AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DETERMINANTS OF YOUNG CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS AND ACCEPTANCE OF MOBILE MARKETING IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing consumers’ attitudes towards, and acceptance of mobile marketing acceptance in the advanced mobile market of Singapore. Towards this end, a comprehensive conceptual model is developed to simultaneously examine the combined influences of both enabling and inhibitive factors on consumers’ attitudes towards mobile marketing, and in turn their latitude of acceptance with mobile marketing practices. These factors consist of technology-acceptance (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) and consumer-based factors (personal attachment, privacy concerns, innovativeness, risk acceptance, perceived risk, subjective norms, prior experience with mobile marketing, and personal trust in brands). Conceptualisation of the relationships between the factors, attitudes towards mobile marketing, and the ultimate dependent variable of mobile marketing acceptance (MMA), draws upon the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the uses and gratifications theory (UGT) and extant mobile marketing research. As the first empirical investigation of its kind into the Singapore mobile marketing context, data collection via a survey questionnaire was focused on youth consumers (ages 18 to 29). The partial least squares approach (PLS) is used to test the model’s fit. Partial support for the model was derived, where the findings establish significance for a portion of the examined antecedents of attitudes, and MMA. Subsequently, plausible reasons for the conceptual model’s findings are discussed vis-à-vis prior research and theory. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are also explicated. Lastly, limitations of the study’s design and areas for future research are proposed.