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The main objective of this research is to investigate the factors that influence consumer purchase decisions for halal products before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) theory.

The research was conducted as a survey. The influencing factors were determined based on the grey relational analysis (GRA) approach.

The findings indicate before the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers mainly purchased halal products based on four key factors: purchasing experience, certification label, Internet searches and past consumption experience. However, during the pandemic, the ranking and factors have changed to six indicators, which are past consumption experience, purchasing experience, certification labels, standardized specifications, Internet searches and halal certification labels.

The study was limited by the sample size and geographical area. Nevertheless, the findings could be further explored by expanding related theories toward understand human decisions based on spiritual beliefs.

The findings of this study have important implications for research, practice and society. Understanding the factors influencing halal purchase decisions before and during the pandemic can help businesses, policymakers and halal certification bodies to better cater to consumers' needs and preferences and ensure the continued growth and development of the halal industry.

This study evaluates halal purchasing decisions between periods of certainty and uncertainty by using the GRA. Changes in halal consumption and purchase decisions in response to COVID-19 pandemic have become an emerging topic of discovery. The study addresses the gap in the literature regarding changes in consumer decision pattern.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a extraction procedure of competitive advantage factors that a company needs to have organizational capabilities, and leads the company to make a sustainable business success. By using the proposed method, a company can conduct a self‐assessment based on the factors, and re‐design its own quality management system, then realize the competitive advantage in a target business area.

By collecting and analyzing the strategy data of six business areas in company A and conducting the interview to the project team in each business area for six months, the decision‐making mechanism and its pattern of the competitive advantage factors are examined, then the self‐assessment method of quality management system is proposed.

The decision‐making mechanism for competitive advantage factors is clarified. The customer value that is one of elements in the mechanism is categorized. And the analyzing method for specifying the core customer value and the organizational capability that leads customers directly to select a company's own product is established.

The originality of this paper is in establishing a self‐assessment method that follows the concept of “evaluation design.” This means not using pre‐established evaluation criteria for all companies in all types of business, as is done in conventional research, but rather, designing criteria based on the competitive advantage factors in a target business area and then reflecting those factors into its own quality management system.

This paper aims to explore buying decision factors and approaches of companies operating in manufacturing industry in Croatia.

The data collected by company survey were analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, cluster analysis and cross-tabulation analysis.

Results show that manufacturers are influenced by six distinctive factors when making purchasing decisions. These are supplier’s flexibility, supplier’s reliability, interdepartmental communication, top management support, routine purchases and buyer’s price sensitivity. Manufacturers can be classified in four different groups according to their buying decision-making patterns.

This paper provides a set of factors and approaches which might help selling companies and sales representatives understand the purchasing practices of buying company better, and develop adaptive selling approaches accordingly.

Based on a literature review and field research, an instrument of organizational buying behaviour was developed and tested in the Croatian manufacturing industry. The factors of organizational buying behaviour patterns were identified, and the typology of buying decision approaches applicable for manufacturing industry was developed.

The purpose of this paper is to determine which factors are most influential to farmers' crop insurance purchasing decisions in northern Illinois.

A mail survey method was used to collect information from farmers in a 42 county region of Illinois.

Of the factors analyzed, price had the most significant effect on crop insurance purchase decisions. While acres farmed had statistically significant impact on most of the crop insurance purchase decisions, different factors played a role in purchase decisions based on types of insurance and types of crops covered.

The results of this study warrant additional research relative to crop insurance purchase decisions. Analyzing the affect of varying degrees of government subsidization across crop insurance plans and coverage levels on purchase decisions is recommended. Questions regarding the relationship between crop insurance subsidization, farm program payments, and ad hoc disaster payments would be relevant in light of World Trade Organization and federal budget discussions. Also, asking participants to indicate if they have a written grain marketing plan and if that plan leverages crop insurance coverage to support forward contracting or pre‐harvest pricing would provide additional insights in determining how crop insurance purchase decisions are made. Questions regarding the claims process should be incorporated into future studies on this topic. The timeliness of claims payments, as well as the farmer's level of satisfaction with the claims adjustor and claims process may factor into the decision‐making process.

Illinois farmers and crop insurance agencies could benefit from this study. Findings could improve the crop insurance products and services available to Illinois farmers and make the federal crop insurance program more effective in enhancing farmers' ability to manage crop production risk.

