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The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of fatwa and the dissemination of fatwa rulings among Muslim consumers using two studies. Results from these studies show that contemporary fatwa often extend beyond Muslims' religious beliefs and practices. By advising Muslims on the brands and product categories that are permissible and prohibited for consumption, fatwa rulings can cause boycotts and bans of products or brands.

Content analyses are performed in Study 1 to explore the types of fatwa rulings that are declared by the Malaysian fatwa authorities. In Study 2, a survey instrument is used to collect responses from Muslims regarding their sources of fatwa ruling for two products, their religious motivation and gender. Cluster analysis and an independent χ²‐test are used to test the study's predictions.

Fatwa rulings in the area of social issues and economics have a known tendency to affect Muslim consumers' marketplace behavior. Muslim consumers tend to acquire information on more controversial fatwa rulings through less formal sources, compared to less controversial fatwa rulings. Several clusters of Muslim consumers were found to have their sources of fatwa associated with the product category, gender of respondent, and religious orientation.

The findings are limited to Malaysian Muslim University students and Malaysia's fatwa system. This use of young Malaysian Muslims probably restricts the findings to this cohort, rather than the general population of Malaysian Muslims.

The paper offers insights into how fatwa rulings affect marketplace behaviors and how information sources are accessed and fatwa information is disseminated among Muslim consumers. The findings lead to suggestions on how marketers can manage fatwa rulings concerning their products.

The paper provides an understanding of the nature and types of fatwa rulings circulating in the Muslim world, and identifies factors related to Muslims' knowledge of fatwa rulings.

This study aims to identify the factors that influence Malaysian non-Muslim consumers’ perception towards buying halal food products.

A structured close-ended questionnaire was used for data collection through a random distribution to 500 non-Muslim consumers from various states in Malaysia.

Using SPSS package, the factor analysis was able to identify three main variables. Later, the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. This study has indicated that the perception of non-Muslim consumers about halal food products is influenced by their attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, specifically in the context of Malaysia.

This finding will help both the academics and the industry food makers in understanding the perception of non-Muslim consumers towards the concept of halal food products.

The outcome of the study can serve as a useful reference to relevant Malaysian statutory bodies on the current perception of the Malaysian non-Muslim consumers towards Malaysian halal agenda. This will also help the industry food makers to serve their customers better as well as maximize their profit through a well-planned marketing campaign.

It prepares a sound basis for Malaysian policymakers to promote the involvement of Malaysian non-Muslim entrepreneurs within the halal food service industry with the intent of improving the socio-economic strata of its participants and, at the same time, fulfilling their religious obligations in providing halal foods for fellow Muslims.

Because very few researches have studied non-Muslim consumers’ perception towards halal food products, the development of halal food theory will help in capitalizing the practices in non-Muslim countries.

This paper aims to investigate the consumption and actual purchase behaviour of Malaysian food consumers who have experienced of buying imported food and to compare the differences between two groups, Muslim and non-Muslim.

This study collected data from the imported food buyers in Malaysia using a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 435 usable responses were used for further analysis. To identify the Malaysian consumers’ imported food consumption, exploratory factor analysis was used. A t-test and χ² test were applied to compare the difference of consumer groups between Muslim and non-Muslims.

The results have found the determinants of imported food purchasing of both Muslim and non-Muslim consumers and the most perceived quality aspects related to their food lifestyles. Malaysian consumers, regardless of religion, are most affected by the intrinsic factors like nutrients, health functionality and freshness. Muslim consumers also mostly perceive taste as a quality aspect regarding to their food lifestyles.

This study provides a number of potentially important and valuable resources for the manufacturer or exporters seeking to enter the Malaysian food market. Imported food into Malaysia should adopt the customised strategies through the products emphasising health benefits and tastes to achieve maximum marketing results.

This paper contributes important information about imported food consumption of Malaysian consumers. Therefore, it will be useful for food manufacturers or exporters from in particular non-Muslim countries to understand Muslim consumers’ perception and purchasing behaviour towards imported food.

Multi-national corporations (MNC) are investing in Malaysia to serve Malay Muslims by carrying the tag line “we are Islamic” for their products. Academicians defined it, as “Islamic brand/s”. Islamic brand/s further divided into three subcategories, namely, Islamic brand/s by compliance, Islamic brand/s by the customer and Islamic brand/s by country of origin. This study aims to identify the important aspect of the Islamic brand/s among the Malaysian Muslims, and it identifies, which Islamic brand aspect motivate Malay consumers to buy Islamic brands.

The conceptual model takes on in the current study was the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The data was collected from three states of Malaysia (Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baharu) from 236 Malaysian Muslims through a structured survey instrument. Smart-partial least squares 3 statistical software was used for analyses.

Among Malaysian Muslims, the most important attitude is the Islamic brand/s by origin (country of origin) followed by the Islamic brand/s by the customer and Islamic brand/s by compliance.

The study was conducted in three states of Malaysia, and the results are based on three attitudes of Islamic brands as independent variables and buying behavioural intentions (BI) construct of TPB.

Current study valuable for local businesses, MNCs, other Islamic and halal institutes. This study put light and give awareness of the positioning of the Islamic brand/s. Plus the intentions of users in selecting Islamic brand/s.

This research pursues to clarify consumers’ buying BIs in buying Islamic brand/s in Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the variable of halal food knowledge (HFK) into the theory of planned behavior framework to investigate Malaysian non-Muslim consumers’ decision-making process in purchasing halal food.

Data were collected through 350 distributed questionnaires toward non-Muslim consumers on five most visited grocery stores (hypermarket-based) in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The collected data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and SmartPLS.

Purchasing halal food remain an uneasy task for the non-Muslim consumers, thus rely on their personal evaluation and closest relative’s approval.

