His research interests lie in the areas of consumer behavior and strategic marketing. His work has been published in a number of international journals, such as Journal of Business Research and Psychology & Marketing, among others.
This study explored the perceived values considered by Muslims when undertaking a halal holiday. The data for the study were gathered via 21 semistructured interviews conducted among Sri Lankan Muslims. Incorporating the theory of consumption values developed by Sheth, thematic analysis was used explore the key perceived consumption values that Muslim travellers associated with halal tourism. The findings of the study demonstrate that the perceived value associated with halal holidays is multidimensional, comprising both consumption and Islamic religious values such as Iman (faith), which refers to the conscience, and suggest that “Muslims should act within the Sharia (Islamic Law), and only choose what is halal and remember Allah when making decisions”. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on consumer perceived values by emphasizing that in the context of halal holidays, Islamic values captured by Iman play a significant role in customer expectations regarding perceived consumption values. Thus, tourism and hospitality organizations need to develop products and services that are Sharia‐compliant. Such initiatives would enable tourism and hospitality firms to demonstrate their responsiveness to specific cultural needs.
By integrating the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and self-image congruence, this study seeks to investigate elite consumers' purchase intentions towards products made in foreign countries. The data were gathered via a survey conducted amongst 316 Sri Lankan elite consumers across two product categories. The findings demonstrate that consumers' attitudes towards products made in foreign countries are driven by subjective norms and self-image congruence. The study shows that self-image congruence is the stronger predictor of consumers' attitudes towards products made in foreign countries. Also, the effect of self-image congruence on consumers' purchase intentions is partially mediated by their attitudes towards products made in foreign countries.
The adoption of a vegan diet might have public, health, and environmental benefits; however, still little is known about veganism as the majority of studies on dietary lifestyles have focused on vegetarianism. Hence, in order to address this gap, the present study adopted a sequential and mixed (qualitative; quantitative) research approach based on laddering interviews (n = 20) and a survey (n = 400) to validate the motives for adopting a vegan diet. The results identified seven motives: economic, ethical, health‐related, hedonic, animal empathy, respect for animal rights, and personal accountability. Three motives in particular—(i.e., animal empathy, accountability, and animal rights) appear to be the key determinants of consumer’s self‐identification as vegan‐oriented individuals. The study found five attributes (price, nutritious, freshness; tasty, eco/animal friendly ingredients) of vegan products associated with the afore‐mentioned motives. Food marketers and policy makers could highlight such attributes to encourage the adoption of a vegan diet.
This study explores the factors that influence the dissemination process of and public susceptibility to fake news amidst COVID-19. By adopting a qualitative approach that draws on 21 interviews with social media users from the standpoint of source credibility and construal level theories, our findings highlight motives of news sharers, platform features, and source credibility/relatedness as major factors influencing the dissemination of and public susceptibility to fake news. The paper further argues that public susceptibility to fake news can be mitigated by building an integrated approach that combines a tripartite strategy from an individual, institutional and platform level. For example, educating the public on digital resilience and enhancing awareness around source credibility can help individuals and institutions reflect on news authenticity and report fake news where possible. This study contributes to fake news literature by integrating concepts from information management, consumer behaviour, influencer marketing and mindfulness to propose a model to help authorities identify and understand the key factors that influence susceptibility to fake news during a public crisis such as COVID-19.
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