Benchmarking the Use of

QR Code in Mobile Promotion

Three Studies in Japan

Shintaro Okazaki
Universidad Autónoma
de Madrid/College
of Economics and
Business Administration
shintaro.okazaki@uam.es
Hairong Li
Michigan State
University/College of
Communication Arts
and Sciences
hairong@msu.edu
As a shortcut for mobile input, quick response (QR) code is increasingly being integrated
in cross-media advertising campaigns in many countries of the world. Questions remain,
however, about its actual use in different media, the motivations for consumers to use it
and, especially, the perceived risks associated with using QR code. This study represents
an initial exploration into these important issues. Findings from three studies in Japan
indicate that QR codes are largely used in print media for promoting loyalty programs;
convenience, savings, and quality are drivers of QR-code use; and perceived risks vary
among different contexts in which consumers scan QR codes. Implications are presented
for the effective use of QR code in mobile promotion.

Morikazu Hirose
Tokyo Fuji University
INTRODUCTION
morikazu.187@
Internet-enabled mobile phones have become an
mba.nifty.ne.jp
increasingly popular platform for sales promo-
tion in major world markets. In 2010, as many as
116 million consumers worldwide used their mobile
devices for commerce, including making payments,
redeeming coupons, and ticketing (Portio Research,
2011). This figure is estimated to reach 490 million
by the end of 2014 (mobithinking, 2011). In the
United States, mobile commerce accounted for $4.9
billion in sales in 2010 (ABI Research, 2010), and 31
percent of smartphone owners used their device to
access promotional coupons for in-store redemp-
tion (Freedman, 2011). In the United Kingdom, 51
percent of mobile users are engaged in commerce,
whereas 31 percent would be more likely to respond
to Short Message Services (SMS) ads (IAB, 2010).
These advances have drawn increasing attention
from both scholars and practitioners about various
types of mobile-based marketing tactics (Trappey
and Woodside, 2005; Okazaki, Katsukura, and
Nishiyama, 2007; Davis and Sajtos, 2008).
Recently, there has been growing interest in QR
code as a simple, effective tool. QR code is a black-
and-white, two-dimensional barcode developed
in 1994 by Denso Wave, at the time a division of
Denso Corp (Denso, 2001). QR codes can contain
a diverse range of information, including Web
site URLs, e-mail addresses, product images, and
coupons (Sun, Sun, and Liu, 2007). The codes can
be placed on different media such as magazines,
newspapers, posters, packages, labels, and receipts.
The primary benefit of QR code is its pivotal role
as a bridge between offline and mobile media in
multichannel marketing. In fact, QR code is one
of the few alternatives that enables consumers to
transfer from one medium to another, more or less
instantaneously—one of the most suitable tools for
multichannel marketing. For example, by simply
scanning a code with a mobile device, a consumer
can be immediately directed to the advertiser’s
campaign site (See Figure 1).
This research conducts preliminary explorations
on QR-code mobile promotion. In this study, mobile
promotion is defined as “any marketing activities
that provide extra value or incentives to the sales
force, distributors, or the ultimate consumers in
order to stimulate immediate responses through
mobile devices” (MMA, 2009). In the context of the
current study, QR code is viewed as a physical link
that connects offline and mobile promotional con-
tent to obtain direct response from consumers.
There are two primary concerns the authors
sought to address in this research:

102  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  March 2012  DOI: 10.2501/JAR-52-1-102-117

 Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion

Desired contents Encoding Printable surface Data retrieval

URL, email magazine,
address, phone newspaper, flyer,
number, text, handouts, DM,
coupons, etc. Webpage,
poster, billboard,
package, etc.

Figure 1  How QR Code Works.

• issues related to QR codes’ integration
to firms’ offline/mobile marketing pro-
gram, and
• issues related to consumers’ perceptions
of QR codes.
More specifically, the study seeks to
respond to the following fundamental
questions:
• How are QR codes used by marketers
in different media? In what types of
products are QR codes used? In what
media?
• What factors affect the use of QR code
among consumers? What are conscious
and unconscious perceptual processes
when they are exposed to QR codes?
• To what extent do consumers perceive
QR codes as a safe, trustworthy tool? Do
their perceptions of using QR codes dif-
fer among various situations?
To address these questions, this research
adopted a three-phase approach:
• Study 1 performed content analysis of
more than 200 QR codes collected by
various media. In Study 1, the objective
was to establish an analytical frame-
work of QR-code promotion in terms of
three major axes around which QR-code
promotion is executed: message, prod-
uct, and content.
• Study 2 used an interpretative approach
—grounded theory—by conducting key
-informant focus groups with an attempt
to identify facilitating and impeding
factors. A qualitative exploration aimed
at identifying explicative grounds that
enable us to understand consumers’
conscious or unconscious motives asso-
ciated with QR-code promotion.
• Study 3 carried out a survey with 240
general consumers to articulate—in a
quantitative manner—the major factors
that facilitate or discourage QR-code
adoption.
The authors chose Japan as the study site
in part because it has experienced various
forms of mobile promotion. In particular,
Japan has one of the highest mobile-phone
penetration rates. In 2008, Japanese mobile
subscribers reached 107.96 million out of
which the 3G service users accounted for
85.8 percent (Business Monitor Interna-
tional, 2008).
Since 2005, more users have accessed
Web sites from mobile phones than from
PCs (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Com-
munications, 2007). Of primary interest
to this study: as many as 88.4 percent of
mobile users had a QR-code reader with
their mobile device, and 83.6 percent have
actually used and accessed QR codes
(impress R&D, 2007).
This study makes significant contribu-
tions to mobile-advertising research in
several ways. First, research on QR-code
mobile promotion is practically nonexist-
ent, except for a unique exception, which
is conceptual (Dou and Li, 2008). Thus,
the study here is a stepping stone for
future endeavors. Second, the study here
describes QR code as a pivotal bridge
between offline and mobile media promo-
tion. Unlike the existing alternatives (e.g.,
sending a short code via SMS), QR code
has a unique capability that directs users to
a mobile Web site without demanding any
keyboard operation while it conveys rich
digital content. Third, our study intends
to offer an initial observation for future
theory building based on both qualitative
and quantitative inquiries. Our objective
is to offer benchmark information on these
issues from Japanese consumers for fur-
ther studies.
In what follows, the authors begin by
providing a background of QR code. They
then explain the methodology, research
questions, and results of the three studies:
Studies 1, 2, and 3. From this grounding,
the research draws overall conclusions.
In closing, the authors suggest future
research.
QR CODE
QR code originally was developed for
tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing
and was then standardized by AIM Inter-
national, JIS, and ISO (Denso, 2001). QR
code also has been used in a wide range of
applications such as manufacturing, logis-
tics, and sales.
QR code has many advantages com-
pared to other two-dimensional barcodes:

