Mobile marketing: Creating opportunities for consumers or just an invasion of privacy?

In our technological society a lot of people feel like it is important to take advantage of this technology by getting the latest mobile phones. Gong et al. (2008) believe high GDP means a higher mobile adoption rate, which means most people in the UK should have a mobile phone. Unlike heavily politically controlled countries like Japan and China, we in the UK can use our mobile phones for anything. Gong et al. (2008) also believe that it is countries with higher median age that have higher levels of mobile phone adoption. I can see how this may be true because older people have secure jobs and can therefore afford the new, more expensive Smartphone’s. However, just because a countries median age is high it doesn’t mean that it is older people that are using mobile internet.  I believe that it is younger people who are most likely to adopt the mobile internet revolution as they have that such a strong connection with their mobile phone. They also want to keep up with trends by having the best phones. Mintel also agrees stating that ‘16-24-year-olds are the most likely to access the mobile web daily (31%) - double that of 25-34-year olds.’ It goes on to explain that this is because of the high adoption rates of Smartphone’s by young people and their reliance on the internet for social interactions.

Young people are constantly using their phones, whether it is texting, calling or using the internet. This is a massive opportunity for advertisers to reach such an unpredictable audience. Even though advertising on mobile phone’s can be annoying, the adverts can be beneficial to consumers. Using apps such as Google search, Google Maps and Google Mail means that as a consumer you are getting free use of these applications. You know as a consumer that in turn you will be shown a few advertisements but don’t really mind as you believe that the benefits outweigh negatives.

However is all this advertising an invasion of privacy? Do you know that Google is collecting information about you every time you use one of their apps?

But how much do marketers actually invade the consumer’s privacy? And who decides if they are? Whilst discussing this with my friend she said that she doesn’t like the idea of GPS tracking and people always knowing where she is. She doesn’t like the idea of Augmented Reality (AR) and believes that this is making people lazy and people are not finding their way around by exploring anymore. This has made the world a less interesting place. If you always know where you are going how will you bump into and find out about new amazing things and places?

I think that consumers can use new technologies such as Augmented Reality to their advantage. If you can see everything around you on your mobile phone you can find the best deals. You can for example compare menus and prices of restaurants and get the best deal for yourself.  This means that restaurants may become more competitive, offering the consumer better prices and deals than were offered before.

Even though this technology will be a huge benefit to consumers it will take a longer time to persuade them of the benefits. I believe that the early majority will be reluctant to adopt these technologies due to fears of control and privacy. Laws in the UK mean that companies can give personal information to ‘selected third parties’ however a consumer doesn’t know who these third parties are. They could be anyone! Japan has a specific law against this meaning that a company cannot give your personal information out. I think that this is why mobile internet is growing so fast there. My only real concern is that each time I use my phone companies such as Google are storing information about me ready to use or to sell to other companies. I think if laws were introduced people would feel a lot more comfortable using mobile internet. However, by the time the legislation has been passed, the technology will have moved on!