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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how technological innovations mitigate inefficiencies in marketing channels in the context of microfinance markets in emerging markets. By examining in detail, specific market inefficiencies that inhibit the efforts of micro and small enterprises to access microfinance in emerging markets and the use of technology to alleviate these failures, the authors bridge the literatures on marketing channel inefficiencies and technological innovation relevant to emerging markets.

The authors use a qualitative method in the form of phenomenological interviews and participant observation in Ghana, West Africa, to investigate the research question.

The three themes that arise from the findings are: channel structure and structure selection; power-dependence relationships and relational outcomes; and conflict mechanisms and control behaviors. Customerization of technology is observed to mitigate inefficiencies in mobile marketing channels by facilitating data sharing, reminders, peer referencing and other marketing strategies of awareness, affordability, access and scalability.

The limitations of this study are the fact that the context of the study is only one emerging market country – Ghana. This market is however experiencing dynamic changes in mobile technology innovations that is revolutionizing the microfinance industry.

Mobile money innovations have advanced the scope of marketing channels to the point that an updated perspective of the role of mobile technology in mitigating marketing channels inefficiency is both appropriate and timely.

The authors make the contribution of customerization as an aspect of mobile technology that is a key enabler in microfinance marketing channels, serving to mitigate microfinance market inefficiencies. Additionally, the study augments theories on the marketing channels framework by contributing perspectives on mobile technology.

The popularity and use of mobile marketing technologies or devices have led to significant interest from researchers and practitioners, particularly in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), where these technologies offer significant benefits to SMEs given the poor human capital and financial constraints encountered. The use of mobile marketing devices assists SMEs to boost their sales promotion strategies which aim at increasing the sales of their products and services. However, there has been limited focus on developing a suitable framework that enables the evaluation and shared an understanding of the factors influencing the adoption of mobile marketing technology by service SMEs in Nigeria. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a theoretically grounded framework for exploring these factors and explaining their impact on mobile marketing technology adoption in SMEs in Nigeria.

The study is qualitative and used both unstructured and semi-structured interviews with a total of 26 participants drawn purposively from NIJA database in Nigeria. Thematic analysis was deployed in analysing the data.

The study developed an extended technology organisation environment (TOE) framework by incorporating the value anticipation context which helped to unveil 16 key factors influencing mobile marketing technology adoption in service SMEs in Nigeria. The finding revealed that factors associated with the extended TOE framework have an impact on SMEs mobile le marketing technology adoption but at different levels.

The limitation of this study emerged because of the use of qualitative methodologies about the research design, rigour in the collection and management of the large volume of the raw data, the data analysis and the credibility of the findings. This may lead to unforeseen respondent and research bias in the data analysis, which may lead to a limited understanding of alternatives and insights into the factors influencing the adoption of mobile marketing. Hence, other measures and approaches such as case study and mix-method could be deployed to validate the findings further. Also, one of the limitations of qualitative study has been the issue of theoretical generalizability of the framework. The generalizability of the formwork needs to be established across a broader range of the population. Future studies may apply confirmatory statistical techniques to test and ascertain the validity and reliability of the framework across a broader population of mobile marketing technology adopters in Nigeria. Such studies may be used as a benchmark for the theoretical constructs and the factors that may lead to the success or failure of mobile marketing technology adoption.

The study had further enriched TOE framework and provided an analytical dimension for exploring the adoption of mobile marketing technology. It also demonstrates the capacity to provide a reliable explanation of the factors and serves as a tool for evaluating the benefits or challenges of mobile marketing technology adoption in SMEs in Nigeria.

This paper seeks to help marketers become familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the current state of wireless technology that is being applied to marketing problems.

The paper first examines successful applications of wireless technology to connect marketing applications to wireless technology. A total of 11 important issues and questions are presented to help marketers know the key points in building a successful wireless application. A glossary to clarify the acronyms is presented.

The main focus is business persons as they will create the technology environment that will become the research environment. The excitement caused by new developments such as wireless has the potential to have significant impacts on marketing practice or lead to major failures. Mobile commerce (m‐commerce) driven by wireless technology is generating interest from marketers. A partnership between marketers and technology developers is needed to create a successful application. Developers are enthusiastic and speak in acronyms and may overwhelm marketers with the excitement of an application.

The paper presents new developments such as wireless technology that have the possibility of significant impacts in marketing and organizational performance that are counterbalanced by the potential of significant failures. This changing business environment will be the environment that scholars doing research in sales and service marketing must understand in order to design relevant research studies.

The purpose of this paper is to understand Indian consumers’ intention to use mobile payments by examining their adoption readiness (AR) in the larger context of their technology readiness (TR) and their privacy concerns (PCs).

A four-city, three language, paper and pencil survey yielded a sample of 600 respondents from India. Data were analyzed using structural equations modeling.

This study finds that AR positively mediates the relationship between TR and intention to adopt (IA) mobile payments. More importantly, PCs negatively moderate the relationship between AR and IA.

Results will vary depending on country and other variables outside the scope of this study such as perceived risk, trust, etc. The sample was large but mainly comprised males, between 18 and 35 years of age.