March 2012  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  103

Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion
• It has the mixed features of other bar-
codes such as large capacity, small print-
out size, and high-speed scan.
• QR code also is open to the public; any-
one can use it without a license. It easily
is created with free software and a con-
ventional printer. For example, there are
many Web sites where users can easily
encode information into QR codes and
print them out.
• Any mobile phone with a camera can
become a barcode reader with software.
It is then easy for mobile phone users to
scan QR code with their mobile cameras.
Even if a mobile device is not equipped
with a QR-code reader, there are some
add-on tools that decode QR codes simply
by positioning the device in front of the
code. The decoding is carried out auto-
matically within the streaming flow; the
user does not have to take a picture of the
QR code. Examples are QuickMark and
i-nigma readers, two free tools that use
this technique and are available for many
manufactured models and devices. Quick-
Mark also provides extension function-
alities to QR codes by allowing partial or
entire encryption of codes (Sakamura and
Koshizuka, 2005).
As the usage rate has proliferated,
decoding algorithms have been refined by
many engineers, and resolutions of mobile
cameras have become higher (Rouillard,
2008). These improvements allow mobile
users to scan QR codes more quickly and
in different situations.
The design of QR codes also has
improved. Denso Wave introduced micro-
QR codes, which are smaller than tradi-
tional QR codes (Denso, 2001). Further,
IT DeSign developed design QR codes,
which include a picture or logo on the QR
codes. Because of these developments,
QR codes have become more flexible and
attractive. Considering these features, QR
codes have become less intrusive and a
104  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  March 2012
more engaging communication tools to
consumers (Dou and Li, 2008).
Recently, QR codes have been intro-
duced to other countries, including the
United States. Ralph Lauren, for one,
introduced QR code in August 2008, plac-
ing it in their print ads, store windows,
and mailers during the US Open (Figure
2). After scanning the code, the users
immediately were directed to a mobile
site where they could check out a Ralph
Lauren style guide, watch videos, and
read articles about the US Open (Parry,
2008).
Since late 2009, some companies began
tying QR codes to App Store promotions
in the United States. Many mobile applica-
tion downloads have been integrated with
Figure 2  A Sample QR Code
QR codes using QRGen (QR-code genera-
tor) to allow easier application downloads
That Appeared in a Polo Ralph
from messages posted or embedded in Lauren Advertisement.
chat groups, blog posts, and news forums.
QRGen is an application-programming smartphone users by MGH, 32 percent of
interface that enables users to create cus- respondents said they scanned a QR code.
tom dynamic QR codes that are opti- Of those, 53 percent used the code to get a
mized for North American mobile camera coupon or discount; 72 percent were more
phones and supports the three most pop- likely to remember an advertisement with
ular mobile stores: iPhone’s App Store, a QR code (Taylor, 2011).
Android’s Market, and BlackBerry’s App
World (ProgrammableWeb, 2010). STUDY 1: CONTENT ANALYSIS
As smartphones are increasingly being Due to a lack of prior research in advertis-
deployed as readers for barcodes—in par- ing and marketing, the authors first need
ticular via apps available on iPhone and to establish an analytical foundation. To
Android—this trend seems to be gaining this end, Study 1 employs a content analy-
more momentum. These applications— sis. Specifically, this phase aims at quanti-
RedLaser on iPhone and ShopSavvy on tatively exploring the content of QR codes
Android, to name two—allow users to scan a published in different media in terms of
barcode on a product or object and get more message, product, and content.
information about it (MacManus, 2010).
As a result, QR code scanning increased Research Questions
by 1,200 percent from July to December As a start, it seems necessary—and impor-
2010 in the United States. Social media tant—to examine first the message fac-
users were a key driver of this growth, tors related to QR-code promotion. QR
with 57 percent of Facebook and Twitter code is a two-dimensional barcode that
users reporting that they scanned at least can appear on any printable surface. To
one QR code in the past year. Further, retrieve the coded information, users need
according to a February survey of U.S. only take a photograph of the symbol.

In so doing, access behavior may differ
according to the type of media. Intuitively,
a flat surface—a magazine or newspaper
page, a poster, or a handout—would seem
the most reasonable location for print-
ing. A recent industry survey, however,
showed that food packages or beverage
bottles also are used as delivery devices
for QR codes (Yomiuri Shimbun, 2008).
The purpose of the current study is to find
out whether such QR coding works in gen-
eral consumers’ everyday lives.
The effectiveness of QR-code mobile
promotion depends on the type of pro-
moted product. For example, nondura-
ble consumer goods arguably are more
suitable for a mobile channel than dura-
ble consumer goods (Okazaki et al.,
2007). In terms of mobile commerce (or
m-commerce) sales, however, the most-
purchased goods have been clothes and
accessories—items generally classified as
durable goods (impress R&D, 2007).
Furthermore, to the knowledge of the
authors, there is little information in the
current literature related to what kind
of contents are encoded in QR code. For
example, are they linked to general com-
pany information (e.g., corporate Web
sites, specific announcements, publicity),
or do they lead directly to campaign incen-
tives (e.g., discount coupons, product-
sample offers, downloads)? Do they
require any registration of personal data?
Such questions are important in increas-
ing the understanding of mobile promo-
tion. To that end, the authors put forward
the following research questions:
RQ1: In what kind of media can QR
codes normally be found?
RQ2: For what type of product is QR
code normally used? Is there any
relationship between the type
of media and the category of
products promoted in QR-code
promotion?
Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion
RQ3: What kind of data does QR-code codes were found in the same medium,
promotion normally contain? the participants were instructed to save
the most representative one (i.e., the code
Methodology with the greatest advertising or message
Ten undergraduate business students par- space).
ticipated in Study 1. Each student was The codes were photographed by a
instructed to collect QR codes during the mobile device, saved in a PC, and scanned
first 2 weeks of March and November— by a mobile device for the analysis. The
regardless of media—in an attempt to saved codes were checked, one by one,
eliminate seasonal fluctuation. according to the file type, to determine
The authors primarily were interested in whether they were directly retrievable in
QR codes that appeared in advertising, so the PC or, if not, then scannable and acces-
“coupon books” were excluded. “Adver- sible by a mobile device. Duplicate codes
tising” was understood, in a broad sense, were excluded.
to include posters, handouts, packages, In total, 260 QR codes were deemed ade-
and street signs. When more than two quate for the analysis (See Figure 3).
Above: This QR code is used for the
campaign balloon of a firm called
“Seagulloop.” The code leads consumers
to the corporate Web site. No specific
campaign information is provided.
Above: Two QR codes appear at the
bottom of the Toyota magazine ad.
The head copy says “It sounds cool
‘connected’ or ‘continued,’ right?”
The left QR code is used for
registration of a brand community,
“Prutonimo,” while the right code
is for entering a sweepstakes for a
campaign gift.
Right: This QR code appears on the
in-store advertising of a napkin holder
at Moss Burger (one of the most
popular hamburger chains in Japan).
The code is used for registration with
their mobile loyalty club, which offers
discount coupons.
Figure 3 Sample QR Codes.
March 2012  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  105
Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion

