Determining muslim consumers` attitudes towards advertising from Islamic perspective : an empirical study in Malaysia

Abstract

This research is on determining Muslim consumers’ attitudes toward Islamic concept of advertising, using Expectancy-Value Theory of attitudes. Another primary focus of this study is to provide introductory knowledge of what is Islamic advertising. Islamic marketing is an emerging academic field with very high practical significance, but still very little work is done on it, especially on Islamic advertising. This research is done on the premise of countering unethical contemporary advertising practices, therefore, attitude-towards-Islamic-advertising is positioned as a direct response to attitude-towards-advertising-in-general. This research uses mixed methodology to achieve the intended objectives, hence two data collection instruments were used. Data was collected from 384 randomly drawn respondents within Malaysia through a questionnaire. While in-depth interviews were conducted from 20 faculty members specialising in marketing. The survey results showed that consumers had a very favourable attitude towards Islamic advertising. This attitude was influenced by the religiosity of the respondents, while age, gender, and education moderated this relationship. Further, it was also found that what the consumers not only highly valued Islamic advertising but also what they expected from Islamic advertising had a very positive relationship with attitude-towards-Islamic-advertising. The interviewees expressed similar thoughts. In general, many were in favour and optimistic of the idea of Islamic advertising. They not only reflected their positive views but also suggested the way forward for Islamic advertising. It is from their suggestions that the recommendations section was formulated. The advertisers are the main stakeholders of this research, as this research gives them a green signal to adopt Islamic mode of advertising. The policy makers are also to benefit from it, especially those from Muslim countries. They can devise and revise their existing policies in light of the principles of Islamic advertising cited in this research. This study is the premier of its kind and proves to be a stepping stone in the literature of Islamic marketing and Islamic advertising and opens up great avenues to further research in this emerging field.