Relaciones y mercado de trabajo desde la perspectiva del Atributismo

While it was shown in the previous section that message contents and characteristics are influential on attitude toward using SMS advertising, other factors related to the nature of SMS advertising also need to be considered. For instance, Aslam et al. (2016) Dickinger et al. (2004) and Ul Haq (2012) identified consumers’ control and permission as antecedents of consumers’ attitude toward SMS advertising. In this section, these characteristics are reviewed and their possible associations with the attitude toward using SMS advertising are explained.

3-4-2-1 Permission

Barwise & Strong (2002) maintained that unauthorised SMS messages are at best, ineffective and at worst, destructive for brand equity because mobile phone are considered as a very personal space by consumers. Barnes & Scornavacca (2004) identified ‘permission’, ’wireless service provider control (WSP) and ‘brand recognition’ as the three main variables that influence consumers’ acceptance of mobile marketing and highlighted the role of permission. Permission is characterised as giving explicit consent to opt in SMS advertising schemes (Aslam et al., 2016; Chang, 2013). Permission is considered as a significant factor which influences consumers’ attitude toward SMS advertising (Aslam et al., 2016; Tsang et al., 2004) and intention to use such services (Tsang et al., 2004). In other words, SMS advertisements with consumers’ explicit permission, are perceived more attractive and are more likely to be accepted, provided they allow consumers to opt out easily (Carroll et al., 2007).

Consequently, permission (the ability to opt in/out of receiving messages) was considered as one of the main factors in mobile marketing adoption (Gratton, 2002). Studying the Finish population, Merisavo et al. (2007) explained that permission is required for two reasons: First,

99

from the legal point of view, advertisers are required to secure consumers’ permission before SMS advertising. Secondly, unsolicited SMS advertisements can impact negatively on consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward SMS advertising. Likewise in another study, Swedish consumers showed negative attitudes toward SMS advertising when their permission was not first obtained (Pietz et al., 2009).

Similarly, based on the regulation in the UK, companies are obliged to obtain consumers’ consent before conducting any form of mobile marketing practices (EC directive, 2003). Furthermore, since unanticipated advertising messages, also known as spam messages, are regarded as a form of privacy violation (Gratton, 2002); for brands, it is necessary to obtain consumers’ permission before attempting any mobile activities to protect consumers’ privacy (Beatrix Cleff, 2007). As the two online brands under study are also following these regulations and they always ask for consumers’ consent before conducting SMS advertising, it is not possible to factor in the “prior permission” into the model. Therefore, in order to address this issue, consumers’ perceived importance of permission is investigated instead of consumers’ permission (Merisavo et al., 2007).

Aslam et al. (2016) and Tsang et al. (2004) showed that obtaining consumers’ prior permission to receive SMS advertisements is positively linked to their attitude toward advertising text messages. With the same token, it is suggested that consumers who are less concerned about (perceive less importance in) giving permission (to participate in SMS advertising campaigns) are more likely to have a positive attitude toward using SMS advertising from the brands. This relationship is justifiable because it is possible to assume that consumers who associate pain and annoyance to SMS advertising are more likely to appreciate the importance of asking for their prior permission before targeting them with such advertising messages. Furthermore, these consumers are more akin to those who are not interested in taking part in SMS advertising

100

campaigns; in comparison to other customers who are more relaxed about receiving SMS advertising. Subsequently, this thesis suggests that the consumers who are more concerned about the need to ask for their prior permission (associate more pain to SMS advertising) are less likely to have a favourable view toward using SMS advertising from the brand. For instance, if customers believe that SMS advertising violates their privacy, they tend to stress the need for asking their permission before participating in those campaigns. This higher emphasis on the permission shows the negative associations with SMS advertising. Hence, compared to other respondents, such customers are less likely to appreciate using SMS advertising. Therefore, it is posited that:

H4) There is a negative relationship between perceived importance of permission and attitude toward using SMS advertising.

3-4-2-2 Consumer Control

Barwise & Strong (2002) explained that consumer control refers to the assessment of whether the process of SMS advertising can be controlled by consumers. It is characterised by the degree to which consumers’ believe they can (have the ability to) control SMS advertisements (Barwise & Strong, 2002), i.e. to control the number of messages that they receive. In line with permission, consumers should have control over the frequency, time, and contents of advertisements (Khasawneh & Shuhaiber, 2013).

In highlighting the effect of perceived control, Kautonen et al. (2007) explained that the feeling of lack of control could hinder consumers from joining in mobile marketing programs. For example, Dickinger and Kleijnen (2008) showed that there is a positive relationship between perceived control and acceptance of receiving m-coupons. Accordingly, Watson et al. (2013) suggested that strategies that allow consumers to feel in control of marketing exchanges can alleviate their negativity toward marketing communications. With a similar logic, it is

101

suggested that when consumers believe they have control over the SMS advertising campaigns (i.e. they can or reduce the number of advertisements), they show more positive attitude toward using them. In contrast, if they believe the text message advertisements are spam or impossible to reduce, then they are more likely to show a negative attitude toward using SMS advertising from a brand. Accordingly, this study posits that there is a positive relationship between perceived control and attitude toward using SMS advertising.

H5) There is a positive relationship between consumer control over SMS advertisements and attitude toward using SMS advertising.