Coding Procedure
Table 1
Two graduate business students were
employed as coders. The authors provided
QR Code Links by Incentive
intensive training in which each coder QR Code Linked to
examined 10 codes of the pool of codes. No Incentive Incentive Total
Those 10 codes were not used in the final
Classification Key Count % Count % Count %
analysis. In the training session, the coders
Media
were instructed to identify
Newspaper 14 6.3 1 2.6 15 5.8

• the type of media where the QR code Magazine 80 36.2 7 17.9 87 33.5
appears, Flyers and handouts 97 43.9 9 23.1 106 40.8
• the type of product promoted by the Outdoor ads 1 0.5 0 0.0 1 0.4
promotion, and
In-train ads 4 1.8 2 5.1 6 2.3
• the encoded contents.
Direct mail 3 1.4 0 0.0 3 1.2
The encoded information was classified In-store/establishment materials 1 0.5 0 0.0 1 0.4
into (a) Web site URLs or others, each of Others 21 9.5 20 51.3 41 15.8
which was further grouped into the pres-
Total 221 100.0 39 100.0 260 100.0
ence or absence of any monetary or non-
monetary incentives. Product type
Automobile 7 3.2 1 2.6 8 3.1
Each time the coding was completed,
the coders were instructed to discuss the Cosmetics 39 17.6 14 35.9 53 20.4
results. Inter-coder reliability was meas- Food/beverage 11 5.0 4 10.3 15 5.8
ured at this point. Because the coding cate-
Medicine 12 5.4 0 0.0 12 4.6
gories are almost exclusively objective, the
Services 78 35.3 12 30.8 90 34.6
coding results of the two coders matched
in nearly all cases. In the case of discrepan- Electronics 7 3.2 0 0.0 7 2.7
cies, they first attempted to solve conflicts Furniture 1 0.5 1 2.6 2 0.8
by themselves. If they could not, one of the Clothes 24 10.9 2 5.1 26 10.0
researchers intervened as the third judge.
Entertainment 16 7.2 2 5.1 18 6.9

Results Others 26 11.8 3 7.7 29 11.2

The results of the content analysis are sum-
marized in Tables 1–6. In RQ1 (“In what
kind of media can QR codes normally be
found?”), the authors explore the type of
media used in QR-code mobile promotion
(See Table 1).
The findings suggested that print media
were the instruments used most frequently.
The four top media—magazines, flyers/
handouts, and newspapers—account for
up to 80 percent of the total sample. Oth-
ers included packages (including poly-
ethylene terephthalate bottles, cans, etc.),
receipts, balloons, and even a utility pole,
among others.
Total 221
Next, in light of RQ2 (“For what type
of product is QR code normally used? Is
there any relationship between the type of
media and the category of products pro-
moted in QR-code promotion?”), which
addresses the type of promoted product,
service was the most prominent category
(35 percent), including restaurants/fast
food, real estate, education, retailing,
clinics/dentists, beauty parlors, and gas
stations, among others. Cosmetics and
100.0 39 100.0 260 100.0
clothes were the second and third catego-
ries, representing 20 percent and 10 per-
cent, respectively. These findings seemed
to reflect the popular goods and services
sold in m-commerce in Japan (impress
R&D, 2007).
RQ3 (“What kind of data does QR-code
promotion normally contain?”) examined
the contents encoded by QR code. To the
authors’ surprise, as much as 85 percent
of the sample offered no direct incentive

106  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  March 2012

 Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion

and was merely informational, leading to Table 2

a corporate Web site, brand Web sites, or
QR Code Links by Contents
other types of publicity. Only a small por-
tion (39 codes, or 15 percent) of the sample QR Code Linked to
involved direct incentives by providing Web Site Email Address Total
coupons, product sample offers, down- Classification Key Count % Count % Count %
loads, or other access codes (See Table 1).
Non-incentive 71 74.0 150 91.5 221 85.0
Furthermore, 36.9 percent of the
scanned results were directed to Web sites, Incentive 25 24.0 14 8.5 39 15.0

whereas 63.1 percent were directed to Discount coupon 2 2.1 0 0.0 2 0.8
e-mail addresses (Table 2). In both cases, Product sample 7 7.3 6 3.7 13 5.0
these findings confirmed the authors’
Download 2 2.1 3 1.9 5 1.9
expectations—specifically, that QR code
Loyalty points 1 1.0 0 0.0 1 0.4
is a cross-media agent from print media to
mobile media. Access code 12 12.5 5 3.1 17 6.5
Either corporate or brand Web sites Others 1 1.0 0 0.0 1 0.4
were used to provide some kind of direct
Total 96 100.0 164 100.0 260 100.0
incentives (26 percent), with the former
being predominant (77.5 percent and 84
percent in non-incentive and incentive, Table 3
respectively; See Table 3). By contrast,
QR Code Links by Incentive and Web Sites
virtually all e-mail addresses were non-
incentive (91.4 percent), from which users QR Code Linked to
were requested to send a blank message No Incentive Incentive Total
for subscription purposes (See Table 4). Type of Web Sites Count % Count % Count %
A further breakdown of the QR codes
Corporate Web Sites 55  77.5 21  84.0 76  79.2
linked to Web sites revealed that 28 codes
(29 percent) required some kind of regis- Brand Web Sites 16  22.5  4  16.0 20  20.8

