Mobile/Location-Based Marketing & Promotions: Research Issues and Opportunities

The trend towards location-based marketing is growing and getting some well-deserved attention with the recent developments and statistics provided in regards to consumer use of mobile coupons. Location-based and proximity-based marketing, a rapidly expanding channel combines the benefits of digital and mobile interactions. In particular, marketers are increasingly using this channel to deliver digital coupons and other sales promotions to reach consumers. From an advertising perspective, this medium is particularly effective because the mobile channel is ideal for reaching today’s technologically-savvy consumers within the context of a place, location or proximity to a retail space.

Consequently, there has been a significant growth in mobile and location-based promotional services such as Groupon, Yowza etc. In addition, many retailers and companies have started using these promotional methods to attract, and retain consumers. Kraft Foods Inc. has released software for Apple Inc.'s iPhone that help consumers find a recipe or create shopping lists. Supermarket chains Kroger Co. and the retailer Target Inc recently expanded programs that let customers redeem coupons using mobile phones. More recently, super market chain Stop & Shop has been testing opt-in apps that push coupons to consumers based on tracking their location in a specific product aisle inside the supermarket.

However, companies are still a bit unsure as to the true impact these types of marketing can have, largely in part due to the lack of specific research. A recent report by the mobile marketing association and NCH marketing services suggests that mobile and online coupons account for barely 2-3% of total coupon redemption even though the sector is growing at a phenomenal rate. Given this, businesses struggle to implement effective location-based marketing or mobile coupon promotions that would work best for them.

Pay-What-you-Want Pricing for Digital Goods

Pay What You Want (PWYW) pricing has become a popular pricing strategy. Yet, few studies have directly examined consumer behavior when sellers use this pricing across various products and distribution channels. In this study, we apply the theories of social norms, reference prices and privacy assurances to test various factors that affect consumers' willingness to purchase and pay (WTPP) for mobile applications in a PWYW condition. Two experiments show that social information positively affects WTPP while reference prices negatively affect willingness to pay. In this, consumers tend to be greatly influenced by social information from local groups when compared to global groups. Further, privacy assurances significantly enhance consumers' willingness to pay.

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Yelp Reviews

Online reviews, a form of online word-of-mouth (eWOM) have become one of the most important sources of information for modern consumers, and have attracted considerable research in the recent past. However, much of the existing research focuses on transmission and impact of online reviews but sheds less light on the underlying processes that drive consumers’ reception of online reviews (to understand the basic qualities of reviews themselves, and how these qualities induce consumers’ trust). Similarly, few studies have explored the recipients’ perspective in the context of various services. This study addresses the aforementioned gaps in extant literature. The research model of source credibility in this study is built upon the rich stream of literature related to how people are influenced by information and tested on reviews collected from Yelp.com, a popular online advisory website dedicated to services businesses across various cities in the United States. The results show that a combination of both reviewer and review related characteristics are significantly correlated with perceived credibility of reviews. The authors present the results of the study and discuss their significance for research and practice.

eSAFE: The knowledge Management System for Safe Festivals & Events

This project was undertaken with the generous funding from the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA) based in Boise, Idaho. IFEA is an umbrella association for many large and small event management firms, and professionals, and boasts of membership upwards of 3000. The main requirement was to develop a knowledge management system that can enable the event professionals to document, and reuse precious knowledge related to safety and security issues of event management. This became even more critical as the event professionals recognized the growing importance of safety and security management. My role as the research assistant was to systematically assess the requirements of the client organization, develop the initial design for the system, and develop the ontology for the basic content of the system knowledge bases. We also conducted an extensive survey to understand how and why members will participate in such unique systems. A research paper based on this project was published in the Homeland Security Handbook?

Understanding the Complexity of Universal Access: A study of Philadelphia Wireless Initiative

The Philadelphia wireless initiative is a unique program undertaken by the City to promote cheap broad band access, and eliminate the digital divide problems. To assess the general mood as well the requirements of the public with regards to this initiative, the city authorities, in conjunction with the research team from Temple University conducted extensive focus group studies and surveys. As a research assistant, my role was to collect data spread over disparate sources such as print and digital media, focus group studies and various governmental reports and communiqués. Subsequently, I scientifically analyzed this huge pool of qualitative data to develop a coherent framework for universal access that can act as a guiding model for efforts in municipal wireless networks. A research paper based on this research project was presented at the International Conference in Information Systems, Paris (2008) and under review at the Information Systems Research Journal

King Tut: Evaluating the Visitor Experience

The Franklin Institute and the city of Philadelphia had the distinctive opportunity to host one of the most important cultural events in the United States. From February through September, 2007, Franklin Institute hosted the exhibit “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” that attracted more than 800,000 visitors from various parts of the country. To document and measure the visitor experience at the Franklin Institute, Temple University‟s National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce did extensive online and paper based surveys to measure the visitor experience. In addition, personal interviews were conducted with the visitors to get a more nuanced view of their experience. As the research coordinator, my role was to design the surveys, coordinate with the museum staff to ensure that the surveys went smoothly, data consolidation, and analysis. I also actively conducted visitor interviews to understand various aspects of their experience, as well as to obtain their feedback.

Designing a Collaborative Crisis Management System for the Hospitality & Tourism Industry

This project was funded, in part, under a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Office of the Vice President for Research & Graduate Studies, and the Center for Preparedness Research, Education and Practice (C-PREP) at Temple University. The main goal of the project was three fold: 1) to assess the preparedness of the small and medium sized hospitality and tourism organizations to deal with disasters
and crises, 2) to understand their limitations and requirements as to above said task, and 3) to design a prototype knowledge management systems that can enhance the crises management capabilities of these firms. This project was done in response to the growing concern regarding the crises management efforts of local firms and the large loss of life and property witnessed in other parts of the country. As the project coordinator, my role was to coordinate research team members, design surveys to study the local industry, analyze data and provide the final reports. Also, I played a central role in designing the initial prototype system on which subsequent versions were based. The research paper on this project is published in Cornell Hospitality Quarterly?.