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Aims to fill the gap in understanding about services marketing in the East. Uses an eclectic methodology in surveying services marketing in the Arabian Gulf, offering some East‐West comparison, including explanation for and implications of differences. Demonstrates that environmental constraints have great effects on services produced in a society, concluding that services mirror their society and its culture, history and socioeconomic circumstances.

This articles provides a managerial framework to examine and analyse factors that may influence government decision making in less developed countries. In order to market successfully to these buyers, a series of hurdles has to be cleared. These include meeting eligibility, following procedures, establishing critical linkages, developing competitive offers and exerting appropriate influence. International firms can enhance their success and profits by taking a serious, long‐term approach to these markets.

The use of sex and sexy illustrations in advertising is a subject that has been shunned by writers in fields such as communications, psychology, behavioural sciences, and even in the specific areas of consumer behaviour, marketing, and advertising. Although the current literature on consumer behaviour and advertising considers sex in the Freudian or Maslow sense, its use in advertising has not been explicitly elucidated. This is somewhat surprising when one considers that Freud maintained that sex or libido is the most important of all instincts and that apparent motives for an act often can be found in the sexual drive exerting itself in an unconscious and devious fashion.

The macro‐environment of the banking industry in Saudi Arabia is considered, the development of commercial banking is discussed, and present banking activities with regard to branches, services and promotion are examined. This comprehensive look at the Saudi bank marketing scene draws on the work of published writers, interviews with banking officials and the authors' own observations and experiences.

Despite the importance of the service sectors in the world economy, research related to services only recently attracted the attention of marketers. As a result, far more research and writings have been concerned with goods than services. This would not really matter if the problems encountered in services marketing were identical to their counterparts in goods marketing. This article highlights the importance and characteristics of the service sector in the Western world and the Arab Gulf. It has been argued that the Arab Gulf States are service societies where more than 60 per cent of their labourforce is employed in service‐related industries. Intangibility, functional inseparability, perishability, and difficulty of controlling quality are universal features which differentiate service from goods‐producing industries. Service establishments in the Arab Gulf States are unique, however. They are characterised by the absence of service tradition, high operating costs, poor marketing, uneven quality, a regulated market environment, and a lack of indigenous innovations.

This paper examined the relationships between national culture and strategic behavior in the banking industry in Jordan and U.S. The study first developed a strategic posture and secondly a cultural profile for the top management of the research domain. The strategic posture suggested the readiness for strategic response from managers. The degree of readiness was correlated with the constructed cultural profile of the managers and financial performance of the banks. The study found significant relationships between certain national cultural strategic characteristics, (risk propensity, time orientation, and openness to change, uncertainty avoidance and managerial perception of control over the environment) strategic behavior and financial performance.

Management writings in the Middle East region are scarce and scattered. This is due to the lack of doctorate programmes offered by educational institutions, the weak links between academia and the business world, limited formal and informal networks, the lack of status given to the field of management by national bodies and the lack of a publication culture. A bibliography of management‐related writings in the Middle East is presented, which includes other functional areas such as marketing, finance and accounting. It aims to draw the students' attention to a variety of sources. In compiling the bibliography a review of the literature in Arabic, English and Turkish was undertaken, followed by a survey of the top officials of academic institutions offering management/commerce, business administration degree programmes in the region.

Soft drinks consumption in Saudi Arabia is high, although these drinks are nutritionally poor and might lead to various health problems. This paper aims to assess sweetened soft drinks consumption patterns among adult Saudis and explore the association between different attitudes and these patterns.

In total, 1,194 eligible Saudi adults answered an online questionnaire including soft drinks consumption patterns (frequency of consumption and quantity) and attitudes influencing them. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Pearson test was used to assess the association of attitudes with frequency of sweetened soft drinks consumption. A p-value of <0.05 was set as the significance cut-off.

Sixteen per cent of participants consumed sweetened soft drinks either daily or usually. Frequency and quantity of consumption were significantly and positively associated (R² = 0.4, p < 0.0001). The highest correlations were obtained between frequency of consumption and positive attitudes towards perceiving sweetened soft drinks as enjoyable, value for money and indispensable at eating (R² = 0.55; 0.43 and 0.6, respectively, p < 0.0001). Average score in different attitudes was significantly lower frequency of consumption “never” compared to “always” (p < 0.001) (Healthy: 1 vs 1.9, Enjoyable: 1.5 vs 4.4, value for money: 1.7 vs 3.9, indispensable at eating: 1.1 vs 4.0 and social gathering: 1.2 vs 3.8, respectively).

Main limitation of this study relates to the sampling technique through a snowballing, which could influence on the representativeness of the study population.

Findings advance the understanding on the high consumption of sweetened soft drinks among Saudis, making an emphasis on the complexity of this dietary pattern and the importance of different attitudes influencing on it. Thus, changing this pattern implies a global strategy to reduce both frequency and quantity of consumption.

While the 1948 Nakba represents the most significant crisis in the history of the Palestinian people, its psychological effects on its survivors in Israel have yet to be explored. The purpose of this paper is to examine the subjective experience and the psychological implications of the Nakba ordeals and the ensuing uprooting among the internally displaced Palestinians living in Israel.

Qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with ten internally displaced Palestinians who experienced the Nakba as youngsters. The interview transcripts were analyzed thematically in line with accepted practice in phenomenological research in psychology.

Participants had experienced a wide range of traumatic events intertwined with protracted daily struggles and accumulated losses. These experiences resulted in pronounced psychological distress and immense inner pain that was perpetuated throughout their lives, rendering the Nakba an unresolved traumatic experience.

This paper describes the psychological outcome of the Nakba among a small sample of elderly survivors. Further urgent research is needed to collect valuable untapped information from this aging and dwindling community.

Although more than six decades have elapsed since the tragic events, the current research paper constitutes a pioneering effort to document the subjective experience of the Nakba. The current research findings counterbalance 60 years of public and academic disregard of this tragic period.

The Islamic economic system is a theoretical construct of an economy whose members follow the Islamic faith. The core of Islamic economics rests on theological foundations – social welfare is valued above material gain and heavy emphasis is placed on a strong belief in and faithful obedience to God. The characteristics of, and principles which underlie, Islamic economics are surveyed. Particular attention is paid to the injunction against interest payments and to the requirement that the faithful pay a capital levy or wealth tax.