tration (i.e., required or optional) by ask- Total 71 100.0 25 100.0 96 100.0

ing for personal information (See Table 5).
The most popular registration was to sub-
scribe to “e-mail magazines” (e-mail news-
letters) that periodically deliver beneficial
information, including discount coupons,
special sales, product sample offers, and
so on. More specifically, 14 required e-mail
magazine registration, 11 loyalty mem-
bership registration, and 3 simple demo-
graphic data (See Table 6). The remaining
68 codes (71 percent) required no registra-
tion to access Web sites.
STUDY 2: FOCUS GROUPS
Study 1 found that the majority of QR
codes were linked to loyalty programs,
which, in turn, led to Web sites or e-mails.
Some of these loyalty programs required
registrations in which consumers were
asked to disclose their personal informa-
tion in exchange for incentives.
In these cases, “registration” seems
to have been a key concept, as it led to
free subscription to an e-mail magazine
that periodically delivered sales benefits.
These benefits included discount coupons,
product-sample offers, sweepstakes, and
free downloads, among others.
Based on these findings, Study 2
addressed psychological factors that facili-
tated or impeded the access of QR-code pro-
motion. To this end, the authors employed
key-informant focus groups with a theoretical ideas to allow a substantive
grounded theory approach. Key informants
were persons who were knowledgeable on
the subject under scrutiny (Marshall, 1996).
Using open-end questions, key informants
were interviewed in a focus group session,
the complete transcripts of which were
generated and rigorously coded for further
analysis and interpretation.
The grounded theory attempts to gener-
ate or discover a general, abstract theory of
a process, action, or interaction grounded
in the views of participants in a study
(Charmaz, 2006). That is, the purpose of
grounded theory is to build theory, not to
test theory. To this end, this study set aside
theory to emerge while rigorously seeking

March 2012  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  107

Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion

Table 4 also closely inspect how these categories

could be reconstructed into theoretical
QR Code Links by Contents, Media, and Product Type
conceptions.
QR Code Linked to
Web Site Email Address Total Research Questions
Classification Key Count % Count % Count % QR code is a quick, easy data-retrieval
tool, but its success as a promotional tool
Media
will depend largely on users’ psychologi-
Newspaper 5 5.2 10 6.1 15 5.8
cal factors: it succeeds only to the extent
Magazine 26 27.1 61 37.2 87 33.5
that the encoded contents satisfy users’
Flyers and handouts 34 35.4 72 43.9 106 40.8 psychological needs, because each user
Outdoor ads 0 0.0 1 0.6 1 0.4 has a different motivation.
In this regard, prior research has sug-
In-train ads 5 5.2 1 0.6 6 2.3
gested that the type of incentive is a key
Direct mail 0 0.0 3 1.8 3 1.2
to determining the use of specific media
In-store/shop materials 1 1.0 0 0.0 1 0.4 content (Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch,
Others 25 26.0 16 9.8 41 15.8 1974; Bandura, 2001). In this study’s con-
Total 96 100.0 164 100.0 260 100.0 text, incentives are the core elements of
any sales promotion, and researchers have
Product type
long focused on monetary incentives (Buz-
Automobile 7 7.3 1 0.6 8 3.1
zell, Quelch, and Salmon, 1990).
Cosmetics 19 19.8 34 20.7 53 20.4 The more recent trend, however, is to
Food/beverage 8 8.3 7 4.3 15 5.8 develop a broader framework of perceived
Medicine 3 3.1 9 5.5 12 4.6 benefits that includes both monetary and
non-monetary incentives (e.g., Bamberg,
Services 22 22.9 68 41.5 90 34.6
2002). Because of the complete lack of
Electronics 5 5.2 2 1.2 7 2.7
knowledge on QR-code promotion, it
Furniture 2 2.1 0 0.0 2 0.8 seems reasonable to address the following
Clothes 12 12.5 14 8.5 26 10.0 first research question:

Entertainment 10 10.4 8 4.9 18 6.9

RQ4: What primary benefits do
Others 8 8.3 21 12.8 29 11.2
mobile users normally expect
Total 96 100.0 164 100.0 260 100.0 from QR-code access?

Next, this study addresses the context fac-

a plausible relation between concepts and
sets of concepts.
These concepts were developed through
constant comparison with additional data.
Such constant comparison constitutes the
heart of grounded theory as a method—the
process of constantly comparing instances
of data that have been allocated to a par-
ticular category with other instances of
data to see whether these categories fit
together and are workable. If they are—
and if the instances increase—the result is
“theoretical saturation”: the ultimate goal
of grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss,
1967). Additional data are collected by the-
oretical sampling—meaning that research-
ers seek “people, events, or information to
illuminate and define the boundaries and
relevance of the categories” (Charmaz,
2006, p. 189).
After reaching theoretical satura-
tion, researchers should begin sorting,
diagramming, and integrating the cat-
egories (and subcategories), and should
tors of QR-code access. Context can be
defined as “any information that can be
used to characterize the situation of an
entity, where an entity can be a person,
place, or physical or computational object”
(Dey and Abowd, 2000, p. 1). Context-
aware computing is the use of context to
provide task-relevant information and/or
services to a user.
This issue is related closely to one of
the unique features that characterizes the
mobile device: ubiquity. Ubiquity widely

108  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  March 2012

 Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion

Table 5
Type of Web Site Registration
Required
Immediate Content
Site Access Incentives Download Optional Not Required
Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % Count %
Contents
Non-incentive 4 66.7 0 0.0 1 100.0 13 68.4 53 77.9 71 74.0
Discount coupon 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 10.5 0 0.0 2 2.1
Product sample 1 16.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 5.3 5 7.4 7 7.3
Download 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 5.3 1 1.5 2 2.1
Loyalty points 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 1.5 1 1.0
Access code 1 16.7 2 100.0 0 0.0 2 10.5 7 10.3 12 12.5
Others 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 1.5 1 1.0
Total 6 100.0 2 100.0 1 100.0 19 100.0 68 100.0 96 100.0
Product type
Automobile 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 10.5 5 7.4 7 7.3
Cosmetics 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 10.5 17 25.0 19 19.8
Food/Beverage 1 16.7 1 50.0 0 0.0 2 10.5 4 5.9 8 8.3
Medicine 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 4.4 3 3.1
Services 2 33.3 0 0.0 1 100.0 2 10.5 17 25.0 22 22.9
Electronics 1 16.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 5.3 3 4.4 5 5.2
Furniture 0 0.0 1 50.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 1.5 2 2.1
Clothes 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 15.8 9 13.2 12 12.5
Entertainment 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 6 31.6 4 5.9 10 10.4
Others 2 33.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 5.3 5 7.4 8 8.3
Total 6 100.0 2 100.0 1 100.0 19 100.0 68 100.0 96 100.0

Table 6 is understood as being synonymous with

Purpose of Registration flexibility in time and space. In a ubiqui-
tous context, environments are not defined
Loyalty Demographic
by physical boundaries and, therefore,
Mail Magazine Membership Data1 Total
users have increased freedom of mobil-
Count % Count % Count % Count %
ity. The increase in mobility creates situ-
Non-incentive 11  78.6  4  36.4 3 100 18  64.3 ations in which the user’s context—such
Discount coupon  1   7.1  1   9.1 0   0  2   7.1 as the location of a user and the people
and objects around her or him—is more
Product sample  0   0.0  2  18.2 0   0  2   7.1
dynamic. Thus, the authors are interested
Download  0   0.0  1   9.1 0   0  1   3.6
in responding to the following research
Access code2  2  14.3  3  27.3 0   0  5  17.9 question:
Total 14 100.0 11 100.0 3 100 28 100.0
RQ5: What are the contextual factors
1
Mainly gender, age, and ZIP code.
2
A permission code number to allow users to access specific information. that trigger QR-code access?

