Mobile applications are increasingly being developed for mobile devices (smartphones and tablet PCs) in developing economies, and these are appropriate communication tools not limited by time or place (Dinh, et al., 2013). Mobile phones they have been designed as the platform of choice for generating, dispensing, and consuming inventive digital solutions and services in developing economies. The expansion of mobile infrastructure in the region has brought about mobile-based solutions that directly appeal to the local interests and cultures. The acknowledgement of mobile phones in developing economies has improved attention in literacy and presented new opportunities for communities that are depressed, marginalised and less privileged (Velghe, 2013). Mobile phone users accrue a rich understanding of numerous services through mobile applications (for instance, iPhone apps, Google apps) which run on the devices and/or on distant servers through wireless networks (Dinh et al., 2013).
Mobile applications are removing obstacles in conducting business and produc-ing new opportunities in several business areas, includproduc-ing record keepproduc-ing, adver-tisement, and promotion. Mobile applications in marketing are one interesting area for empowering women entrepreneurs through enhancing business performance.
Advances in mobile technology have permitted the establishment of an extensive variety of applications (Harrison, Flood, & Duce, 2013) that can be used in empow-ering women entrepreneurs, such as mobile marketing applications.
With the increase in mobile phone usage, the development of mobile application represents a means by which women can overcome the challenges associated with undertaking a business venture. Such challenges, such as accessing market infor-mation for their products, emanate from societal structures. Mobile phone applica-tions are ubiquitous because they allow users to obtain information and perform transactions wherever they are and whenever they want. In developing economies and in the rest of the world, mobile applications can improve opportunities for social and economic development (West, 2012). The application of mobile technolo-gy could therefore enable women to harness and tap into various opportunities available in a given locality, in terms of access to market for the development of
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their business. Availability of information related to the market enables an entre-preneur to promote sales by enticement of value offered to stimulate interest in purchasing a good and, thus, generates responses in the form of an order, a request for further information or a visit to a retail outlet (Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2009).
Furthermore, mobile applications could improve access to capital and market in-formation, helping women entrepreneurs serve a broader geographical area and reach new customers. In this respect, mobile applications can empower women and other disadvantaged groups in society to harness various chances for business de-velopment (West, 2012). A mobile application can enable women entrepreneurs to break into established markets and supply chains, and thereby gain foothold. Thus, a virtual platform could allow women entrepreneurs to have the same freedoms and opportunities available in men to accessing business networks.
Further, a mobile application can enable women entrepreneurs to know the price variation found among other producers of similar products, such as peanut butter. According to Aker and Mbiti (2010) finds that, the introduction of mobile phones enables to access information related to the market, hence reduce dispersal of grain prices across markets by 10 percent. Access to market information enables an entrepreneur to set competitive product prices, attracting more customers and gaining competitive advantages over their competitors. Also, access to market in-formation is a well-organized means for reaching large number of customers and receive immediate feedback about the products. Access to market information it has the advantage of being tailored to match the needs of precise target market (Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2009).
However, many mobile phone users use the phones mainly for managing per-sonal affairs and family bonds, and not for economic development or business mo-tives (Mpogole, Usanga, & Tedre, 2008). As a result, access to market information that could facilitate intelligent resolutions on where and when to trade the pro-cessed goods is still a challenge for women entrepreneurs. Consequently, this study examines the potential of a mobile phone application in offering market infor-mation in a dispersed population and in an area with deprived communication infrastructures, such as rural Tanzania (Jensen, 2007).
Mobile applications play a significant role as an advertising platform for prod-ucts to a large part of the population. The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), (2009) defined mobile marketing as a set of practices that allows organisations to communicate in a collaborative and applied manner through any mobile device or network. It involves the circulation of whichever type of message or promotion that increases value to the end-users while improving the income of an enterprise. Mo-bile marketing has unlocked opportunities for women entrepreneurs to communi-cate and involve customers in a more active manner (Smutkupt, Krairit, & Esichai-kul, 2010). It encompasses communication, which is an imperative part of market-ing tactics, and flexibility, which allows communication to move forward without the constraint of needing to be in a static position at a definite point in time. It is a
37 set of processes for creating, interacting, bringing worth to customers and handling client relationships whereby both women entrepreneurs’ and stakeholders’ benefit.
Moreover, the importance of mobile marketing lies in its advantage of improving communication by providing customised, timely and location-precise information without constraints of space and time (Smutkupt et al., 2010). The distinctive fea-tures of mobile marketing lie in its ubiquitous nature, its capacity for personalisa-tion and making private transacpersonalisa-tions, being a two-way communicapersonalisa-tion enablement and integration of co-creation and co-design elements that consider user experience (Sunny & Anael, 2016). In this light, mobile applications can be an effective way of empowering women entrepreneurs against the sociocultural constraints that im-pede their business. This is evidenced by impact reports of past mobile application projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Table 3 summarises some of these projects for in-formal workers.
Table 3. Identified mobile applications and project descriptions
Project Description of Project Reference
Esoko
Esoko was introduced in 2006 in Ghana and 2012 in Zimbabwe. mAgric platform for tracing
and sharing market intelligence. It connected farmers to markets with prices and bargains
from customers. Esoko now is active in 16 countries.
A collaborative knowledge base created by farmers in Tanzania in 2011 to disseminate information on climate, pests and plant diseases
and how to cope with these problems.
Tisselli, 2015;
A cooperative platform in Kenya that offers information to farmers on production, harvesting,
marketing and climate through mobile phones. M-Shamba, 2015
M-kilimo (Mobile agriculture)
Established in Kenya in 2009, this provides agricultural information, advice. It employs mobile phones to respond to inquiries from registered farmers. To date 30, 0000 unique
users have subscribed M-Kilimo.
Brugger, 2011
DrumNet
Has delivered a set of services to rural small holders’ farmers to increase farm productivity and access market information through mobile phones since 2003, organised by Pride Africa.
Rashid & Elder, 2009
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2.3 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF ICT4D