Mobile marketing refers to the two- or multi-way communication and promotion of an offer between a firm and its customers using a mobile medium, device, or technology. We present the conceptual underpinnings of mobile marketing and a synthesis of the relevant literature. We identify and discuss four key issues: drivers of mobile device/service adoption, the influence of mobile marketing on customer decision-making, formulation of a mobile marketing strategy, and mobile marketing in the global context. We outline research directions related to these issues and conclude by delineating the managerial implications of mobile marketing insights.
The demand for mobile devices – equipment such as cell phones, PDAs, and digital music players that are typically used on an anytime, anywhere basis without being connected by wires – and services that use these mobile devices (mobile services) is growing rapidly worldwide. The global market for mobile entertainment goods and services is expected to grow from $17.3 billion in 2006 to $76.9 billion in 2011 (Gibson 2006). Total non-messaging mobile content revenues are expected to increase from $70.7 billion in 2007 to $187.9 billion in 2012 (Uglow 2007). Furthermore, mobile services such as global positioning system (GPS) navigation, mobile email, and text and video messaging are growing at a significant pace.
Amid such a surge in markets for mobile devices and applications, mobile marketing – the set of marketing initiatives that use mobile devices and media (the vehicles of communication that involve mobile devices) – is gaining importance. For example, spending on mobile advertising in the U.S., now at about $644 million, is anticipated to rise to over $3.5 billion by 2011 (eMarketer 2007a). Similarly, spending on mobile message marketing in the U.S., now pegged at $4.2 billion, is expected to grow to $12 billion in 2011 (eMarketer 2007b). Not surprisingly, mobile marketing is an emerging topic of interest to both academics and practitioners.
Formally, we define mobile marketing as the two-way or multi-way communication and promotion of an offer between a firm and its customers1 using a mobile medium, device, or technology. Because it involves two-way or multi-way communication, mobile marketing is primarily interactive in nature, and could include mobile advertising, promotion, customer support, and other relationship-building activities. Such interactive marketing activities are becoming increasingly important in the changing business landscape (Ancarani and Shankar, 2003, Bolton and Iyer, 2009 and Deighton, John and Leora Kornfeld, 2009).
Research on mobile commerce has primarily addressed the role of technology in facilitating the growth of transactions through mobile devices. However, research on mobile marketing is nascent. Existing research has yielded some insights, but these remain scattered across disciplines.
In this paper, we provide an integrative framework for the analysis of mobile marketing, identify key issues of interest within this domain, delineate gaps in our knowledge of mobile marketing that require managerial and research attention, and outline managerial implications of insights related to mobile marketing.
We have presented the conceptual underpinnings of mobile marketing and a synthesis of relevant literature by identifying and discussing four key issues: the drivers of mobile device/service adoption, the influence of mobile marketing on customer decision-making, the development of mobile marketing strategy, and mobile marketing in the global context. Our synthesis offers some useful insights and several directions for future research on mobile marketing. Our review reveals the following normative implications for managers of mobile marketing.