March 2012  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  109

Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion
Finally, QR code exemplifies the core ben-
efits of context-aware computing, because
it acts as a cross-media agent that ena-
bles users to switch from one media (e.g.,
print media where a QR code is printed)
to another (e.g., online media where the
campaign information is encoded). In so
doing, users also gain greater independ-
ence in information search in a way that
enables them to control their temporal and
spatial flexibility in accessing the coded
information.
Conversely, such flexibility may make
users feel reluctant to access a QR code. If
their surrounding situation—either physi-
cal and/or social environment—may dis-
courage immediate access at the moment
of contact, users may save the code and
retrieve the information afterward; or,
with a complete absence of interest, users
may ignore the code as seen, as a part of
message execution, and thus no response
activation occurs. This negative aspect of
access motivation is explored as the third
research question:
RQ6: What are the primary obstacles
that impede QR-code access?
Procedure
Each focus group consisted of five key
informants, who were carefully selected
from the pool of the firm’s panel partici-
pants. In this study, the authors defined
key informants as a select group of people
who were especially knowledgeable or
experienced about certain issues or prob-
lems and are willing to share their knowl-
edge (Marshall, 1996).
In the context of the current study, the
desired sample of key informants was a
heterogeneous set of mobile users with suf-
ficient experience of QR-code promotion.
In this light, the authors first screened the
panel participants by age, gender, and occu-
pation. Diversity of professional experience
was thought to be especially important in
110  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  March 2012
stimulating discussion. Finally, the partici- were paid 5000 yen (approximately $63)
pants were singled out according to their for their collaboration. In total, four ses-
daily mobile usage (e-mail and Internet sions were conducted. On average, each
browsing) and QR-code experience. session lasted 120 minutes. A moderator
One week before the focus-group ses- with sufficient professional experience
sion, participants were instructed to collect was hired by the firm. During the session,
eight QR codes and bring them for discus- open-end questions were used to extract
sion. In doing so, they were instructed to activities, anecdotal stories, evaluations,
record their expectations, perceptions, personal thoughts, and emotions related
impressions, and feelings. The participants to QR code (See Table 7).
Table 7
Research Flow of Study 2
Topics/ Time
Time (min) (min) Discussion Guide
1. 10 To explain the objective of the focus group.
Introduction To create a relaxing atmosphere.
To perform a warm-up discussion.
2. General 30 To understand the mobile usage patterns of the participants.
mobile To identify heavy, light, or average users.
usage To distinguish voice-call users and Internet users.
To assess the familiarity of QR code. (When they talk about Web site
access, do they use the term QR code in a natural way?)
To position QR code in terms of PC and mobile Internet. (When a URL
is indicated in an ad, do they prefer accessing the site via mobile,
rather than PC?)
To assess their preference for Internet access via mobile device over
PC.
To examine how the participants use “QR code.”
3. QR code 40 To identify the purposes of QR-code access.
usage To identify the relationship between access media and product type
based (industry).
on real To examine expectations and actual use (e.g., satisfaction,
experiences disappointment).
4. Other 20 To identify QR code uses besides Web site access.
QR code
use and
experience
5. Reasons 10 To identify specific reasons why we access QR code. (Do they have any
to access specific reason? Why QR code? Why not other methods?)
QR code To identify the pros and cons of QR code in comparison with other
methods.
To examine the psychological barriers to the use of QR code.
6. Future 10 To identify possible extension of QR code usage in the future.
usage of
QR code
Note: Each section of this discussion guide has only a few broad open-ended questions to allow for an emergent design. Our goal
was to ask the same questions of each group and then compare answers.

