Information Technology & Communication - Coursework Example

Effectiveness of Mobile Advertising Much has been talked about the effectiveness/benefits of mobile advertising. However, one must not forget that everything has pros & cons and SMS marketing is no exception. For instance, if internet, at one hand, is a great source of information & entertainment, on the other hand it badly affects your eye-sight, creates fatigue, wastes time, cuts-off socialization, etc. etc. Similarly, if a mobile phone has provided you with a robust source of communications, then, in contrast, it has substantially caused to increase in road accidents.

In short, we must see both sides of a coin. Undoubtedly, mobile advertising has played a vital role in boosting sales, marketing, promotions, etc., however, application of certain business ethics must be reinforced in any case. Be it Americans or Asians, White or Black, human nature almost responds to the same way. For instance, if one receives an uninvited ad(s) on his/her mobile, most probably it would cause not only irritation but also discourage him/her to pay attention to other valuable messages/information.

Let me clarify the situation by giving my own example. I keep on receiving Call/SMS package offers from the Cellular Company but I never bother to read such messages and delete them right away. Why? Because I am not interested in. Thus, in my case I would term it as a failed marketing. So I am trying to convey is that mobile marketing can surely drive better results provided if it is going to be a “Permission-Based Advertising” – i.e. with user’s prior permission to receive such ads. Lih-Bin Oh and Heng Xu (2003) stated, “Advertising researchers have devoted much attention to the study of irritation arising from advertisements such as TV commercials and Web pop-up advertisements.

For the case of permission-based location-aware advertisements, the level of irritation should be rather low since messages are delivered with the receiver’s prior consent”. To influence people to accept such messages, companies should simply follow the marketing/advertising rule of AIDA – i.e. Attention: First get their attention; Interest: Once you have their attention, create interest; Desire: Once interest is developed, create a desire in them, and finally Action: Make them to take an action – i.e. they buy your product.

In conclusion, I, under the context described above, recommend a well-planned & systemized mobile advertising. Be it your life or business, a balanced & systemic approach always drives better results. Reference Lih-Bin Oh and Heng Xu (2003). Effects of Multimedia on Mobile Consumer Behavior: An Empirical Study of Location-Aware Advertising. Retrieved March 11, 2011 from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.94.5084&rep=rep1&type=pdf