Location-based advertising (LBA) is not new but being able to access it through one's mobile communication device is. Description of this revolutionary advertising medium is provided as well as some opportunities and challenges that come with it. Desperately needed is more scholarly research since in-depth examination of the topic has barely begun. To assist researchers in their investigations, a scale is provided here that is likely to become central to many studies: attitude toward location-based advertising (Alba).Support for the scale's psychometric quality comes from a preliminary study and a twostage analysis of a large, national sample.
2
ATTITUDE TOWARD LOCATION-BASED ADVERTISINGWe are approaching a time when the ability will exist to contact individuals at any time, at any place. This is due to the ubiquity of mobile devices, particularly mobile phones with GPS functionality. The technology holds the potential for marketers to send information and offers to consumers based on their proximity to places where the marketers' products are available.Given the growing ability to reach people in a much more targeted manner than was possible in the past, the next question one must ask is, what do consumers think about it? If consumers have generally positive attitudes toward such advertising, then this could be the very technology that allows m-commerce to kick into high gear. If consumers are generally negative about it then advertisers will have to sell the medium first before they can successfully use it to sell other things.Mobile advertising in general is only beginning to receive scholarly examination.A specific type of mobile advertising, location-based advertising (LBA), has received even less scholarly attention. One purpose of this paper is to describe LBA. To facilitate future studies by academic and industry researchers, a second purpose of this paper is to provide a multi-item scale for measuring the construct. The results of a preliminary study and a two-stage process of refining and testing the scale are reported along with the implications for future research.