Search

Mobile advertising has given business organisations great opportunities to reach consumers and clients directly with products and services irrespective of time and location. These possibilities have made mobile advertising a strategic business plan in today’s global competitive marketing world. This trend of mobile advertising in South Africa and the extent to which it infringes on the information privacy of consumers is examined in this paper. Using 440 questionnaires administered to Generation Y students at two universities: North West University, and Vaal University of Technology, the perceptions of these Generation Y students towards information privacy with regard to mobile advertising was explored. Data analysis which included regression analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis, reliability test and preliminary data analysis revealed that Generation Y students seemed not to be bothered about the usefulness of mobile advertising messages but were however concerned about the information privacy associated with such marketing activities. It was also revealed that the ability of Generation Y students to control the usage of their data and the frequency of exposure to mobile advertising will positively influence their perception towards mobile advertising.

Following the first democratic elections in 1994, the South African government has introduced several laws regulating the country's business environment for the purpose of protecting consumers from unethical business practices. One such law is the Consumer Protection Act (68 of 2008) (CPA). The CPA was implemented for a number of reasons,including to conform to international best practices regarding consumer law, to replace the existing but out-dated laws, and, most importantly, to provide protection to vulnerable consumers who in the past were exposed to unethical business practices as a result of the antecedent of apartheid. Despite the good intentions of the CPA, the law will be of little value to consumers if retailers do not generally know and apply it. Therefore, a study was undertaken to measure the perceived and actual knowledge of the CPA amongst retailers. A self-administered questionnaire was used to measure perceived and actual knowledge of the CPA amongst a sample of 97 small independent retailers located in 10 shopping malls in the Vaal Triangle area of South Africa. The findings indicate that whilst small independent retailers consider themselves well-informed regarding the CPA, their actual knowledge of the Act is lacking. This suggests that a number of small independent retailers in South Africa may be conducting their business in a manner that does not comply with the CPA and, therefore, is not in the best interests of consumers.

Aim: In this era of globalisation characterised with rapid spread and usage of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and the capacity to store personal information, the issue of information privacy is becoming an increasing concern. In this study, the attitude of Black South African Generation Y students towards information privacy in relation to loyalty card usage was examined. Method: A total of 400 questionnaires were administered to participating students from two higher education institutions including the North West University Vaal Triangle Campus, and the Vaal University of Technology. The awareness and knowledge of Generation Y students on data collection practices with loyalty cards, and the relationship between information privacy concerns and purchase behaviour with regard to loyalty card usage was also examined. Results and conclusion: Using Pearson’s correlation analysis, reliability test and preliminary data analysis, it was revealed that Black Generation Y students were concerned with their information privacy in relation to loyalty cards, and this significantly affected their attitude towards loyalty card usage. The ability to control their data usage, i.e. knowledge of what their data is being used for by business organisations also positively influenced their perception towards loyalty cards as Generation Y students were irritated by unsolicited marketing offers from business organisations.

The paper presents the results of research carried out to examine mobile phone addiction among students at a South African University. The results suggest that students exhibited addiction tendencies. Of the top sources of addiction were; a feeling of loss when students did not have their mobile phones with them, reduction in sleep patterns, use of mobile phones longer than intended, feeling of restlessness and irritability when not using mobile phone and use of mobile phones to escape from problems. Two main addictive symptoms were extracted and students’ behaviour were categorised as ranging from loss of control to withdrawal.