Capturing consumers' experiences of unsolicited mobile advertising

The increasing numbers of telecoms subscribers in Nigeria and the concomitant spate of mobile advertising suggest that the time is ripe to begin to pay research attention to this area. Newspaper and anecdotal evidence in Nigeria suggest that consumers view such advertisements pejoratively since they are usually unsolicited. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to use phenomenological design and semi-structured interviews to empirically examine consumers' experiences as recipients of unsolicited phone call-based mobile advertising and efforts they have made thus far in addressing the issue. Twelve mobile subscribers (six males and six females) within the ages of 25 and 49 years participated in the study. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that consumers are generally resentful about unsolicited phone call-based mobile advertising. They may, however, be receptive to such advertising depending on whether they are informative and entertaining, permitted, and personalised to suit their mood, time, and context. Also, some consumers have not attempted to address the issue of unsolicited phone call-based mobile advertising whereas those that have tried before are reluctant in doing so again since previous attempts were unsuccessful. The implications of these findings to consumer satisfaction in telecoms sector in Nigeria were discussed. It was recommended that telecoms network operators in Nigeria should allow consumers to make their own choice and also consider consumers' personal interests and preferences when designing mobile advertisements.