Enabling ecosystem for mobile advertising in an emerging market

The global landscape for advertising has undergone major revolution attributed to the rapid advancement in information and communication technologies (ICT). ICT has opened up more opportunities for economic agents to advertise in the new economy. Among ICT, mobile phones provide the greatest opportunity to catch up with more developed countries in terms of socioeconomic development. Rapid growth in mobile phones in developing countries provides an excellent platform for mobile advertising (m-advertising). M-advertising can be an alternate channel for providing information to the wider audience globally than traditional advertising systems. Further, realising the potential of m-advertising in contributing to the revenue stream, enterprises have invested heavily to increase the use of m-advertising as an important mode of interacting with the consumers and other stakeholders. Acceptance of m-advertising in developing countries will require careful understanding of consumer attitudes toward m-advertising in these countries. In this study, the ecosystem which supports the adoption of m-advertising in a developing country, Malaysia is examined. The m-advertising ecosystem in this study is referred to as the enabling conditions that support the sustained development of m-advertising, which include adequate provision of physical infrastructure and regulatory framework. This thesis examines m-advertising purely in terms of technology adoption as technological innovation has transformed the creation of new medium. This study proposes a modified m-advertising adoption model based on the framework developed by Venkatesh, Moris, Davis and Davis (2003), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The proposed model is called Mobile Advertising Diffusion in Emerging Market (MADEM). In this study, a sample of 400 respondents was obtained using a structured questionnaire in Malaysia in 2010. The study focuses on urban population in a developing country. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), this study examines four key determinants – Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEoU), Social Influence (SI), and Facilitating Conditions (FC) on the Behavioural Intention (BI) to adopt m-advertising. FC in this study is disaggregated into Physical Facilitating Conditions and Control (PFC) and Institutional Facilitating Conditions (IFC). The empirical analysis shows the following relationships on m-advertising: (1) PU and SI are the strongest factors influencing the BI to adopt m-advertising; (2) both PEoU and SI have direct effect on the PU of m-advertising; (3) SI has direct effect on the PEoU of m-advertising; (4) PFC has a direct effect on the PEoU; (5) gender, age, education level, and ethnic group are significant moderators. The key theoretical and practical implications from the abovementioned relationships are discussed in this thesis. These implications provide valuable insights for policy makers, telecommunication operators and other stakeholders on effective formulation strategies to enhance the m-advertising ecosystem to ensure high adoption of this service.