Islamic Symbols in Personal Care Products and Muslim Consumers’ Purchase Intention: Effects of Perceived Religious Symbolic Value, Religiosity, and Attitude towards the Products with Islamic Symbols

Abstract

Purpose : The purpose of this paper is to analyze both the direct and indirect effects of perceived religious symbolic value, religiosity, and attitude on Muslim consumers' purchase intention of personal care products with Islamic symbols. Design/Methodology/Approach : A convenience sampling method was employed to collect data from 320 respondents in Bangladesh and collected data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings : The findings of the study revealed that attitude is the most influential construct on Muslim consumer's purchase intention of products with Islamic symbols. Perceived religious symbolic value has the direct as well as indirect effect on Muslim's purchase intention while religiosity has no significant direct effect on purchase intention; however when it is mediated through attitude the indirect effect is significant. Research Limitations : This study is limited to a small sample size collected from some parts of Bangladesh, therefore, future research should be based on a more representative sample collected from the consumer population located in different countries and indeed with consumers of other religions. Practical implications : The findings derived from this research would help both national and international marketers who are endeavoring to target and promote their products to the growing Muslim consumers gain a better understanding of the key factors that make Muslim consumers interested to purchase personal care products with Islamic symbols. Originality : This research is one of the first endeavors to test a conceptual model on Muslims consumers' intention to purchase personal care products with Islamic symbols using attitude towards such products as a mediator in the relationship between perceived religious symbolic value and purchase intention, as well as religiosity and purchase intention.