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With the increasing mobile activity of the Generation Z market (born after 1994), marketers’ interest in this social group is rising. This research paper aims to uncover the relatively unknown attitudes and behaviour of the youth market in an emerging market, South Africa, towards branded mobile applications (apps). Previous studies on mobile marketing have focused on Generation X and Generation Y and generally with a quantitative focus.

This study is based on the theoretical framework of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model 2. The study used a qualitative framework with stratified focus groups, aged between 18 and 21 years old at a private tertiary institution in South Africa.

The findings indicate that these South African Gen Z participants mainly used WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Uber and Snapchat. The participants had more positive than negative attitudes towards mobile apps. The findings also showed that privacy was a major concern for the participant’s attitudes and behaviour towards mobile apps. The findings supported the UTAUT2 model, but also discovered new themes. As a recommendation, the issue of privacy and its effect on mobile app adoption is a factor to be researched in the future. The research also provides recommendations for marketers and app developers.

This study was of a qualitative nature, and thus, the sample size was smaller than that of a quantitative study. Future research could add to this study by increasing the sample size and adding a quantitative method such as surveys.

Marketers of mobile apps targeted towards the Gen Z market should aim to be convenient for their users, as well as be entertaining, functional, time-efficient while avoiding excessive in-app adverts, being honest upfront about their pricing strategy, incorporate an element of connectivity into the app and respect their privacy. This paper also provides practical recommendations for mobile app developers (targeted towards Gen Z users) including minimising notifications and updates within the app, developing a mobile app that requires less usage of data (due to the high expense of data in South Africa for the price-conscious Gen Z market) as well as less usage of memory space on the phone and incorporating universal symbols within the mobile app.

This study supported the UTAUT2 model effects of performance and effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, price value and habit on the behavioural intention of users towards a new technology, i.e. GenZ students’ attitudes and behaviour towards branded mobile apps in South Africa. However, an additional condition was discovered in this study, i.e. privacy and its impact on the attitudes and behaviour of GenZ mobile app users. Therefore, this study extends the UTAUT2 model framework. Furthermore, this study uses a qualitative design, which has not been used in previous studies, with a focus on the under-researched Gen Z market, and in particular in an emerging market, such as South Africa.

This study’s purpose is to analyze the international mobile marketing (IMK) in order to stage the importance of this tool in the internationalization of companies. Our understanding of mobile marketing is constantly evolving, due to its high business penetration in a world globalized by technologies.

A review of the relevant literature on IMK, companies and customers is undertaken to understand the link between them. The paper begins by explaining the coronavirus disease 2019 is accelerating the change of the rules of the game in traditional and online commerce around the world. Furthermore, this study uses secondary data from organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD), Sensor Tower, mobile marketing association (MMA), App Annie, among others, to support research results.

The results have shown that IMK has opened a melting pot of opportunities for companies and consumers in this period of pandemic; the potential of this tool is being redefined, in order to identify, anticipate and satisfy customers requirement profitably and efficiently. This study aims to provide an assessment of new concept of IMK and how this tool has to be integrated into the firm’s digital marketing strategies.

The study contributes to make better future decisions in the international digital expansion of companies by company executives and marketing experts. This paper provides a comprehensive framework intended to guide research efforts focusing on digital marketing as well as to aid practitioners in their quest to achieve IMK success.

This paper aims to investigate how the contextual marketing strategy facilitated by mobile technology enhances consumers’ purchase intention and experiential quality in a hedonic service setting – museum. Specifically, this study explores the impacts of a context-triggered push notification promoting context-related souvenirs embedded in the museum mobile app on visitors’ souvenir purchase intention and visit experience.

This study adopted a scenario-based experimental design with video stimuli and a follow-up survey questionnaire. A total of 151 participants were randomly assigned to one of the two art museum visiting scenarios (i.e. with vs without the in-app push notification). A series of one-way ANOVA comparisons and serial mediation tests were conducted for hypotheses testing.

The results show that the mobile app promoting context-related souvenirs positively affects museum visitors’ souvenir purchase intention without undermining their experiential quality. The serial mediation effects through contextual perceived value and impulse buying tendency further explain how the in-app push notification influences visitors’ souvenir purchase intention.