This study is focusing only on two halal food credence attributes namely health attribute and animal-friendly attributes.

Both health and animal friendly credence attributes of halal food should be the main message to be conveyed to the non-Muslim consumers. In addition, the inclusion of non-Muslim consumers within the Malaysian halal ecosystem might provide a solution to tackle the resistance of halal food from foreign countries.

The value of this study is the finding of halal food credence attributes of health and animal friendly, which are the dimensions of HFK.

This study aims to examine the impact of social advertising (informative, entertainment, credibility, ease of use, privacy and contents) on the buying behavior of Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan along with the moderating role of brand image. Precisely, it focuses on the marketing techniques and strategies in social advertising to enhance buying behavior.

Using the convenience sampling technique, data was collected from 304 Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Questionnaires were self-administered, and data was analyzed via Smart partial least square structural equation modeling.

Social advertising (informative, entertainment, credibility, privacy, ease of use, contents) and brand image have a positive relationship with the buying behavior of Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan, while the brand image has nonmoderating effects. Furthermore, social advertising has a positive and significant relationship with the brand image.

This study is only limited to fashion clothing brands in the Malaysian Muslim community and is based only on the few dimensions of the theory of reasoned action and technology acceptance model (TAM).

Results clarified the impact of social advertising and brand image on the buying behavior of Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan and the moderating role of brand image in achieving the business objectives.

This study has evaluated the effects of social advertising and brand image in enhancing the buying behavior of Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan toward the fashion clothing brands along with the moderating role of brand image based on the theory of reasoned action and TAM model. Precisely, this study examined the unique characteristics of social advertising and the relative importance of informative, entertainment, credibility, ease of use, privacy and content in enhancing the buying behavior of Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan, where consumers are emotionally involved in buying fashion clothing brands due to Eid al Fitr celebration.

This study aims to provide insights on the influence of Muslim consumers’ knowledge on products subjected to contemporary fatwa ruling and their subsequent cognitive and behavioural responses.

MANOVA and MANCOVA were used to examine the influence of religious orientation on young Malaysian Muslims’ product knowledge, and the extent of religious orientation and gender on Muslim consumers’ attitude and behaviour towards three contemporary fatwa rulings of products.

Respondents’ religious orientation differentiates their knowledge on fatwa prohibition ruling of selected brand and behaviours. Consumers’ religious orientation and gender explain consumers’ behavioural responses to variables of the Theory of Planned Behaviour for three behaviours. Evidence suggests that ruling types affects (conditional and unconditional) consumers’ responses.

Greater insights are provided on Muslims’ motivation to search information of controversial products, and their subsequent perception and behavioural reactions to controversial products. Findings are limited to the Malaysian Muslim consumers.

The fact that contemporary fatwa reached young Muslim generations indicates that managers have to be wary of fatwa to predict Muslim consumers’ marketplace behaviours.

A significant number of young Malaysian Muslims are keeping abreast with contemporary fatwa. This suggests that they received an early and substantial exposure to Islamic way of life through their socialisation.

This study offer insights into the understandings of the young Muslim generation regarding contemporary fatwa on products, and revealed significant findings in relation to consumer product knowledge and religious influences on consumer behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the potential business opportunities for Middle Eastern entrepreneurs by understanding the Malaysian Muslim’s ways of experiencing and realising value of products originating from Middle Eastern countries.

Phenomenography approach has been used to identify the variations among the Muslim consumers’ ways of experiencing Middle Eastern products.

The authors reported that Muslim consumers considered the country of origin as an important cue that affects their knowing, understanding, judging and acting on products originating from Middle Eastern countries.

Understanding developed from the Malaysian Muslim consumers enabled authors to suggest business opportunities for Middle Eastern entrepreneurs to enter and expand their operations in other leading Islamic countries.

This study aims to identify the intention to purchase Halal food products amongst non-Muslim consumers in Malaysia, moderated by the acculturation effect.

A structured close-ended questionnaire was used to gather data through the random distribution of 397 non-Muslim consumers from the Alumni network of several private higher education institutions in Malaysia.

The collected data was analyzed through the structural equation modelling technique using partial least squares with SmartPLS 3.0. The result indicated that attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were positively influenced by the purchase decision of Halal food products amongst non-Muslim consumers in Malaysia. Apart from that, the acculturation effect moderates the relationship between attitude and intention to purchase.

This finding will contribute to academics, Halal food makers and government in understanding the Halal food purchase intention amongst non-Muslim consumers in Malaysia.

The outcome of this study can be used as an input for Halal entrepreneurship in terms of marketing and operation strategy. On the government aspect, this study also provides an implication on national public policy and strategic economic planning in developing overall national Halal policy.

The social harmonization amongst the multiple races in Malaysia is partially contributed through the acculturation effect. The acculturation effect has been reflected through the food choice decision amongst Malaysian, despite of different religious belief and home culture background.

Research in studying Halal food purchase intention amongst non-Muslim consumers are scarce. This research is able to reinforce the theory of planned behavior model in dealing with Halal food choice decisions, taking into consideration of acculturation effect.

Islamic finance and Halal product sectors are thriving successfully. This chapter is a general review of the perception of Asian consumers on Islamic finance and Halal sectors in the global Halal economy.

The first section will briefly describe the Halal concept in both Islamic finance and Halal industries, and the growth of both sectors in Asian countries. The second part highlights the review of Asian consumers’ perception towards Islamic finance products and Halal products.

The review found that the consumers’ perception towards the Islamic finance products and Halal products is distinctive. This is due to the diversity of Asian countries in terms of geography, religion, culture, ethnic, school of thoughts (madzahib), income per capita and government’s involvement.

The third part of the chapter concentrates on planning towards Halal marketing, which involves the move and future challenges in different layers of industries to gear up and strengthen the Halal economy.