All focus group sessions were both
tape- and video-recorded with the consent
of the participants. Based on these record-
ings, the authors generated complete (or
“word-by-word”) transcripts. The video
was used to gain additional insight via
facial expressions, eye contact, and body
language.
Coding
Coding took place concurrently with data
collection. For instance, a focus group,
once conducted, was transcribed and
analyzed immediately, prior to conduct-
ing the next focus group. Then, data from
the second group were compared with
the emerging theory so that new avenues
could become evident. (This approach
truly maximizes the constant comparison
method and allows the researcher to flesh
out the theory while it is emerging from
the data.)
Each time a focus group was completed,
two levels of coding were conducted:
initial coding and focused coding. Dur-
ing the initial coding, the authors con-
ducted a detailed line-by-line analysis
by looking for words and sentences in
the text that have meaning (Glaser and
Strauss, 1967; Charmaz, 2006). The con-
stant comparison of similarities and dif-
ferences in the interviewees’ responses
led to focused coding. At this level, the
authors attempted to synthesize the
initial coding and to determine the most
significant and frequent categories. The
authors continued this process—focus
group, coding, and constant comparison—
until the fourth session was completed,
at which time our theoretical saturation
occurred. This was a theoretical saturation in
the sense that new interviews no
longer sparked new insights (Charmaz,
2006). Core categories were then con-
structed by pulling together all of the
concepts to offer an explanation of
the phenomenon.
Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion
Results
RQ4 (“What primary benefits do mobile
users normally expect from QR-code
access?”) sought to discover what kind
of incentives mobile users usually expect
from QR code. The key informants
responded almost unanimously that their
access motives were closely related to vari-
ous promotional offers, such as coupons,
sweepstakes, or product samples.
An example:
“I bought a can coffee because it offered
some kind of give-away. When I opened
the give-away, there was a QR code inside.
I accessed the code and found out that
it was a mobile game in which you can
gain points… I played several times and
applied for a specific gift with the points.”
(40, female, housewife)
In many cases, however, discount cou-
pons were not directly linked to the QR
code. Instead, users were redirected to
Web sites or e-mail addresses that then
required some kind of membership by
registering their personal information and
e-mail address. This membership often
takes the form of e-mail magazines, where
users receive a diverse range of incen-
tives. In fact, a subscription to the e-mail
magazine often is a prerequisite to receiv-
ing discount coupons, which can be saved
on (and redeemed by) a mobile device.
Consumer goods—for instance, beverages
and cosmetics—typically use this kind of
campaign:
“When I scanned a QR code from vend-
ing machines of Coca-Cola, I was asked
to register my email address. Since then
I have received an email magazine that
offers free trials several times a year.”
(33, male, school administrator)
“My favorite cosmetic brand is Orbis. Usu-
ally, I purchase cosmetics at shops, but the
March 2012  JOURNAL
other day I found a QR code that offered
300 yen discount! So I decided to buy some
with mobile.” (31, female, clerical)
Many services ranging from fast food res-
taurants to newspapers also use QR codes
for site registration. This result seems to be
consistent with the content-analysis find-
ings of the current study:
“I am a member of Asahi.com (Japanese
newspaper) because it offers a QR discount
code for museums. This month I want to
see the Egypt’s Sunken Treasures Exposi-
tion at Yokohama and may use the code.”
(35, male, sales)
“When I first visited my beauty shop,
a hairdresser told me to scan a QR
code. I was so surprised—that was the
way to become a member of that shop.”
(22, female, accountant)
With regard to the types of incentives,
many participants responded that QR
code is a convenient way to access the
information at any place at any time:
“I use a bus to go to my work, and always
use a QR code to see approaching buses,
their location, and estimated arrival
time at the stop. In this way, I no longer
have to wait at the stop wondering when
and whether a bus is coming or not.”
(41, female, service)
Apparently, the ubiquitous nature of QR
codes is a benefit. Many respondents
pointed out that, if they need to receive
timely benefits in a specific situation, they
are willing to take immediate action:
“It was lunch time and I wanted to eat
something quick. Then, I saw a QR code in
front of one of those rotating sushi restau-
rants—50 percent off. I scanned the code
and entered.” (20, male, college student)
OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  111
Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion
“The other day, my contact lenses were
bothering me like never before, but I wasn’t
carrying my membership card for the eye-
glasses chain store where I bought my
lenses. Fortunately, I had a QR code saved
in my mobile. I jumped in one of the chain
shops and fixed it for free right away.”
(36, female, system engineer)
By the same token, QR code also was seen
as a quick way to save money:
“There is a booklet that lists a bunch of QR
codes in Family Mart (Japan’s third larg-
est convenience store chain). I often use
their online shops and save a lot of money.”
(22, female, clerical)
“I love Domino’s Pizza. The other day, I
found a newspaper insert with a QR code for
25 percent discount! I scanned and ordered
a pizza right away.” (29, female, housewife)
Also, the respondents tended to seek free
trials, product samples, or bonus mem-
bership points—all of which would bring
an increase in the perceived value of prod-
ucts or services. Hence, quality appeared
to be an additional factor in the appeal
of QR codes.
“When I had dinner with my friend in a
hotel, we ordered a Spanish wine. It was a
good wine and had a QR code printed on the
label. We wondered what it was all about
and accessed it—it was information about
the Rioja Region and white grape producers.
We thought it was kind of neat and informa-
tive. When we accessed the code, even a face
photo of the wine grape producer appeared!”
(36, female, service)
“I sometimes like to try imported beers that
are not well known in Japan. They some-
times have QR codes with their labels.
I like the idea because, unless you can
access that kind of information, you never
112  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  March 2012
know what kind of beer you are tasting.”
(33, male, office worker)
“Nestlé’s chocolate has a QR code that
explains how many calories you are con-
suming. As a female, I like that because we
all need to be careful about our weight.”
(26, female, clerical)
At the same time, it should be noted that
many participants were concerned with
how firms treat their personal informa-
tion, because they started to receive
SPAMs or unsolicited commercial e-mails
after registration:
“One day I passed by a large brand shop
and found a promotional flyer with a QR
code in front of the shop. It was a pro-
motional campaign but you needed to
register. First, I thought it might be annoy-
ing if they sent me SPAM, but finally I
decided to do it because they offer a 10–15
percent discount. It was a big deal.”
(25, male, office worker)
“Even Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Toyota organ-
ize sweepstakes, so I try sometimes. But
I don’t want to register my home phone
number because I don’t want to make
trouble for my family. I don’t mind giv-
ing my mobile phone number. In any
case, SPAM is a really nasty problem.”
(40, male, administrative)
RQ5 (“What primary benefits do mobile
users normally expect from QR-code
access?”) and RQ6 (“What are the contex-
tual factors that trigger QR-code access?”)
address the context of QR-code access,
because the authors are interested in the
kind of circumstances in which mobile
users are willing (or reluctant) to access
the code and retry the data.
Contrary to the authors’ expectations,
the favorite place to access QR codes was
at home rather than in a train or on the
streets. Many respondents said they were
reluctant to access QR codes in such loca-
tions because taking a picture in a crowd
may disturb others. This is striking as it
seems to contradict the most essential ben-
efit of the mobile device—ubiquity:
“I often find QR codes in in-train ads.
Sometimes they draw my attention but I
have never tried them because everybody is
watching.” (48, female, housewife)
“I rarely scan QR codes on the train,
because of the noise. When you take
a picture with your mobile, you can
hear the click of the camera shutter.”
(33, male, office worker)
“I don’t want to take pictures with my
mobile phone in a train because I don’t
want to be mistaken for a pervert.”
(38, male, security dealer)
As the findings show, QR codes have
become a popular way for consumers to
access product information and promo-
tional offers. Advertisers use QR codes as
an efficient way to establish a relationship
with their customers. Incentives are used
in some QR codes, although not as widely
as the authors had expected.
The most interesting finding of the
focus-group interviews was the pre-
ferred locations in which QR codes are
scanned. The fact that many respond-
ents do not scan QR codes in public loca-
tions reflects a subtle effect of Japanese
culture, which respects personal space
highly (i.e., you are not supposed to
interrupt other people’s space by your
own acts).
Conceptual Integration
Finally, based on the transcripts generated
from the recording of key informant focus
groups, the authors worked on the theo-
retical integration of their coding results.
 Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion

