in the smart phone era. However, further research is necessaryto develop a more extensive evidence base before it will be pos-sible to generalise regarding consumer attitudes towards mobilemarketing in the smartphone era, and the most effective mobilemarketing strategies in general, and the role and value of QR codes,more specifically.However, in the meantime, the findings from this study providesome useful indicators as to the nature of successful mobile market-ing communications. The evidence from this study, supported byprevious studies, is that consumers persist in viewing their mobilephones as being for their personal and social use, and marketingcommunication from companies is even less welcome through thischannel, than through other channels. Accordingly, practitionersneed to:1. Develop an understanding of what motivates their customers toaccept mobile marketing communications, including what con-sumers perceive as benefits in this context. Optimal strategieswill vary between sectors and brands, and is likely to be impactedby the organisation’s potential for engagement in those applica-tions that consumers regard as valuable such as ticketing andappointment and travel alerts.2. Hone their competence in marketing communicationsapproaches that respond to consumers’ desire for controlover the marketing communications that they recieve, and giveconsumers the confidence to trust them.3. Develop a repertoire of pull marketing communicationsapproaches, including website content and applications that cus-tomers value, and provide access to these and other contentthrough QR codes.It is also clear that further research into marketing in the smart-phone era, including QR code marketing is needed in order to findout more about what drives success in this area. Key foci for suchresearch might include:1. Further exploration of the marketing communicationsapproaches that make consumers willing to engage withcompanies through the mobile channel, including a deeperunderstanding of the outcome of such engagement in terms ofsales, brand awareness and other marketing objectives.2. Investigation into the effect of demographic factors, such asage, gender, extent of mobile phone use, income level, and cul-ture, on issues such as trust formation and benefit perceptionwith mobile marketing communication, and identification withmobile phone handsets.3. Further exploration of the value of QR codes and other pull tech-nologies both to consumers and organisations, including thefactors that drive their adoption and continued use, and the effectscanning a code may have on acquisition, retention or conversionrates.References