This study extends the contextual marketing research to a unique service domain (i.e. museum) and contributes to the service technology literature. The findings present empirical evidence for the effectiveness of mobile contextual marketing and its potential to enhance consumers’ experiential quality in a hedonic service setting. The current research provides practical guidelines to both the museum management and mobile app developers.

This research aims to explore the dark side of mobile applications by investigating the role of apps' technicality and app security in the mechanism of user satisfaction, app intention and customers' continuance tendency to make in-app purchases.

Drawing on attitude-behavior-context (ABC) theory, the study proposed a conceptual framework and examined the framework using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach based on data collected from app users from New Zealand.

The results reveal the correlation between user satisfaction and in-app purchase with a mediator of app continuance intention (ACI). In particular, the results show that app technicality (AT) has a positive correlation with user satisfaction as an antecedent. App security and hedonic value are positively correlated with user satisfaction.

The research has three critical research implications. First, this research advances the understanding of the dark side of mobile apps by showing how app security influences customers' in-app purchases. Secondly, this study reveals and offers empirical evidence for the mechanism between app security and user satisfaction. Finally, the study provides empirical evidence of AT as a distal antecedent for in-app purchases.

This paper explores the potential impact of mobile marketing tools on consumer buying behaviour within the context of dining. The aim is to examine the influence of mobile marketing tools through their different functions on the stages of the consumer buying process. The study addresses a lack of relevant research with evidence from both customer and supplier perspectives.

The mobile tools that are found useful for dining were considered in this study. Qualitative interviews with marketers and consumer opinion leaders were conducted, given the limited extant research.

The results reveal that mobile marketing tools influence consumers' decision-making differently and their effect varies according to the customer type. Additionally, it shows that loyalty has a direct influence on mobile marketing effectiveness, as the decision-making process of loyal customers is more affected by mobile marketing tools than the non-loyal customers.

The limitations are mainly based on the qualitative nature of this study and are relevant to the research context. Further research could examine these findings in different service and geographical contexts.

Marketing activity through the smartphone should focus on loyal customers and opinion leaders with the use of appropriate mobile tools.

The study provides empirical evidence on the variable influence of mobile marketing tools on consumer decision-making and develops a conceptual framework. It is also found that loyalty is an important factor that positively affects smartphone tools adoption.

Whilst some may argue that e‐commerce design literature can be applied to the designing of mobile commerce channels, it is an assumption that may come at the expense of the retailer. The purpose of this paper is to identify which marketing design elements could be integrated within a retailer's mobile strategy and suggest the importance of empirical testing. An academic or practitioner must primarily understand the abundance of marketing tools that can be integrated into a mobile strategy before they can begin to investigate the consumer effects.

A literature review of online and mobile design elements is undertaken, in order to develop and illustrate a holistic framework of stimuli for commercial and academic appreciation. Although literature regarding the variety of marketing design elements online is profuse, a holistic framework currently does not exist, an absence that this paper fulfils.

The paper collates and identifies 18 individual marketing design stimuli classified within four stimulus categories relating to their purpose and form.

Literature concerning e‐commerce design and strategy is currently prevalent; however, due to the immaturity of mobile commerce, literature is deficient concerning the strategic design and implications of mobile applications. Although £68.2 billion was spent online in 2011, mobile commerce sales represented less than 5 per cent, highlighting an immediate requirement for research into how such sales could be improved.

This study aims to examine the relationships between brand attachment, mobile service quality (MSQ), and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) for mobile banking applications (m-banking apps).

An online survey was conducted among 759 Canadian consumers who had used m-banking apps in the previous six months. To test the research hypotheses, a causal model using structural equation modeling was developed.

The results reveal that, in the m-banking context, brand attachment is associated with three MSQ dimensions – value-added features, security/privacy and interactivity – and positive WOM, with the usability dimension replacing interactivity in this case. Brand attachment is also associated with positive WOM.

To promote WOM, mobile banking managers should foster brand attachment and improve MSQ, mainly in terms of value-added features.

