Factors affecting muslim women`s intention to use fashion products :an empirical study in Malaysia

Abstract

This research aims to identify the factors that affect Muslim women’s intention to use fashion products by underpinning the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Fashion plays a very important role in everyone’s life, especially in women’s and it is basically formed through the combination of different fashion-related items. In order to identify the factors that affect Muslim women’s intention to use fashion products, data were collected from 413 Muslim women from Klang Valley, Malaysia. The conceptual framework was based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the relationships among the variables: attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and religiosity were tested by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The empirical findings of the research show that two hypotheses out of four were supported. It was found that attitude and perceived behavioural had significant impact on Muslim women’s intention to use fashion products while subjective norm and religiosity found not significant impact. The research also tested which fashion products among the five (apparels, cosmetics, shoes, hijabs and accessories) are more preferred by Muslim women. It is found that apparels were the most preferable fashion product for Muslim women in Malaysia, followed by accessories such as bags and jewelleries, then cosmetics, hijabs and shoes. These results confirm the success of the proposed theoretical framework in achieving the objectives of this study. The findings of the research will be useful for practitioners and marketing managers in the fashion industry. Researchers and academicians can also benefit from the research findings of this study as it has intensified the understanding of the concept of fashion in the context of Muslim women in Malaysia.