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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of religion on the effectiveness of product packages in attracting customers’ attention, and forming their attitudes, preferences, and buying decisions. In other words, the study aims at finding out how do Muslims respond to product packages including elements believed to disagree with the Islamic values, in this study referred to as “contentious packages.”

To test the five hypotheses, the study recruited 300 young Muslims in Bahrain, chosen from the population of 14,000 students of the University of Bahrain aged between 20 and 25, 26 percent male and 74 percent female. The primary data were collected through personal interviews with the selected sample, using a specially designed questionnaire. The questionnaire included ten questions covering two personal questions for age and gender and eight other questions attempting to find out Muslims’ responses to contentious packages in terms of attention, attitudes, buying intention, company image, and word-of-mouth.

Findings indicate that use of contentious packaging runs a high risk of tarnishing a company’s reputation and appeal. Muslims who live by Shari’a and the dictates of the Kuran will consider such companies to be promoters of fornication, and will therefore boycott such companies in order to prevent them from corrupting the purity and piety of the community. If advertising firms continue to fail in recognizing the profundity of these beliefs within Muslim communities, both their fiscal success and reputation run the risk of suffering substantial damage.

The findings of this study send six important messages to multinational companies doing business in Islamic countries. First, Islam governs all aspects of Muslim life, including consumer behavior. Second, to prosper in Islamic countries, choose packaging that does not contradict or offend the principles and values of Islam. Third, recognize that much packaging that has proven to be effective in Western countries will not be successful in Islamic countries due to vastly different cultural environments. Fourth, a contentious package may result in a steep drop in the sales. Fifth, using contentious packages may damage the reputation. Sixth, you can attract more Muslims by using non-contentious packages.

This paper is of great value to companies who wish to expand their practice in Muslim countries. Its findings promise to improve advertising standards and to increase both company profits and customer satisfaction.

I went to the Booksellers' Conference Exhibition (persona ELM Publications, Educational Books and Resources) hoping to alert booksellers to our new Factpacks series [Jackdaw look‐alikes, but with interesting differences].

Introduction Marketing in the Middle East and North African region can be problematic for the unprepared and naive manager. The international marketing literature is replete with mistakes committed by unwary Western businessmen. This article intends to clarify the somewhat complex marketing environment in the Middle East, using an evaluation of the Egyptian environment as a case example. Egypt had the third largest gross consumption level in the Middle East, after Saudi Arabia and Algeria, during the period 1975–. Egypt, with a population of 42 million, is an important market in the Middle East for many American, European and Japanese firms. The estimated value in 1980 of exports to Egypt from the US, the EEC and Japan was $2,060 million, $4,846 million and $713 million respectively. Furthermore, Egypt's location on the mediterranean means that it provides a natural link for trade between the three continents of Europe, Africa and Asia.

THE HARDCORE staff establishment at the Library Association has been in a positive tizzy of excitement since somebody ‘leaked’ to them a couple of months ago the news that NEW LIBRARY WORLD is to have a new Editor.

The purpose of this paper is two‐fold: first, to reflect on the subject discipline of Islamic marketing and connecting activities in the Journal of Islamic Marketing. And, second, to capture key discussions and experiences, with the aim of refining definitions and approaches; in order to set a clear vision for scholarship in the field.

Expert knowledge elicitation from literature, key practitioners and academics, whilst serving on the Editorial Advisory Board; using participant observation methods and the Socratic elenchus. Data were gathered whilst the author presented at conferences and held a series of guest lectures, over a two‐year period in: India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and UK.

The term “Islamic marketing” is still very new, and reflective of an emergent phenomenon which stretches across the Muslim world and beyond. It draws from established subject disciplines in Business and Management, but also reaches into areas of Islamic studies and other social sciences. Furthermore, its interest and applicability has garnered support from those regardless of any Islamic faith. As such, there are varying perspective and standpoints, which have raised discussions as to how this phenomenon should be defined and understood; and moving forward should be researched and served by practitioners.

This paper gives consideration to a fan of opinions and the challenges faced, as are commonplace with any newly identified phenomenon. In addition, two models are offered as a basis for understanding how research can be undertaken, which has to balance two axes: Islamic studies and marketing; and Heterodoxy and orthodoxy.

Physical education, like most areas of education, is changing and taking on a new look for the 1980s. Physical educators, school administrators, and others making decisions about programs for children and young people are examining both current practices and forecasts for the future in this field. What they decide will profoundly affect the resources that should be a part of library collections for children and youth. Too often librarians and school media specialists have found it difficult to think about the kinds of materials appropriate for such collections because they do not have the knowledge necessary for sound selection. A major reason for this difficulty is that the area of physical education is usually separated from other subject areas in schools. Along with the industrial arts, domestic science, and the fine arts, physical education is categorized as a performative subject area. Classified as such, it is usually not thought of as something you ask young people to think about, talk about, or even read about; but rather, something you ask them to “do.” Yet, upon closer examination, there exists a small wealth of library materials for children.

Judging by the amount of comment on various electronic bulletin boards, it seems that the library profession is indeed embracing a “new paradigm of reference.” Libraries around the country are abandoning their traditional reference desk and replacing it with an information desk, staffed by paraprofessionals or graduate students. These students answer repetitive directional and quick‐answer reference questions. Reference librarians, in turn, are moving behind the scenes to await referrals. The student or patron needing more lengthy research help, such as a college student just starting a term paper, a small businessperson needing market information, or a person studying local history spends time with a librarian and receives needed research assistance.