This is the first study to examine the relationships between brand attachment, mobile service quality and WOM in the context of m-banking apps. It also highlights the prominent role of value-added features available on m-banking apps to persuade customers.

Although brands have developed mobile applications (apps) to offer consumers new experiences, low app usage numbers indicate the need to develop a systematic, practical evaluation framework for branded app design that specifies concrete design features.

An expert review provides an overview of the design of current branded apps. On the basis of an extensive literature review, this article classifies state-of-the-art design features for branded apps according to a proposed evaluation framework that includes human–computer interaction (HCI)–related and marketing-related evaluation criteria. In an application of these evaluation criteria, the authors evaluate 73 branded apps issued by 11 top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands.

The expert review identifies strengths and weaknesses that are common to the design of current branded apps. These findings inform the set of design recommendations that this article offers, which includes 14 features common to all types of apps and 9 features specific to particular types of apps.

This research offers practical implications for app designers, who need to address design dimensions contained in the proposed framework including the HCI-related (mobile, social and user experience design features) and marketing-related (branding and customer relationship management design features) to create effective branded apps.

Design elements identified in prior literature remain abstract and do not prescribe a systematic or pragmatic approach to using them in practice. This study takes a multidisciplinary perspective (HCI, marketing and design science) to establish a practical evaluation framework for branded app designs.

This paper aims to investigate factors affecting the relationship between consumers’ brand trust and purchase intentions after exposure to targeted mobile app ads during holiday periods, including the mediating roles of consumers’ ad attitudes, different discount levels and their interactions; and the moderating roles of the anticipated gain (loss) (i.e. access to discounts) associated with mobile app usage (non-usage).

Data were collected from 559 respondents who were randomly assigned to six groups based on a 2 (ad type: new, holiday-themed vs regular product) × 3 (promotion level: 0% vs 20% vs 40%) between-subjects design. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling techniques are used to test the hypothesized mediators and moderators.

Consumers with high brand trust are likely to purchase both new and regular products. Consumers with low brand trust are most responsive to mobile app ads for regular products when offered a high discount. Ad attitudes across all discount rates and product types mediate the relationship between brand trust and purchase intentions; the anticipated gain associated with using a mobile app (i.e. access to discounts) moderates the effect of attitudes toward ads promoting regular products when a high discount is offered.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the first studies to explore how interactions among important factors in contexts involving mobile apps and holiday promotions influence and mediate the relationship between brand trust and purchase intentions. This study also reveals an important boundary condition that moderates consumers’ responses to targeted mobile app ads in the context of holiday marketing.

This qualitative, exploratory study uses constructs from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and construct variables from literature, as a basis to ascertain similarities and differences in the behaviour by business undergraduates (UGs) and postgraduates (PGs) of mobile apps and the purpose of this paper is to suggest implications for consumer behaviour theory and marketing practice for the two groups of students.

Literature informed us of the paucity of research on the relationship between behavioural theory and mobile apps usage in the Asia region. An exploratory and interpretivist approach, with thematic analysis, was employed to aid in data processing.

The investigative outcomes highlighted more similarities than dissimilarities in terms of perceived attitude (e.g. mood, ethical guilt, familiarity, addiction) and more differences in perceived subjective norms (e.g. family, friends, classmates and teammates) and perceived users’ behavioural control (e.g. promotional inducements, self-confidence) towards the usage of mobile apps exhibited by two different sets of data.

Homogeneity of participants, small sample size and generalisability of results were the main concern, hence, it warrants further research. In addition a cross-cultural comparison would be beneficial which might generate more meaningful results.

The research, albeit exploratory, serves as a guide for marketers and apps content providers to focus on usability of features and functions of apps as well as credibility, social context, timing, location, excitement of advertisements and promotional messages especially when marketing to the 18-30-age group. The research also shows that practitioners should be nuanced in their appeals to UGs and PGs.

Despite the provision of numerous mobile apps, this study, using the constructs of the TPB as a basis, offers a new insight into the reasons for, and usage of, specific and top popular apps (e.g. FB, Whatsapps and WeChat) Malaysian students used which reflects a varied behavioural dimension as opposed to planned behaviour.