Mobile advertisements and information privacy perception amongst South African Generation Y students

Abstract

Mobile advertising has given business organisations great opportunities to reach consumers and clients directly with products and services irrespective of time and location. These possibilities have made mobile advertising a strategic business plan in today’s global competitive marketing world. This trend of mobile advertising in South Africa and the extent to which it infringes on the information privacy of consumers is examined in this paper. Using 440 questionnaires administered to Generation Y students at two universities: North West University, and Vaal University of Technology, the perceptions of these Generation Y students towards information privacy with regard to mobile advertising was explored. Data analysis which included regression analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis, reliability test and preliminary data analysis revealed that Generation Y students seemed not to be bothered about the usefulness of mobile advertising messages but were however concerned about the information privacy associated with such marketing activities. It was also revealed that the ability of Generation Y students to control the usage of their data and the frequency of exposure to mobile advertising will positively influence their perception towards mobile advertising.