities are well accepted as mainstream lifestyle activities and consumers have a positive acceptance towards such promotions. It is found that SMS usage frequency does not inuence attitudes towards SMS advertising. This could be well due to the fact that consumers utilize SMS for the sake of communication, and probably do not consider it as an advertising channel as yet. It can be argued that because the market in Australia is relatively new, marketers would need to be careful in understanding what young consumers would benet from SMS ads. Conclusion, future directions, and limitations With international mobile technology converging and advancing at a greater pace, mobile advertising is projected to continue its growth (Maneesoonthorn and Fortin, 2004). In Australia, there are still a limited number of companies and brands employing this method of promotion. Hence, the potential of this medium is very well untapped and will receive greater attention if it is well tailored and communicated. Many other research have raised the privacy issue as one of the biggest issues in SMS advertising, marketers would have to implement sound relationship management programs to gain consumer trust in the brand before consumers are likely to respond (Carroll et al., 2007). Further a better understanding of Australian consumer behaviour is crucial to better craft SMS advertising messages. However, this paper is not without limitations. First, this paper only examined young consumers in Western Australia, posing limited generalizability to other cultures and demographic segments. Cross-cultural studies within the Australian consumer sample can also be looked into, since Australia has a diverse and multi-cultural community. Social and personality inuences can be introduced to examine if such factors inuence the motives of using SMS as well as attitudes towards SMS advertising. Although the attitudes towards SMS advertising were examined, future studies can delve into what form of SMS advertising messages are relevant and attractive for young consumers in order to inuence attitudes. The emerging popularity of multimedia messaging service can also be studied as another avenue to communicate with consumers.
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