INTRODUCTION:

Technology developments have created new marketing communication channels or media such as email, SMS (Short Messaging Service) MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). Over 240 million people in India now own mobile phones, and significant opportunities for content provides are available in this nascent market. In India, wireless operators, music and film companies, cartoon artists, game makers and musicians are all aggressively entering the mobile content market for ring tones, mobile imagery and streaming audio and video. Today's consumers are claimed to be independent, individualistic, involved and informed, which makes it harder than ever to conduct interruption-based communication. In permission marketing context it has been argued that if the consumers have agreed to pay attention it would be easier to reach them about offerings (Godin,1999). Mobile marketing offers great opportunities for businesses. Marketing activities supported by mobile devices allow companies to directly communicate with their consumers without time or location barriers. Possibilities for marketers are numbers, but many aspects of mobiles marketing still need further investigation.

Especially, the topic of mobile advertising (m-advertising) is of major interest. M-advertising addresses consumers with individualized advertising messages via mobile devices. Marketing on a mobile has become increasingly popular ever since the rise of SMS (Short Messaging Service) in the early 2000s in Europe and some parts of Asia when businesses started to collect mobile phone numbers and send off wanted (or unwanted) content. Over the past few years SMS has become a legitimate advertising channel in some parts of the world.

This is because unlike email over the public internet, the carries who police their own networks have set guidelines and best practices for the mobile media industry (including mobile advertising). Mobile channel gives access to a one-to one, direct-to-direct-consumer, personal contact with the customers, helps you design a mobile marketing campaign that delivers on the following parameters like innovative, personalized, targeted, measurable. As more and more regions coming under the mobile umbrella, rural parts of India are no different. The mobile penetration in this world’s fastest growing telecom market and the report "Emerging Rural Mobile in India" provides extensive research on the growing marketplace for mobile industry in rural India.

ADVERTISING VIA MOBILE DEVICES:

India's telecommunication sector is witnessing an explosive growth, as falling tariffs and rising incomes are bringing mobile within the reach of millions of new customers. Kotler defines advertising as "any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor" (Kotler 2003). Advertising via mobile devices or mobile advertising (in the following abbreviated as advertising via mobile devices) is defined as the usage of interactive media (such as cellular phones and pagers, cordless telephones, personal digital assistants, two-way radios, baby crib monitors, wireless networking systems, GPS-based locators and maps) to transmit advertising messages to consumers in form of time and location sensitive, personalized information with the overall goal to promote goods and services. There are different synonyms for advertising via mobile devices, such as wireless advertising (Krishnamurthy, 2000) or wireless advertising messaging (Petty, R. D. 2003).

Usually, mobile advertising messages transmitted via short message service (SMS) (De Reyck, B. and Degraeve, 2003). Mobile advertising allows marketers to exploit the medium's unique features in order to customize their messages to consumer's attributes. "Good marketing management emphasizes the building of long term relationships" (Houston, F.S and J.B Gassenheimer, 1987). Mobile advertising can support these goals in various ways because it allows reciprocal communication processes between market and consumers. "As more wireless bandwidth will be available, content rich advertising involving audio, pictures, and video clips can be produced for individual users with specific needs, interests, and inclination" (Varshney, U. 2003). It is therefore assumed that mobile advertising will be also an important revenue source for mobile operators in the future (DeZoysa, S 2002).

Attitude toward an ad is defined as "a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner toward advertising in general" (Mackenzie, S.B and R.L. Lutz, 1989). In this context, it is important to note that attitude toward advertising via mobile device pertains to consumer's attitude toward this advertising type in general and not to the exposure to one particular ad. In general, attitudes are "mental states used by individuals to structure the way perceive their environment and guide the way they respond to it" (Aaker, D.A. V. Kumar, and G.S. Day, 2001). A significant correlation between favorable attitudes toward advertising and respondents rating of specific advertising as being annoying, likeable, enjoyable etc. has been observed (Bauer, R.A. and S.A. Greyser, 1968). Consequently, our research interest focuses on the antecedents of consumer attitudes toward advertising via mobile devices.

OBJECTIVES:

Present study is aimed at studying the impact of Mobile Marketing in effective transformation of dynamic Indian Consumer Market with reference to Bhavnagar city. Present study is exploratory in nature and undertaken to explore the Mobile Marketing, the study has been carried out adopting survey research design.

METHODOLOGY:

The Sample: The sample was collected from the region of Bhavnagar, known as the industrial capital of the state. The sample size under study was 50. The sample size includes consumers ranging from various professions with diverse income groups. Majority of consumers participated in the survey were male, although having a significant proportion of females. Consumers covered were also classified into two distinct groups based on their monthly income

The Hypotheses

H₀₁: There is no significant difference of perception of consumer with different Income Group on Mobile marketing

H₀₂: There is no significant difference of perception of consumer based on Gender on Mobile marketing

Tools for Data Collection: The primary source of data collection was used and tool of data collection employed was the questionnaire. Collection of the data was done during from period Sep. to Oct. 2011. To assess the scale reliability, the statistical measure cronbach alpha of the in instrument was calculated. The alpha coefficient was 0.902 for the survey questionnaire. As value above 0.5 (the reliable level), the scales is highly reliable. So no dropping of items was carried out. The validity of the scale was found to be 0.947.

