Mobile Marketing: Yes in Europe, No in U.S.

Oh what a difference a continent makes!

In Europe, Mobile Marketing is widely accepted and growing at a reasonable clip. In fact, according to a blog post by Madrid's Javier Correro, 50% of Spaniards have received a SMS message to acquire a product or service, compared with 17.6% of American mobile users, 27% of British mobile users, 45% of Italian mobile users, 29% of German mobile users and 44% of French mobile users.

Moreover, the Spanish trust the mobile phone as a source of entertainment and advertising, Correro writes.

Not so in the U.S. According to a recent article by eMarketer, few Americans want ads sent to their phone. The article claims that nearly two-thirds of Generation Y respondents said they were unlikely or definitely unlikely to subscribe to texted retail offers sent to their handsets.

It goes on to say that four-fifths of mobile users in a different survey said that text messages sent by companies would be totally unacceptable. Accordingly,

Of course, what made mobile marketing more acceptable to American users was the content.  "It is one thing to ask if someone wants ads sent to their phone and another to ask if they would like free music in exchange for viewing a mobile ad," eMarketer wrote.

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