Consumer Perception on Bluetooth-Enabled Advertising

Recently I came across an interesting study on the relatively unexplored Bluetooth-enabled advertising aspect of using mobile devices as communication media to consumers:

Leek, Sheena and Christodoulides, George "Next-Generation Mobile Marketing: How Young Consumers React to Biuetooth-Enabied Advertising", Journal or Advertising Reserach, March 2009

Through a survey conducted in the U.K., the authors conclude that majority of the consumers were willing to accept this form of advertising, they needed both to be in control of the frequency with which they receive messages and also to be reassured that the medium could ensure privacy and security. The research further indicated that peers influence the acceptance of Bluetooth-driven advertising. (See table below for survey results. )


More importantly, the authors outlines the value proposed by bluetooth-enabled advertising in comparision to other mobile communication technology as follows:

Since personalized content is the key for successful mobile communication, Bluetooth mobile technology offers marketers a unique opportunity to reach people in location-specific areas with rich content but without the cost and complexity of the mobile networks' SMS and MMS technology. Any user of a Bluetooth-enabled mobile device can instantly receive such rich content as video, graphics, text, sound, ringtones, wallpaper, and software.