The rapid growth of the mobile web and the use and sharing of its content is raising significant privacy issues among many countries worldwide, including that of consumer privacy.
Recent studies have shown that many consumers are willing to give up some of their privacy in order to obtain services that they believe are of value to them and that are geared toward their own interests and likes, such as through location-based promotions and offers.
Millions of mobile device users around the world are already downloading apps that use the GPS technology on their smartphones to identify their location so that they can receive discounts, offers, coupons, or other deals simply for answering a few questions about shopping in certain specific retail stores. Apps of this nature are becoming increasingly popular.
The new global trade association, the Mobile Marketing Research Association (MMRA) has been created to provide the industry with professional ethics and standards for marketing using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
The board members at the MMRA include client representatives such as General mills, mystery shopping companies like AQ services and Bare Associates, as well as marketing research organizations such as TNS, Blauw Research, Brainjuicer, and Nielsen, and technology companies such as EthOS App, Revelation, OnDevice, and CivicCom.
Justin Bailey, a board member whose primary focus is the user experience for mobile consumers at Nielsen, the global research firm, explained that the MMRA will become the top representative speaking for the possibilities of mobile research at an increasingly higher level.