Author(s): Mohammad Shafiq Obeidat, Syed Rizvi, Akram Matarneh, Daniel Young W, Marwan Abdo and Mohammed Al Hashimi
Mobile marketing also known as short service message service (SMS) is a form of advertising used to send promotions to customers via text messages on cell phones and had-held devices (PDAs). Mobile or SMS Marketing allows direct communication with the consumers, targeted audience and potential market of the company with much ease and in less time. In view of its instant reach to potential consumers it is being increasingly used by the marketers all over the world. A large number of studies have been done across different countries mostly focused on its effectiveness as an instant marketing tool; however, no such study has been done in the U.A.E. The study looks at the SMS marketing in U.A.E.as to how it affects consumers behavior their motivations and attitude towards the advertised brand and products. The study identified important variables in the literature which could also be applied and tested in the U.A.E. The research methodology was based on the quantitative research survey from 50 participants selected on the basis of different gender and ages this to achieve data variability and offset low numbers of sample due to the time constraint of the research. The hypothesis was tested by employing two bi-variate regressions, two Pearson correlations and one T-test. The results show new findings on effectiveness of SMS as a marketing tool in the U.A.E and carry significant operational and managerial implications for the region. The findings, the identified variables and methodology adopted provide a good basis for future research direction elsewhere looking at SMS as an effective marketing tool by a company.