To do so, they employed the text-mining

Privacy
technique. QR code is a Web sites concerns
Text mining is a new technology that is part of
retrieves knowledge from unstructured
is a SPAM
text and presents the distilled knowledge is cause of is cause of contradicts is cause of

to users in a concise form (Ananiadou,

Rea, Okazaki, Procter, and Thomas, 2009).
Email
The advantages of text mining are that is cause of Registration contradicts Reactance
address

is cause of
• it enables researchers to collect, main-
Product
tain, interpret, curate, and discover sample
Loyalty
the knowledge needed for research or program
is cause of Convenience
Purchase
education in an efficient and systematic receipt is part of
manner, and is part of is cause of
is part of
Present
• it annotates documents with informa- campaign is part of Quality
is cause of
tion and facts of interest to the user, thus Email
is part of magazine
enabling information extraction. Sweepstakes
is part of Savings
Discount
The goal of text mining is to extract impor- is part of
coupons
tant information from textual sources
without requiring the end users of the Free trial
information to read the text themselves
(McNaught and Black, 2006). To facilitate
sorting, diagramming, and integrating
Figure 4 Conceptual Integration.
the data, the current study employed the
text-data-mining program ATLAS.ti. code—namely convenience, savings, and must perceive QR code as a safe, risk-free,
The objective in this final phase was to quality—in fact, were derived not from the and trustworthy communication tool.
visually understand the abstract relation- code per se but from the loyalty program To this end, the authors decided to
ships between the extracted concepts (See integrated and executed via the code. examine consumers’ perceptions of QR-
Figure 4). Conversely, the primary impediment to code promotion in terms of three principal
Diagrams can enable us to “see the e-mail magazine subscriptions is privacy variables:
relative power, scope, and direction of concerns caused by the proliferation of
the categories” in the analysis as well as SPAM. In addition, a consistent level of • privacy concerns,
“the connections among them” (Charmaz, negative reaction was observed, as many • trust, and
2006, p. 188). users were hesitant to access QR codes in • transaction risk.
The diagram for the current study (See public places.
Figure 4) clearly indicates that QR codes Trust can be defined as consumer feedback
lead to either Web sites or e-mail addresses STUDY 3: CONSUMER SURVEY that reflects individuals’ determination
by which users are eventually directed or Studies 1 and 2 found that the majority of of whether the imparted information
requested to register their personal infor- QR codes were directly or indirectly linked is true or false. Trust becomes essential
mation. This registration is closely tied to to loyalty programs that required some when consumers face crucial decision
the loyalty program, the main features of kind of registration in exchange for mon- making or must take action under uncer-
which consist of e-mail magazines. etary or nonmonetary incentives. Such tainty (Eastin, 2001). This study concep-
In most of the cases the authors exam- registration, however, often provokes con- tualizes trust as a set of three distinct
ined, sales incentives were offered only sumers’ apprehension, particularly as to dimensions:
through this e-mail magazine subscrip- how firms handle personal data. For a suc-
tion. In this regard, the core benefits of QR cessful QR-code promotion, mobile users • regulation-based trust,

March 2012  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  113

Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion
• integrity-based trust, and
• industry-based trust.
Theoretical rationale for these dimen-
sions lies in recent development on cor-
porate accountability. Privacy concerns
are “an individual’s subjective views of
fairness within the context of informa-
tion privacy” (Malhotra et al., 2004). The
authors define perceived transaction risk
as “the extent to which the consumer
is uncertain about the consequences
of reading, accessing, and transacting
QR code.” A great deal of the literature
shows that trust and risk are the two
most salient beliefs in privacy contexts
in e-commerce in general (Maltora et al.,
2004; Miyazaki and Fernandez, 2000),
and in m-commerce in particular (Oka-
zaki, Li, and Hirose, 2009).
Research Questions
Given the results of Study 1, a natural
question arises as to the extent to which
consumers perceive trust and risk, and
privacy concerns when they read and
access QR codes. Empirical evidence on
the relationships among these salient vari-
ables, attitude, and behavioral intention
has been extensively documented in the
literature on marketing and advertising
(Fishbein, 1967, etc.); thus it seems rea-
sonable that this final phase of research is
founded on this base.
RQ7: To what extent do consumers
perceive trust, privacy con-
cerns, and transaction risk when
accessing a QR-code promotion?
RQ8: How are these perceptions
related to the location of expo-
sure? For example, is there
any difference in trust, privacy
concerns, and transaction risk
when consumers are exposed
to QR-code promotion on the
move or at home?
114  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  March 2012
Methodology
The Web-based questionnaire survey was
conducted in Japan. With the help of a
professional research firm, the authors
recruited participants from an online
panel. After applying filter questions
associated with mobile Internet usage,
QR-code usage, and mobile-campaign
participation, the authors chose 240 par-
ticipants whose demographic distribution
approximately matches that of the general
Japanese population.
The current study used a scenario
method (Keppel, 1991) based on which
subjects were asked to rate the focal vari-
ables: trust, privacy concerns, and transac-
tion risk. Because the authors did not use
actual stimuli (i.e., they did not ask the
respondents to access actual QR codes),
measurement items may have been too
general to obtain meaningful results. For
this reason, the authors decided to adopt a
scenario method in which the respondents
were asked to read and imagine a fictitious
situation and answer the questions on this
basis.
The first scenario:
On the way to the train station from
your home, you pass in front of a popu-
lar grocery chain you often use. At the
entrance, there is a campaign poster
that indicates a special sales promotion
with a QR code. The poster says that
you can scan the code with your mobile
phone to access the campaign Web site.
There, you will be asked to subscribe to
an email news alert by registering your
name, age, gender, monthly income,
and email address. By doing so, you
can win $50 in shopping points that can
be redeemed immediately. There are
a limited number of winners and the
campaign ends today.
The scenario was modified according to
the mode of access: media and location.
Specifically, the authors created two other
situations in which the respondents were
exposed to the QR-code promotion when
reading a magazine advertisement in a
subway (scenario 2) and a newspaper
insert at home (scenario 3). The reason for
these situational variants is that Study 2
indicates that the media and location were
two of the most crucial determinants in
QR-code access. The content and incen-
tive of QR-code promotion were identical
through all three scenarios.
There were 240 general consumers
who participated in the survey. In each
scenario, 80 respondents were randomly
assigned. All study participants com-
pleted the questionnaires.
Results
To address RQ7 (“To what extent do con-
sumers perceive trust, privacy concerns,
and transaction risk when accessing a QR-
code promotion?”) and RQ8 (“How are
these perceptions related to the location of
exposure? For example, is there any differ-
ence in trust, privacy concerns, and trans-
action risk when consumers are exposed
to QR-code promotion on the move or at
home?”), the authors conducted an analy-
sis of variance among three scenarios, with
the results highlighting the mean values of
trust, privacy concerns, and transaction
risk (See Table 8):
• With regard to trust associated with
QR-code promotion, no significant dif-
ference was found among three loca-
tions. All means exceed the mid-point
4 (scenario­1 = 4.34; scenario 2 = 4.25;
scenario 3 = 4.27), implying that the
respondents generally perceive QR-code
promotion to be somewhat trustworthy.
• By contrast, the means of privacy con-
cerns were statistically distinct among
the three scenarios. Post hoc tests indi-
cate that privacy concerns of scenario
1 are significantly greater than those of

