Loading...
A Cross Sectional Study of Mobile First Digital Engagement, Advertising Impact, and Consumer Decision Making


Journal of Digital Business and International Marketing

Received On : 23 December 2025

Revised On : 28 January 2026

Accepted On : 10 February 2026

Published On : 05 April 2026

Volume 02, Issue 02, 2026

Pages : 095-104


Abstract

This paper will consider the existing digital trends in the market, how social factors impact consumers, and the preference of consumers in mobile-first markets. We gathered quantitative data as a part of the research and included the measures of internet use and communication through social media, influence of advertisement, desire to buy the product, and use of mobile apps. This data was collected through a structured cross-sectional survey of 300 internet users aged over 18 years, chosen based on age, gender, and the main device. Descriptive and correlational data show that almost all participants have daily access to the internet, that smartphones are more the priority and that there is an overwhelming inclination to trust interpersonal channels over celebrity approval in making purchases. Advertising on social media has the strongest influence on behavior, whereas design of functional websites and free applications have a significant effect on retention and download intention. The results highlights the shifts in consumer trust relations and point out strategic insights on digital marketing optimization in mobile-based ecosystems.

Keywords

Digital Engagement, Mobile-First Behavior, Social Influence, Online Advertising, Consumer Decision-Making, User Experience, App Adoption.

  1. H. Li, J. Chen, Z. Chen, and J. Xu, “Urban population distribution in China: Evidence from internet population,” China Economic Review, vol. 74, p. 101808, Aug. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.chieco.2022.101808.
  2. M. Ots, “Who Is the Customer in the ‘Customer Value?’ Inherent Problems in the Marketing of Advertising Media,” International Journal on Media Management, vol. 11, no. 3–4, pp. 124–134, Nov. 2009, doi: 10.1080/14241270903278850.
  3. C. Turner, “Augmented Reality, Augmented Epistemology, and the Real-World Web,” Philosophy & Technology, vol. 35, no. 1, Mar. 2022, doi: 10.1007/s13347-022-00496-5.
  4. S. L. Althaus, A. M. Cizmar, and J. G. Gimpel, “Media Supply, Audience Demand, and the Geography of News Consumption in the United States,” Political Communication, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 249–277, Jul. 2009, doi: 10.1080/10584600903053361.
  5. B. Richardson, M. Campbell-Yeo, and M. Smit, “Mobile Application User Experience Checklist: A Tool to Assess Attention to Core UX Principles,” International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, pp. 1–8, Feb. 2021, doi: 10.1080/10447318.2021.1876361.
  6. R. E. Roth et al., “Making maps & visualizations for mobile devices: A research agenda for mobile-first and responsive cartographic design,” Journal of Location Based Services, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 408–478, Apr. 2024, doi: 10.1080/17489725.2023.2251423.
  7. V. Bhuttoo, K. Soman, and R. K. Sungkur, “Responsive design and content adaptation for e-learning on mobile devices,” 2017 1st International Conference on Next Generation Computing Applications (NextComp), pp. 163–168, Jul. 2017, doi: 10.1109/nextcomp.2017.8016193.
  8. R. E. Roth, A. L. Griffin, and H. Huang, “Mobile Cartography: An International Cartographic Association (ICA) collective research agenda for mobile-first and responsive maps & visualizations,” Journal of Location Based Services, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 335–349, Oct. 2024, doi: 10.1080/17489725.2024.2406820.
  9. A. H. Alsharif, N. Z. M. Salleh, S. A. Al-Zahrani, and A. Khraiwish, “Consumer Behaviour to Be Considered in Advertising: A Systematic Analysis and Future Agenda,” Behavioral Sciences, vol. 12, no. 12, p. 472, Nov. 2022, doi: 10.3390/bs12120472.
  10. T. Te’Eni-Harari, S. I. Lampert, and S. Lehman-Wilzig, “Information Processing of Advertising among Young People: The Elaboration Likelihood Model as Applied to Youth,” Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 326–340, Sep. 2007, doi: 10.2501/s0021849907070341.
  11. M. Lewis, “The Influence of Loyalty Programs and Short-Term Promotions on Customer Retention,” Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 281–292, Aug. 2004, doi: 10.1509/jmkr.41.3.281.35986.
  12. D. E. Baird and M. Fisher, “Neomillennial User Experience Design Strategies: Utilizing Social Networking Media to Support ‘Always on’ Learning Styles,” Journal of Educational Technology Systems, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 5–32, Sep. 2005, doi: 10.2190/6wmw-47l0-m81q-12g1.
  13. K. Matzler, A. Strobl, N. Thurner, and J. Füller, “Switching experience, customer satisfaction, and switching costs in the ICT industry,” Journal of Service Management, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 117–136, Mar. 2015, doi: 10.1108/josm-04-2014-0101.
  14. V. A. Phamthi, Á. Nagy, and T. M. Ngo, “The influence of perceived risk on purchase intention in e‐commerce—Systematic review and research agenda,” International Journal of Consumer Studies, vol. 48, no. 4, Jun. 2024, doi: 10.1111/ijcs.13067.
  15. M. C. Han and Y. Kim, “Why Consumers Hesitate to Shop Online: Perceived Risk and Product Involvement on Taobao.com,” Journal of Promotion Management, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 24–44, Dec. 2016, doi: 10.1080/10496491.2016.1251530.
  16. L. Liu, S. Wu, and G. Cai, “Impact of online product presentation on sales: the effects of text-image introductory information and celebrity endorsements,” Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 1220–1232, Jun. 2023, doi: 10.1108/jpbm-08-2022-4109.
  17. S. (Sam) Kim, J. Y. (Jacey) Choe, and J. F. Petrick, “The effect of celebrity on brand awareness, perceived quality, brand image, brand loyalty, and destination attachment to a literary festival,” Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, vol. 9, pp. 320–329, Sep. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2018.03.006.
  18. A. Dwivedi, L. W. Johnson, and R. E. McDonald, “Celebrity endorsement, self-brand connection and consumer-based brand equity,” Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 449–461, Aug. 2015, doi: 10.1108/jpbm-10-2014-0722.
  19. S. Nikou and J. Mezei, “Evaluation of mobile services and substantial adoption factors with Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP),” Telecommunications Policy, vol. 37, no. 10, pp. 915–929, Nov. 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.telpol.2012.09.007.
  20. R. J. McKenna and B. Martin‐Smith, “Decision making as a simplification process: new conceptual perspectives,” Management Decision, vol. 43, no. 6, pp. 821–836, Jul. 2005, doi: 10.1108/00251740510603583.
CRediT Author Statement

