Antecedents of Consumer Acceptance of Mobile Television Advertising

Introduction

In this highly competitive environment, marketers also have little information about consumers’ acceptance of mobile TV advertising, or even about mobile marketing in general (Hanley, Becker, & Martinsen, 2006). Yet the personal nature of mobile phones requires marketers to gain consumer acceptance for any form of marketing activities (du Pre Gauntt, 2008; Merisavo et al., 2007; Ranchhod, 2007). This study addresses the research inadequacies by examining the most important factors influencing consumer acceptance of mobile TV advertising. On the basis of a review of the nascent literature, this study tests a series of hypotheses using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results validate an exhaustive and robust measurement model for consumer acceptance of mobile TV advertising and increase understanding of the factors that most influence consumer acceptance of this rapidly growing form of mobile advertising.

The rise of mobile TV, which will soon rival traditional TV in terms of viewing time and occasions (Andersen, Jakobsen, & Nilsen, 2007; Rappaport, 2007), is generating intense competition within the industry to capture a portion of the growing revenues from both TV services and advertising. The latest estimates show that mobile television revenues will increase eight-fold between 2008 and 2012, reaching $10 billion worldwide (White, 2008), but these figures do not take into account the potential advertising revenues that will accompany the development of mobile TV. Mobile advertising allows advertisers to connect directly with individual consumers through a mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or laptop computer in real time, without spatial or wiring constraints (Frolick & Chen, 2004). In 2008, mobile phone sales alone reached 1.25 billion mobile phones worldwide, and several countries in Europe and Asia had penetration rates above 100% (Idate, 2008a, 2008b, 2009). Media applications on mobile phones are also expected to become mainstream in the near future (Repo, Hyvonen, Pantzar, & Timonen, 2006). Therefore, given the substantial potential of mobile phones in terms of audience reach, mobile advertising offers one of the most promising media for marketers and advertisers within the near future (Buellingen & Woerter, 2004; Ferris, 2007; Okazaki, 2006).

Advertisers are enthusiastic about mobile advertising’s potential for many reasons. Mobile phones offer considerable potential for marketers in forging brand–consumer connections especially with teenagers and young adults. Since each mobile phone number represents a unique individual, one of the main advantages mobile advertising offers is the possibility of identifying and reaching specific consumers. This capability permits more personalized messages and more precisely targeted mobile advertising campaigns (Ranchhod, 2007). Additionally, mobile technologies provide real-time performance metrics for measuring the effectiveness of a campaign (Vollmer, 2008). For example, advertisers can determine the exact number of users who actually open and read text messages during a campaign. Several studies demonstrate that mobile advertising increases consumer involvement, recall, and attitude in general (Okazaki, Katsukura, & Nishiyama, 2007; Trappey III & Woodside, 2005). Other potential advantages of mobile services include better customer relationships and additional revenues generated by new services (Merisavo, Vesanen, Arponen, Kajalo, & Raulas, 2006; Steinbock, 2006).