Table 8
Study 3 Results
Scenario 1
Variables (n = 80)
Privacy concerns 5.40
Trust 4.34
Transaction risk 4.64
Note: In each scenario, a fictitious situation was created in which consumers are exposed to QR-code promotion on the way to
the station (scenario 1); in a subway (scenario 2); at home (scenario 3).
scenario 2 (p < 0.05). Nonetheless, no
statistical difference was found between
the means of scenarios 1 and 3 (p = 0.10)
and those of scenarios 2 and 3 (p = 0.96).
• By the same token, as for transaction
risk, there were significant differences
among the means of the three scenarios.
Post hoc tests indicate that transaction
risk associated with scenario 1 was sig-
nificantly larger than that of scenario 3
(p < 0.02), but no statistical difference
was found between the means of scenar-
ios 1 and 2 (p = 0.35) and between those
of scenarios 2 and 3 (p = 0.43).
OVERALL DISCUSSION
The current research attempted to under-
take an initial inquiry into QR-code mobile
promotion. This mode of promotion is
increasingly popular in Japan, and it has
been extended into the Western hemi-
sphere, including the United States.
The authors conducted three-phase
research, combining content analysis,
focus groups, and consumer surveys. The
findings provided preliminary but insight-
ful implications:
• The results from coding 260 undupli-
cated QR codes revealed that most of
the contents encoded in QR codes are
calls for users to register for loyalty pro-
grams. This seems to be a wise strategy,
because a loyalty program maintains
rich information about each consumer
Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion
Scenario 2 Scenario 3
(n = 80) (n = 80) F p
5.00 5.04 3.31
4.25 4.27 0.20
4.38 4.15 3.47
that can be used to extend various offers
to participating consumers.
Mobile phones, indeed, are an ideal
channel for loyalty programs to inter-
act with their participants. It should
be noted that the majority of QR codes
allow users to access marketers’ Web
sites even without any registration.
Thus, users of QR codes have options
whether to disclose or withhold their
personal information.
As a result, QR codes can certainly
increase traffic to these promoted
mobile Web sites, which will eventually
increase awareness of, and familiarity
with, the promoted brands.
• The focus-group results largely corrobo-
rated the findings of content analysis.
The majority of the respondents indi-
cated that they used QR-code mobile
promotion in combination with some
kind of loyalty program registration.
Some reported that they saved the sites
in their mobile phones for regular use.
In fact, it seems rare for coupons to be
offered without any registration, in that
the loyalty program is a prerequisite for
the benefits that the respondents will
receive.
Apparently, such a loyalty program
is closely tied to the three primary
incentives of mobile promotion—con-
venience, savings, and quality from
immediate or delayed QR-code access.
Immediate access occurs when users
feel less hesitant in trains or on streets
but, otherwise, many prefer to access
the code from home. This finding was
contrary to the authors’ expectations,
0.04 because the ubiquitous capability has
0.82 been considered one of the most impor-
tant aspects of the mobile device.
0.03
• The survey findings indicated that con-
sumers were likely to perceive privacy
concerns and transaction risk when they
access QR-code promotion on the move
(e.g., on the street), compared with other
static situations (e.g., in the subway or
at home).
In a way, the survey corroborated the
results of Study 2 in that consumers
are generally concerned with privacy
disclosure in this type of mobile pro-
motion. This led to the conclusion that
handing out promotional leaflets or fly-
ers on a street may not be as effective
as it would appear. Instead, it might
be wiser to use periodicals—maga-
zines, newspapers, free papers, and the
like—so that consumers can assess the
information and content of promotional
campaigns without any stress or appre-
hension over data disclosure or any
particular transaction.
• Because the study examined only QR
codes that were printed or appeared in
advertising, the findings also provided
useful insights in terms of multichan-
nel marketing strategy (e.g., Davis and
Sajtos, 2008).
A logical extension of the current
study will be to propose a behavio-
ral model based on the results of this
research. The model can be validated
by the data from a large-scale survey.
Besides trust, risk, and privacy con-
cerns, there are more variables that may
influence consumers’ intention to access
QR-code promotion.
March 2012  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  115
Benchmarking the Use of QR Code in Mobile Promotion
In addition, the effect of a multichan-
nel marketing strategy through QR-
coded advertising may be an additional
issue that deserves our attention. Given
the increasing importance of this topic,
examining how integrated mobile, PC,
and offline media strategies impact sales
and profits makes sense.
Such a study should improve our
knowledge of mobile promotion in the
broader context of business strategy.
• Finally, given the increasing worldwide
penetration of QR code, it will be inter-
esting to compare cross-culturally con-
sumers’ reactions to access behavior.
For example, it will be interesting to
see how North American and Japanese
consumers differ in terms of QR-code
perception and usage behavior. 
Shintaro Okazaki is associate professor of marketing at
the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), where he
obtained his PhD in marketing. His research interests
are broad and include mobile commerce, information/
privacy concerns, cross-cultural advertising, and global
branding. His work has appeared in a number of leading
journals, including the Journal of Advertising Research;
the Journal of Advertising; the International Journal of
Advertising; the Journal of International Marketing; the
Journal of World Business; the International Journal
of Electronic Commerce; Psychology & Marketing;
International Marketing Review; Information &
Management; and Computers in Human Behavior.
He is currently an associate editor of the Journal of
Advertising and serves on the editorial boards of the
Journal of Advertising Research; the International
Journal of Advertising; the Journal of Public Policy &
Marketing; and International Marketing Review. The
Mobile Marketing Association named him the Best
Academic of the Year in 2008.
Hairong Li is a professor of advertising at Michigan
State University. His research covers theoretical and
managerial issues of advertising, media, and branding.
He has published extensively and been rated a
productive scholar in advertising, communication and
116  JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH  March 2012
marketing by three recently published citation studies in
the United States. Dr. Li is the former editor of Journal of
Interactive Advertising and an editorial board member of
several academic journals in the United States, Europe,
and Asia. He directs Panmedia Institute, a media think
tank in Beijing, China.
Morikazu Hirose is associate professor of marketing
on the faculty of business administration at Tokyo Fuji
University. His research interests lie in advertising
media, sales promotion, and corporate communications.
He has published in the Journal of Advertising;
International Journal of Advertising; and Tourism
Management.
Acknowledgments
The preparation of this paper was greatly facili-
tated by the generous grants from the Spanish
Ministry of Science and Innovation (National
Plan for Research, Development and Innova-
tion ECO2011-30105), the American Academy
of Advertising, and the KDDI Foundation
(Tokyo, Japan).
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