Purpose Nigeria is a country with very low health insurance coverage, with only 3 per cent of its population in the public and private sector covered by conventional health insurance. This made it possible for the exploration of alternative methods of insurance in Muslim dominated northwestern Nigeria. Thus, this paper aims to extend the theory of planned behavior to understand the role of awareness in the acceptance of Islamic health insurance (takaful) among microenterprises in northwestern Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used was a purely quantitative survey with data collected from seven states that form the northwestern Nigeria. Findings The findings revealed that attitude, social influence and perceived behavioral control have a significant direct influence on takaful acceptance intention among microenterprises in northwestern Nigeria, while awareness does not. It was also discovered that awareness of takaful moderates the influences of social influence and perceived behavioral control on takaful acceptance intention, but it failed to moderate the influence of attitude on takaful acceptance intention in the same context. Research limitations/implications The implication is that despite the acceptance intention more awareness is required to enlarge the takaful market in the region. The study contributes to the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior through the integration of awareness as a moderator. Originality/value The work is pioneering, extent literature in the area of takaful failed in investigating the role of awareness as a moderating variables in Nigeria where much awareness of the concept is desirable.

Purpose The study aims is to examine the determinant factors of small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs’) intention to adopt the Islamic crowdfunding model as alternative sources of finance. Design/methodology/approach Using a survey questionnaire, 385 responses were received from owners and managers of SMEs in three states (Kano, Kaduna and Katsina) of northwestern Nigeria and analyses using PLS-SEM 3.0 software. Findings All hypotheses were found to be significant. Research limitations/implications The research focused only on northwestern Nigeria; there is a need for further research to focus on other geographical zones in Nigeria. Practical implications Crowd funders and policymakers can use these findings to enable the adoption of the Islamic crowdfunding model. Originality/value The previous study has not examined the role of technology acceptance model in the adoption of the financial model; these findings contribute to the crowdfunding literature by filling this gap.

Application of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in Islamic Health Insurance(takaful) acceptance revealed mixed findings. Hence, the need for a moderatingvariable to explain the conflicting results. This paper examines the moderating roleof size of microenterprise among the TPB variables. To achieve this end, quantitativemethodology adopted through distribution of research questionnaires among theparticipants of the study. Results indicate that attitude, social influence, perceivedbehavioral control and size of microenterprises significantly influence Islamic HealthInsurance (takaful) acceptance intention among microenterprises in northwesternNigeria. The findings also revealed that size of microenterprise moderates the effectof social influence on Islamic Health Insurance acceptance intention, but it failed tomoderate the influence of attitude and perceived behavioral control on Islamic HealthInsurance acceptance intention in same context. It implied that size of microenterprisesdoes not matter most in Islamic Health Insurance acceptance; nonetheless, the findingcontributes to the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior as it providesevidence on the significant moderating role of size on the effect social influence onIslamic Health Insurance acceptance intention among microenterprises.