Factors that determine the acceptance and preference of college students in Metro Manila towards Over-the-Top Messaging vs Traditional SMS

• Main Author: Dollesin, Jennifer Regalado
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2015
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/4832
• Institution: De La Salle University

Messaging is either the most important mobile phone feature or the second-most after regular-old phone calls. Messaging, led by SMS texts, has grown to become a huge global industry and a revenue source for the world's mobile carriers. This lucrative 230 billion US Dollar business continues to dominate the non-voice mobile services, according to Mobile Messaging Futures, 2013-2017. However, people behavior towards SMS is starting to change and consumers' options for text-based communications are growing rapidly. A number of low-cost and even free alternatives to SMS are experiencing increased rates of use. Popular nowadays is the over-the-top (OTT) messaging services messaging through downloadable applications for smartphones that enable subscribers to send text (instant) messages to users of the same application, using their mobile data plan or Wi-Fi. Two different OTT alternatives have emerged: (1) OS-specific communication systems such as iMessage and Blackberry Messenger, and (2) third-party applications such as WhatsApp and Kakao Talk, which are often cross-platform (McKinsey & Company, 2012). Generally speaking, both sets of applications promise a richer user experience at a price materially lower than traditional SMS messaging. This study aims to understand the consumer behavior of college students with the new technology in terms of sending SMS using third party application. It also tries to help telecommunication providers respond to the call of times when sending instant message no longer primarily depends on traditional revenue-generating wireless cell networks but instead rely heavily on other platforms that lessens telecommunications biggest source of revenues. It is important to take a deeper analysis on this behavioral change of youth locally. The big question that lies Is SMS really dying? Given the increasing number of mobile instant messaging (IM) or chat apps to choose from, it is wonderful to know how many chat apps the market can take. It is also to suggest how local telecommunication companies should respond to this new behavioral phase of its target market.