Abstract

The recent development of a global telecommunication technology provides a new mechanism for companies to promote their products and services. This modern electronic advertising concept is commercially known as mobile advertising. Despite its remarkable opportunities claimed by many quarters, the attitude of Malaysian consumers towards mobile advertising remains unclear. A wise understanding is essential to ensure the effective use of this medium in the future. This study analyzed the consumers’ attitude towards mobile advertising and their intention to purchase the advertised products and services. The conceptual framework for this study was derived from the abstract ideas of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Permission Marketing. Accordingly, factors such as subjective norms and perceived behavioral control also included to understand its impact on the purchase intention. More importantly, the dimension of permission also included to understand its role between the attitude towards mobile advertising and purchase intention. The convenience sampling technique was applied to obtain responses from the mobile phone users throughout Malaysia. It resulted in 856 usable responses. The analysis of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) confirmed that the proposed conceptual model fits well within the context of Malaysian consumers. The results of SEM demonstrated significant relationships between the consumers’ attitude towards mobile advertising, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and their intention to purchase products and services. Further analysis also found that the dimension of permission partially mediates the relationship between the attitude and purchase intention. The study reveals several implications for theory and practice relating to the future development of the mobile advertising industry in this country.

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