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows:

Conceptualization: Deng Kai and Michael Davis; Methodology: Deng Kai and Michael Davis; Data Curation: Michael Davis; Writing- Original Draft Preparation: Deng Kai and Michael Davis; Investigation: Deng Kai; Supervision: Deng Kai and Michael Davis; Validation: Deng Kai and Michael Davis; Writing- Reviewing and Editing: Deng Kai and Michael Davis. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Reviewers for taking the time and effort necessary to review the manuscript. We sincerely appreciate all valuable comments and suggestions, which helped us to improve the quality of the manuscript.

Funding

No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.

Ethics Declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Availability of Data and Materials

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.

Author Information

Contributions

All authors have equal contribution in the paper and all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding Author



Rights and permissions

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

This license permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, reproduction, and adaptation in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

Copyright

© 2026 Deng Kai and Michael Davis. The author(s) retain copyright of the work. The author(s) grant the Journal of Digital Business and International Marketing (JDBIM) and its publisher, Ansis Publications, the right of first publication and the right to identify itself as the original publisher of the article.

Cite this Article

Deng Kai and Michael Davis, “A Cross Sectional Study of Mobile First Digital Engagement, Advertising Impact, and Consumer Decision Making”, Journal of Digital Business and International Marketing, vol.2, no.2, pp. 095-104, April 2026, doi: 10.64026/JDBIM/2026010.