Cell Phone Usage and Advertising Acceptance Among College Students: A Four-Year Analysis

The mobile phone is rapidly becoming one of the most influential mediums for marketing since the advent of the Internet. As Gerry Purdy, a leading mobile industry analyst, points out: “probably the most important medium for advertising in the 21st century is going to be the cell phone, not print media, not billboards...” (SMS Marketing, 2006). By leveraging the mobile phone, the mobile phone network and the cast of players within the mobile marketing ecosystem, brands, businesses and marketing agencies can intimately engage and interact with their target audience in a fashion that has previously been unavailable to them. Young people, as early adopters of new technology, have shown the highest incidence rates of cell phone usage and mobile content adoption, according to M:Metrics (2005). Students with jobs consume more mobile content than any other group, and are 42% more likely to use mobile email than the average subscriber, and 23% more likely than typical full-time workers. Working students also download mobile games and personalize content on their phones twice as often as other users (M:Metrics, 2005). ComScore Networks, who has labeled 18-24 year olds as the “Cellular Generation,” says students see their cell phones as more than a means of voice communication; they can provide entertainment, convey social status and help express one’s individuality (ComScore, 2006).