The cash shortage due to a recent demonetization move in India had spurred mobile payment adoption but usage and retention remained low. Many other banking self-service technologies had not been successful and digitization was critical for easing payments and potentially paving the way for mobile banking. However, using mobile phones for financial transactions raises PCs that attenuate the positive impact of AR. Also, understanding overall attitudes with TR is important in a rapidly digitizing country with relatively novice users.

Adoption of mobile payment technology can help address social and economic challenges in India, such as financial inclusion, corruption and tax evasion. Given the increasing awareness of privacy issues in India, mobile payment adoption, which already faces acquisition and retention challenges, will likely to face greater resistance in the future.

The findings add to the literature on emerging markets and marketing of technology products by identifying the critical role of privacy in the adoption of financial technology services. Moreover, the authors demonstrate that given the rapid introduction of technology in India, consumers’ overarching TR has to be considered along with AR for mobile payments. Thus, the authors offer a tripartite, customer–technology–transaction view of the mobile payment adoption process in India.

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 explain the applications of sensor-based communication in mobile marketing and how understanding its fast growth is important for marketers.

The paper draws from various examples used by companies in India and abroad to explain the phenomenon of sensor-based communication in mobile marketing.

Marketers should be aware of the different ways in which sensor-based communication can be used to build and sustain customer engagement.

The different typologies of applications of sensor-based communication, along with examples, will help the marketers to develop similar initiatives for their brands/products.

This is the first paper to illustrate, explain and exhort the usage of sensor-based communication in the Indian context.

We review the implications of the mobile technology for different stages of the consumer path to purchase including awareness, search, evaluation, store visit, and product choice. Real-time and location-specific access to information and products are identified as distinguishing characteristics of mobile devices. While the literature on digital marketing is well developed, knowledge of the effects on the consumer path to purchase in the presence of dynamic and location-specific information is still scarce. Path to purchase models need to recognize the central and powerful role of user-generated content. Better management of marketing resources would require models that connect investments in mobile marketing to sales, and also model the synergies among different digital and offline media. We conclude with a framework that connects mobile media impressions to product choice, in the presence of other marketing media, and consumer and firm feedback loops.

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 paper aims to explore the factors that influence Generation Y’s positive or negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behavior via social media and mobile technology in the foodservice sector. Three types of dining experiences were examined: positive and negative customer experiences and negative customer service followed by a satisfactory recovery package.

A survey was adopted to test the factors posited to influence Generation Y consumers in these service contexts. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk , and multi-group structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data.

Active use of social media and peer influence had a sweeping influence on Generation Y’s intentions to engage in eWOM about their service experiences. Technological sophistication with mobile technology influenced Generation Y to spread positive or negative service experiences, rather than satisfactory recovery experiences. Family influence had a mixed influence on Generation Y subgroups (21-24 years old vs 25-35 years old) to engage in eWOM about their satisfactory or poor service experiences. In satisfactory recovery experiences, family influence showed no significant influence on Generation Y’s eWOM behaviors.

This study enriches online reviews and eWOM marketing theories, adds to service failure and recovery literature and enhances understanding of consumer behavior expressed by Generation Y through the empirical investigation of Generation Y consumers’ behavioral motivations to engage in eWOM through social media and mobile technology.

Engaging Generation Y consumers with social media campaigns and mobile technology development is not merely sufficient in eWOM marketing strategies. Instead, it is essential to create integrative peer communities to motivate Generation Y consumers to engage in eWOM marketing. Marketers need to pay attention to the mixed effects of family influences on the eWOM behaviors of subgroups of Generation Y in positive or negative service experiences.

Given the scarcity of consumer behavior research into Generation Y as an emerging market segment, this paper makes an incremental contribution by developing and validating a model of factors that influence Generation Y consumers’ eWOM intentions through social networking and mobile technologies in three major service contexts: positive, negative and recovery following a service failure.

Smartphone adoption by consumers is increasing exponentially, and presents marketers with many new opportunites to reach and serve customers. However, are consumers ready for mobile marketing through their smartphones? This study aims to investigate consumers' willingness to accept marketing through their smartphones.

The study is based on an online survey of 428 respondents. The data is analyzed through ANOVA and regression analysis.

The results indicate that consumers' shopping style, brand trust, and value are key motivations for engaging in mobile marketing through their smartphones. Further research should focus on specific tactics marketers use to engage customers beyond marketing messages, that is, how they engage customers in dialogue to build relationships, encourage purchases and build loyalty. This could reveal how customers really want to engage in mobile marketing.

This research adds to the growing body of evidence on acceptance of mobile marketing.

This study found that successful enagement of customers in mobile marketing requires that marketers focus their strategies and tactics around value creation; getting customers to engage with their brand in an authentic way; and respecting customers' shopping style, i.e. engaging customers the way they want to be engaged. Marketers must listen to their customers and develop appropriate strategies rather than simply adapting existing marketing strategies.

The topic of mobile marketing through smartphones is important to both marketing executives and marketing researchers. To date, this topic has attracted little research attention and marketing executives are simply basing their decsions on anecdotal case studies and reports in the popular press. This study contributes to fulfilling the need for research evidence.