Tools for Data Analysis: Z test was used for the purpose of analysis. Gender based and Monthly Income based analyses were performed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

As the purpose of the study was to identify what is the impact of mobile marketing services offered to consumers in Bhavnagar city. The survey questionnaire consisted of 21 statements, on which response was received from 50 respondents. The first three statements were framed regarding perception of innovativeness among the respondents. The next two statements were focused on knowledge level of respondent about the mobile communications. The next two statements focused on information seeking behaviour about mobile marketing. Two statements focused on attitude of respondents towards advertising, the next three statements focused on perceived information utility of mobile marketing. The next two statements focused on perceived risk about using mobile marketing, the next four statements focused on attitude towards social norms and mobile marketing services, the last three statements focused on behaviour intention of the respondents.

Table-1: Demographic Configurations

Total No. of Respondents (n) = 50
Gender	Mail = 32	Female = 18
< = 40 yrs	20	12
> 40 yrs	12	6
Income < = 10,000/- per month 30 Respondents
Income > 10,000/- per month 20 Respondents

Table-2: Monthly Income

Hypothesis : H₀1
	Z Value	5%	1%	Result
Ho1.1	-0.02182	1.96	2.576	Not Rejected
Ho1.2	-0.03346	1.96	2.576
Ho1.3	-0.05521	1.96	2.576
Ho1.4	-0.07058	1.96	2.576
Ho1.5	-0.06386	1.96	2.576
Ho1.6	0	1.96	2.576
Ho1.7	-0.10017	1.96	2.576
Ho1.8	-0.00797	1.96	2.576
Ho1.9	-0.02905	1.96	2.576
Ho1.10	-0.03907	1.96	2.576
Ho1.11	0.002808	1.96	2.576
Ho1.12	-0.04125	1.96	2.576
Ho1.13	0	1.96	2.576
Ho1.14	-0.01032	1.96	2.576
Ho1.15	-0.02487	1.96	2.576
Ho1.16	0.053921	1.96	2.576
Ho1.17	-0.03779	1.96	2.576
Ho1.18	0	1.96	2.576
Ho1.19	-0.01601	1.96	2.576
Ho1.20	-0.02967	1.96	2.576
Ho1.21	-0.05549	1.96	2.576

Table-3: Gender-wise Perception

Hypothesis : H₀2
	Z Value	5%	1%	Result
Ho1.1	0.034777	1.96	2.576	Not Rejected
Ho1.2	0.036201	1.96	2.576
Ho1.3	-0.01175	1.96	2.576
Ho1.4	-0.00578	1.96	2.576
Ho1.5	0.051764	1.96	2.576
Ho1.6	0.054727	1.96	2.576
Ho1.7	0.080186	1.96	2.576
Ho1.8	-0.01886	1.96	2.576
Ho1.9	-0.04064	1.96	2.576
Ho1.10	0.059091	1.96	2.576
Ho1.11	-0.00365	1.96	2.576
Ho1.12	0.045334	1.96	2.576
Ho1.13	0.026718	1.96	2.576
Ho1.14	0.0346	1.96	2.576
Ho1.15	0.093075	1.96	2.576
Ho1.16	0.009454	1.96	2.576
Ho1.17	0.022329	1.96	2.576
Ho1.18	-0.02111	1.96	2.576
Ho1.19	0.014325	1.96	2.576
Ho1.20	0.01637	1.96	2.576
Ho1.21	0.00761	1.96	2.576

Both the hypotheses that were based on consumer perception were accepted (Table 2 and Table 3, see Annexure). In line with Heinonen, and Strandvik (2003) this study showed that mobile channels are perceived to be more personal than traditional and email channels. This creates high expectations for the relevance of marketing communication messages. Marketer's benefit from the ability to personalize communication in digital channels, 66% of marketers have noted that the main advantage of mobile marketing is its one-to-one communication ability (Forrester Report 2001). The empirical results (n-50) identify customers acceptance based on gender and level of income for the mobile phone as an innovative medium for advertising content communication.

CONCLUSION:

With the emergence of high speed wireless network technologies especially the web technology and the increasing market penetration of mobile phone the global advertising industry's interest in using this medium as a means of marketing communication is rising. However, in spite of the increasing number of companies investing in mobile marketing campaigns, there is, as yet, little research on this topic and the nature and implications of this channel are not yet understood fully. In this study, mobile marketing has been conceptualized as a single construct. However, within this there are likely to be a variety of mobile Internet tools. Therefore, it is recommended that future research provides specific examination of different advertising tools.

REFERENCES:

· Aaker, D. A. V. Kumar and G.s. Day (2001). Marketing Research, 7th Ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York 2001.

· Bauer. R.A. and S.A. Greyser (1968). Advertising in America: The consumer View Boston: Harvard University.

· DeZoysa, S. (2002). Mobile Advertising Needs to Get Personal. Telecommunications International, (February).

· Houstin, F.S. and J.B. Gassenheimer (1987). Marketing and Exchange. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 51 3-18.

· Kotelr, P. (2003). Marketing Management. Upper Saddle River, New Jersy: person Education.

· Petty, R.D. (2003). Wireless Advertising Messaging: Legal Analysis and Public policy Issues. Journal of public policy and Marketing, 22(1), 71-82.