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The main objective of this study is to initiate general building cost indicators to serve as cost indicators for the construction industry in Egypt. The two models (Egypt 1 and Egypt 2 Indices) developed for building the indices in this paper have been derived based on the “Engineering News Record” (ENR) Indices model with modifications to better suit the Egyptian market. Egypt 1 Indices is comprised of three indices which serve as a general cost indicator for the construction industry price movement in Egypt. Egypt 2 Indices is comprised of two indices which serve as a construction cost indicator for the reinforced concrete structures price movement in Egypt. The period analyzed in this research is 11 years (1988 through to 1998). The validation of index numbers produced showed that each index does indeed represent the respective type of building for which it was computed. Further, the analysis of Egypt Indices compared to the ENR Indices revealed that both indices exhibited trends that are generally similar from the year 1992 up to 1998.

The aim of this article is to develop a cost index to serve as a price indicator for the Egyptian construction industry.

The model (Egypt 1 indices) developed for building the indices in this paper has been derived based on the “Engineering News Record” (ENR) indices model with modifications to better suit the Egyptian market. Egypt 1 indices are comprised of three indices, which serve as a general construction price indicator for the construction industry price movement in Egypt. The period analyzed in this research is 11 years (1988 through 1998).

Validation of Egypt 1 indices numbers produced in this paper showed that each index does indeed represent the respective type of building for which it was computed. Further, the analysis of Egypt 1 indices compared to the ENR indices revealed that both indices exhibited trends that are generally similar from the year 1992 up to 1998 (the last year included in this study).

This research has the potential to introduce the use of construction cost indices and to put these into practice. This should help aid contractors and other construction parties operating in Egypt with an adequate tool for pricing and estimation of projects.

In a constantly changing and increasingly globalised world, religions still play a significant role in influencing social and consumer behavior. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that explores the link between religious beliefs and consumers ' boycotts towards particular products. Certain important concepts are linked to boycott, these include: conspicuous consumption of global brands, animosity and country of origin.

First, a critical literature review on empirical consumer animosity, conspicuous consumption, religion, and consumption studies is undertaken. Second, qualitative techniques are used to collect the primary data. This is undertaken with reference to the case study of boycotting of the international Danish brands in Saudi Arabia, in order to highlight the relative emphasis of each of the factors that may influence consumer purchase behaviour of global brands.

The findings of this study show that there is a strong relationship and a clear link between religiosity in Arabic/Islamic collectivist cultures and consumer behaviour (mainly boycotting). It also shows that consumers in such societies are collectively influenced by these factors when formulating their purchase decisions, particularly for international brands.

The sample was chosen from Saudi students living/studying in the UK. Hence, caution should be applied when generalising across other cultures. A future, larger-scale survey using questionnaire would be useful to confirm qualitative results drawn from this study. The findings of this paper offer pivotal implications for decision makers and the managers of those multinational companies who are interested in the Middle Eastern market.

As a result of the increasing gap and cultural conflict between the Western and Muslim worlds, many international companies are negatively affected by the changes in the international environment, which is reflected in consumer behaviour. This is particularly highlighted when these events are related to religious issues. Although the consumer boycott phenomenon has existed for more than a century, only recently has it gained more popularity and motivated researchers to acknowledge it from a marketing/managerial perspective. Also, the paper offers guidance for future research in a field of research that is still in its infancy.