What’s in it for me? SMS advertising in Egypt

“It has been one of the best decisions in my life to join MSM’s doctoral program”. This said Ms. Yousra Bakr after successfully defending her Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) thesis entitled “Antecedents to SMS advertising Acceptance: The Case of Egypt" at Maastricht School of Management (MSM) on 10 November 2015.

“I am particularly grateful for my MSM instructors who supported my passion for research”, explained Ms. Bakr. “MSM’s DBA has definitely contributed to my development both as a researcher and as a person, and brought me much closer to the academic career which I have always aspired.”

Her study explores the acceptance of SMS advertising in Egypt, and identifies factors that affect

mobile-users’ acceptance of SMS ads. Given the “faceless” nature of SMS advertising, mobile-users ask two main questions when receiving an SMS ad: “What’s in it for me?” which denotes the Message Value, and “Should I trust you?” which refers to Message Trust. The findings highlight advertising strategies to elevate both message value and trust, and therefore, overall message acceptance.

Mobile-users tend to appreciate relevant SMS ads with a clear benefit. Permission-based campaigns where mobile-users consent to receiving ads about certain products can be a simple cost-effective way to ensure relevance. An alternative is to invest in more efficient targeting systems that would enable advertisers to send the right messages to the right mobile-users at the right time. Findings also revealed that advertisers should consider that Egyptian consumers tend to have high uncertainty avoidance and scepticism towards the advertisers’ motives. Advertisers should avoid sending ads from anonymous numbers, and the messages should be kept short and precise. Providing a follow up contact method (like a hotline or a website), adds a level of transparency that implies that the advertiser has nothing to hide.