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The end of World War II brought about many economic changes, among them the tremendous increase of US manufacturing activities in Western Europe. This astronomical increase of foreign direct investment (FDI) required a new theory ‐ an economic theory of foreign direct investment. International economic theory, which traditionally had ignored the FDI decision, was not able to explain the FDI decision, nor could it explain the phenomena of multinational corporation (MNC). In a world of perfect competition, foreign direct investment would be absent. And when all markets operate efficiently, when there are no external economies of production and marketing, when information is costless and there are no barriers to trade or competition, international trade is the only possible form of international involvement. Logically, it follows that it is the departures from the models of perfect competition that must provide the rationale for foreign direct investment. Since, according to the Heckscher‐ Ohlin‐Samuelson (neoclassical) model, trade of goods will equalize factor prices in a world of factor immobility. In fact, the FDI decision is even ignored by new international economics which, since the late 1970's, has utilized new developments in the field of industrial organization. Proponents of these new theories have developed models that emphasize increasing returns and imperfect competition and see the possibility that government involvements in trade (trade restrictions, export subsidies, etc.) may under some circumstances be useful. All of this is done while foreign direct investment is ignored.

Today, the global market for “clean” vehicles is generating double-digit growth annually. However, in most emerging or Islamic countries, sales of such cars remain at a very low level and green consumption patterns are poorly explored. This paper aims to expand the understanding of factors influencing attitudes and behaviors toward electric vehicle in an emerging Islamic country, namely, Saudi Arabia. It investigates whether the willingness of Saudis to purchase electric vehicles depends on religious and ethical considerations. The effects of environmental concern, Islamic and some personal values (self-transcendence and conservation) on green vehicle purchase intention were considered.

The literature review is predominantly of studies on emerging or Islamic countries. A convenience sampling method was used, and a total of 354 valid questionnaires were collected. An exploratory factor analysis under the principal component analysis was used to reveal the factor structure underlying the items in the questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis on Lisrel helped to assess the validity of the measurement models. The causal relationships of the research framework were measured using simultaneous equation modeling.

The results suggest that Islamic Values (IsV) and Conservation (Cv) values do not influence environmental concern (EC) or Electric Vehicle Purchase Intention (EVPI). On the contrary, self-transcendence values (ST) exerted a significant influence on EVPI and the mediation of EC in this relationship was supported.

The theoretical framework provides a better understanding of how customers evaluate electric vehicles and the factors underlying their attitudes and behaviors toward such products in an Islamic and emerging market. The results suggest that consumers’ intentions to purchase electric vehicles are not driven by Islam or conservation values (conformity, tradition and security). Nevertheless, subjects for whom self-transcendence is an important value that guides their lives showed a higher willingness to purchase electric vehicles. This research also confirmed that EC is predictive of EVPI.

Marketers should focus on values of self-transcendence, which are benevolence and universalism, to influence electric vehicle purchase intention in Saudi Arabia. Neither Islamic nor conservation values are useful in this regard. However, managers and authorities are advised to establish a link between Islam and environmental awareness and behavior. Marketing communication and religious preachers should point out the commandments of Islam which stand for the preservation of nature. The authors concluded that much more should be done on the part of scholars to obtain a satisfactory understanding of green behavior in the Islamic world. Although green vehicles are rarely used there, these markets hold great sales potential for such products.

Little is known about consumer attitudes and behavior toward green products in Islamic countries. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first study to investigate whether Islamic and some personal values are related to environmental concern and electric vehicle purchase intention. The results showed that EC and EVPI depend on ST. The causal model indices for IsV and Cv were not significant.

With the empirical evidence on the purchase behaviour of tinned tomatoes, food labelling and the safety consciousness of consumers in Ghana were examined.

Primary data were obtained from 130 consumers. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and multinomial probit analysis were applied.

Consumers use tinned tomatoes for cooking because of its easy accessibility in nearby shops, guaranteed constant supply, attractive package, it being affordable/cheaper, its better colour, advertisement/promotion, and longer shelf life. There is a low level of food safety consciousness among consumers since only one-fifth read labels on tinned tomatoes very often, and one-fifth do not read labels at all. Consumers frequently check on tinned tomatoes' most essential information: brand/type, manufacturing and expiry dates, and weight/volume. Age, residential status, contact information, nutritional benefits and affordability influence the choice of retail brand of tinned tomatoes. The health label consumer segment and conventional label consumer segment were identified, with the majority being the former.

The sample size used for the study could be improved in terms of number and geographical coverage. This is because the study was limited to only one main urbanised area in Ghana. Therefore, it will be worthwhile for a further study to be conducted by comparing urban and rural consumers in Ghana and other countries within Africa, to either validate or reveal a different trajectory of consumer behaviour relevant to marketing, policy and practice.

Tomato paste (tinned tomatoes) is consumed in almost all homes in Africa, but there are food scare concerns about tinned tomatoes due to reported cases of adulteration with unhealthy materials such as starch and food colour, leading to negative health implications on consumers. This makes the reading of tinned tomato labels very crucial. Thus, it is of policy relevance to investigate consumers' reading behaviour of label information on tinned tomatoes in Ghana. However, previous studies on food labelling focussed on food and nutrition labelling and implications of food labelling on consumers' purchase behaviour, with most of them outside Africa.