The Influence of Personalization in Affecting Consumer Attitude toward Mobile Advertising in China

The high penetration rate of mobile phones has resulted in the increasing use of handheld devices to conduct mobile commerce. Mobile advertising, a very important class of mobile commerce applications, is a very promising direct marketing channel empowered by the Web's interactive and quick-response capabilities. Short Messaging Services, in particular, have been very successful. The present research investigates the factors that will affect consumer attitudes toward mobile advertising in China with particular emphasis on personalization. The results of a survey indicate that (1) there is a direct relationship between consumer attitudes and consumer intentions and (2) personalization is one of the most important factors in affecting consumers' attitude toward mobile advertising, particularly for female users. Thus the designers and marketers should effectively strategize their advertising designs by considering the personalization factor.