This paper identified the factors that are most influential to farmers' crop insurance purchasing decisions in northern Illinois.

Organic food market has grown rapidly on a global level and so is the interest of customers. The present paper ranks the factors and sub-criteria which are taken into consideration while making organic purchase decisions resulting in understanding the behaviour of consumers.

The present paper considered a sample of 550 respondents in the area of Punjab. Fuzzy AHP technique was applied to understand the key factors and sub-criteria which play a major role in organic food purchase decisions. The paper is empirical and descriptive in nature. The factors considered for the study include price, consumer knowledge, trust, attitude, behavioural intentions, subjective norms, perceived personal relevance and perceived consumer effectiveness.

The three major influential factors include price, trust and attitude ranked in the same order of preference which majorly affects the purchase decisions and talking about sub-criteria the three major criteria to purchase organic food include: “Price plays a significant role in purchase decisions (P2)”, “Organic food keeps me fit and healthy (A1)” and “Organic food intake makes me feel energetic (A2)”.

The present paper is limited to the area of Punjab and majorly eight factors have been taken into consideration. Further research can be explored on broader geographical and cultural areas with new dimensions in criteria and sub-criteria.

The findings of this paper will surely help the marketers to understand the behavioural intentions and preferences of the customers. Accordingly, they will strategize the policies to convert organic food market into a niche market with a high growth rate.

The existing literature explored various key factors. However, the present study comes up with ranking to the factors according to their priority in purchase decisions. This will definitely help marketers, business houses, practitioners and academicians about the key factors which affect purchase decisions, and it will surely add incredible knowledge into the existing database.

This study aims to examine decision factors for global sourcing, differentiated into transcontinental and continental sourcing to obtain insight into locational aspects of sourcing decisions and global trends. This study analyzed various country perceptions to reveal their influence on sourcing decisions. The country of origin (COO) theory explains why certain country perceptions and images influence purchasing experts in their selection of suppliers.

This study used a two-study approach. In Study 1, the authors conducted discrete choice card experiments with 71 purchasing experts located in Europe and the USA to examine the importance of essential decision factors for global sourcing. Given the clear evidence that location is a factor in sourcing decisions, in Study 2 the authors investigated purchasers’ perceptions and images of countries, adding country ranking experiments on various perceived characteristics such as quality, price and technology.

Study 1 provides evidence that the purchasers’ personal relationship with the supplier plays a decisive role in the supplier selection process. While product quality and location impact sourcing decisions, the attraction of the buying company and cultural barriers are less significant. Interestingly, however, these factors seem as important as price to respondents. This implies that a strong relationship with suppliers and good quality products are essential aspects of a reliable and robust supply chain in the post-COVID-19 era. Examining the locational aspect in detail, Study 2 linked the choice card experiments with country ranking experiments. In this study, the authors found that purchasing experts consider that transcontinental countries such as Japan and China offer significant advantages in terms of price and technology. China has enhanced its quality, which is recognizable in the country ranking experiments. Therefore, decisions on global sourcing are not just based on such high-impact factors as price and availability; country perceptions are also influential. Additionally, the significance of the locational aspect could be linked to certain country images of transcontinental suppliers, as the COO theory describes.

The new approach divides global sourcing into transcontinental and European sourcing to evaluate special decision factors and link these factors to the locational aspect of sourcing decisions. To deepen the clear evidence for the locational aspect and investigate the possible influence of country perceptions, the authors applied the COO theory. This approach enabled authors to show the strong influence of country perception on purchasing departments, which is represented by the locational effect. Hence, the success of transcontinental countries relies not only on factors such as their availability but also on the purchasers’ positive perceptions of these countries in terms of technology and price.

The purpose of this paper is to explore garment consumption decision processes of female consumers when they have the option to sew or purchase their clothing.

This research study presents a segment of the findings from a larger qualitative grounded theory study on women who choose to sew clothing for themselves (Martindale, 2017). This research analyzed the interview data pertaining to the unique sew or purchase decision-making process in which these consumers undertake as well as the related control over ready-to-wear consumption that sewing provides them.

The ability to sew resulted in a unique consumer decision-making process in regard to the clothing purchases due to the control it provided them over their ready-to-wear consumption. The women developed factors that they used to make the decision to sew or purchase. Over all the ability to sew provided them the option to sew or purchase clothing, allowing the women more control over their clothing selection specifically in regard to the garments body fit.

