MOBILE MARKETING: ACCEPTANCE OF THE SMS ADS IN PAKISTAN

This paper examines the acceptance of SMS marketing on the basis of the role of users’ consent which plays a vital role in its success. This study is of qualitative nature, and is conducted in the context of Pakistan. Data for the study was gathered using twenty semi-structured interviews from two groups each of ten members. The first group (G1) comprised of University level students, while the other group comprised of members from general public. Convenient sampling as a non-probability sampling was used. This study is cross-sectional because the interviews were conducted at one point of time. For analysis purpose, NVivo 10 was used with the help of which the transcribed interviews were assessed. The results of the study show that the marketers should not bombard the subscribers with SMS ads without their consent and permission. Other than consent, the frequency and the timing at which these advertising messages are sent to the users should not be random, and be controlled. The content which is sent by the Mobile Network Operator (MNO) should also be evaluated and controlled, and the SMS advertisements should be checked for the spam