Influence of Message Frequency and Acceptability on Attitude Towards GSM Operators’ Unsolicited Promotional SMS Among Undergraduates in Lagos, Nigeria
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Date
2021
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Journal of Communication and Media Research
Abstract
The Global System for Mobile Telecommunication (GSM) has improved telephony in Nigeria, following
the successful deregulation of the country’s telecommunication. The popularity of GSM in Nigeria,
coupled with its interactivity, high speed and frequency of delivery makes it an avenue for advertising
through the Short Message Service (SMS) among network operators. SMS advertising generates subscriber annoyance, irritation and rejection due to their intrusiveness as they are mostly unsolicited. This study examined attitudes of tertiary institutions’ undergraduate subscribers in Lagos State, Nigeria to unsolicited promotional SMS of major GSM network operators.The study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design. The population of the study comprised 40,663 undergraduates of selected tertiary institutions in Lagos State. Multi-stage sampling technique was applied to select four universities, one polytechnic and one college of education through stratification and randomisation, while the Saunders, Krejcie and Morgan (1970) formula was applied to select a sample of 1,026 respondents from the institutions. Validated structured questionnaire was used to collect data.Findings revealed that Message acceptability and frequency significantly influenced the attitude towards GSM operators’ unsolicited promotional SMS among undergraduates.The study concluded that unsolicited promotional SMS of the GSM operators generated unfavourable attitudes among tertiary institutions’ undergraduate subscribers in Lagos State because they were received without permission and in high frequency. The study recommended subscriber permission, reduction in GSM operators’ unsolicited promotional SMS.
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Keywords
Attitude, Global system of mobile communications, Short messaging service, Undergraduates