Mobile Location-Based Advertising and the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/279: A post-GDPR experiment on factors influencing LBA acceptance.

Mobile phones have never played a more integral role in the functioning of society. As a personal communications device, the mobile phone provides a lucrative platform for marketers to exploit and profit off of. Location-based advertising (LBA) is a fairly new phenomenon that is helping brands realise this potential. A historically intrusive form of advertising, the environment upon which LBA operates within is set to change, with the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on May 25, 2018. Using a scenario-based experiment, and separating respondents (n=103) according to their awareness of GDPR, this study tests privacy concerns, attitudes toward, and intentions to accept LBA. Additionally, the approach to LBA (Push vs Pull) is tested and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) modified to include income as an external variable. Results support previous contributions, associating lower privacy concerns more with pull-based LBA approaches than push-based. Additionally, the study’s findings show LBA to be perceived more useful by lower income respondents than higher income respondents. Finally, level of GDPR awareness was found not to influence privacy concerns for participants. These results are discussed with reference to both theoretical and practical implications