This study was limited to English-speaking women living in the North America. The qualitative data collected are specific to this sample which cannot be generalized to all female home sewers. Research involving a larger population of women from a larger geographic area is needed.

The newly developed sew or purchase model provides an understanding of the control that having the option to sew or purchase provides female consumers. The findings offer apparel industry professionals a new perspective on ready-to-wear consumer dissatisfaction. The investment that is made when a garment is sewn instead of purchased has the potential to increase wardrobe sustainability as the consumer experiences more attachment to the clothing they have made. The model serves a starting point for further exploration into other craft-related consumer decision behaviors.

Purchasing decisions of this nature have yet to be considered in published research. Exploring these women’s decisions who operate outside of typical consumer culture and developing a model for this consumer behavior explains a phenomenon not yet addressed by existing consumer consumption research.

This purpose of this paper is to respond to calls for further research into consumer pre‐purchase decision‐making, and investigate the factors that cause a customer to make a decision to save for retirement.

Exploratory research using eight focus groups was undertaken in Sydney, Australia with a total of 55 participants. The data were analysed using the approach suggested by Cresswell and includes coding into chunks, development of themes, interpreting, and validating findings.

Three key findings emerged from the research. First, there are certain internal, external, and risk factors that have a major impact on propensity to save for retirement. These are: involvement level, motivation, needs and wants, family influence, marketer influence, competitive options, financial risk, functional risk, and psychological risk. Second, no clear and universal gender differences in the pre‐purchase decision‐making process emerged during the focus group discussions. Finally, alternative options for spending and addressing risk negatively influence pre‐purchase decision‐making and therefore the desire or ability to save.

This study is constrained by its exploratory nature. Consequently, future research could utilise quantitative methodology to confirm findings and allow generalisation of results. Also, a study incorporating ethnicity would add breadth to the findings.

Managers and policy makers benefit from understanding that marriage and turning 40 years old are highly influential to a consumer's likelihood to save for their retirement. This information is particularly useful for the development of marketing and communication campaigns.

This is the first exploratory study of pre‐purchase decision‐making which researches the triggers for buying complex financial services associated with saving for retirement.

The consumer culture in recent times has evolved into one of the most powerful ingredients shaping individuals and societies. Although the behavioural intentions and purchase decisions related models continue to dominate research and managerial practice, a deeper look indicates that most studies do not take the complete picture in account and study parts of the above mentioned phenomena. Furthermore, consumers operate in a dynamic and ever‐changing environment which in itself demands a re‐examination of their behavioural intentions and purchase decision influences from time to time. This paper aims to focus on these issues.

Using the context of the young adults market, this study looks into how contextual factors vis‐à‐vis loyalty and switching impact consumer purchase intentions. The study involved both qualitative and quantitative research methodology.

The findings suggest that contextual factors have the strongest influence on purchase decisions. Furthermore, contextual factors influence the brand loyalty and switching behaviour.

The findings provide important insights with regards to the factors on which practitioners should focus to better tailor their content and approaches.

The study supplies unique learning to managers and researchers alike, through conceptualising and subsequently empirically verifying the issue of purchase decision, brand loyalty and switching with regard to contextual factors.

This study aims to examine the moderator effect of religiosity on the relationship between halal brand awareness and habit towards purchasing decisions of halal products.

The quantitative method is used in this study. Descriptive and statistical (multiple and moderated regression) analyses are employed to test the hypothesis according to the research model. The data is collected using a cross-sectional design from 197 respondents consisting of business owners in North Sumatera, Indonesia.

It is found that both halal brand awareness and habit have a positive and significant effect on the purchasing decision of halal products. Meanwhile, religiosity significantly acts as a moderating variable in the relationship between awareness and purchasing decisions, as well as habit and purchasing decisions.

This study revealed the important factor of religiosity as a moderating factor in purchase decisions of halal products. The government may need to collaborate with Islamic educational institutions to raise awareness of the halal concept and product awareness. It is assumed that individuals who know about the Islamic religion will have a higher degree of awareness of halal products compared to individuals with limited knowledge of Islam; thus, providers of Islamic education play a crucial role in raising the level of awareness of halal products. Schools may serve as catalysts for the dissemination of knowledge of halal products.

Developing halal product markets can be done by enhancing the religiosity level of consumers, one of them through attending formal or informal religious classes.