Impact of religiosity on ethical judgement: a study on preference of retail stores among consumers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of ethical judgements, depending on religiosity level of consumers, on decisions of buying or not buying products from supermarkets selling alcoholic beverages. Design/methodology/approach The scope of this study covers consumers from province of Mus in Turkey who indicate they go shopping at supermarkets. Accordingly, data are collected from 362 consumers via face-to-face survey and the results are evaluated through regression analysis. Findings According to analysis, it was found that the internal and external religiosity of the consumers positively affected their ethical judgement towards the markets selling alcoholic beverages. Besides, it is concluded that the ethical judgements of consumers have a positive impact on boycott decisions against supermarkets selling alcoholic beverages. Originality/value The survey contributes to relevant literature by putting forth the impact of ethical judgements of consumers, associated with their level of religiosity, on their decisions as to preference of supermarkets. Moreover, this study is consistent with the previous studies and supports the conclusion that the ethical decisions are affected by the extrinsic and intrinsic levels of religiosity; however, they are more affected by the intrinsic levels of religiosity.

Islamic marketing: A literature review and research agenda

“…Customers are in the central position for all activities in IM. Religiosity as an important variable of IM influences the behaviour of Muslim customers because Muslim consumption behaviour is a matter of both personal religious commitment and conformance to the state laws regarding halal and haram (Ashraf, 2019; Diandri, 2019; El‐Bassiouny, 2016; Fatema et al., 2018; Ghazali et al., 2018; Hamelin et al., 2018; Ihtiyar, 2019; Mukhtar & Butt, 2012; Nurhayati & Hendar, 2019; Uysal & Okumuş, 2019). However, it should be remembered that IM is not confined to serving Muslim customers, a growing number of non‐Muslim customers are attracted by IM because IM brands have high levels of consumer confidence based on the safety and quality of products offered (Hassan & Sengupta, 2019; Wilkins et al., 2019).…”

“…Research to date has focused on the three kinds of impact of religiosity: direct impact, moderating role, and mediating role. Religiosity can directly influence the ethical perception and behaviour of salespeople and customers (Aziz, 2018; Karami et al., 2014; Uysal & Okumuş, 2019; Vitell et al., 2018). Consumer product purchasing is dependent on religiosity (Abd Rahman, 2015; Aksoy & Abdulfatai, 2019; Casabayó et al., 2020; Casidy & Almossawi, 2014; Jamshidi & Hussin, 2016; Mukhtar & Butt, 2012).…”

“…(2018) identified that eight moral factors of ethical conducts were common to all of those major six religions: assurance, fairness/honesty, charity/compassion, environment, tolerance, character/integrity, sacrifice and seriousness. The discussions of IM ethics covers almost all areas of marketing; from marketing mix, marketing communications, branding, consumer behaviour, retailing to international marketing (Abbas et al., 2019; Al‐Nashmi & Almamary, 2017; Arham, 2010; Aziz, 2018; Karami et al., 2014; Saeed et al., 2001; Souiden et al., 2018; Turnbull et al., 2016; Uysal & Okumuş, 2019; Yousaf, 2014).…”

“…Surprisingly, this industry is dominated by non‐Muslim marketers (Alserhan, 2010b). This industry is well represented in IM literature with 12 manuscripts (Al‐Mazeedi et al., 2013; Ashraf, 2019; Diandri, 2019; Harris & Khatami, 2017; Iranmanesh et al., 2019; Ireland, 2011; Ishak et al., 2016; Kabiraj et al., 2014; Saleh & Salsabila, 2018; Tieman, 2015; Uysal & Okumuş, 2019; Wilkins et al., 2019). The focus of these work varies to include consumer behaviours relevant to halal foods (Ashraf, 2019; Diandri, 2019; Harris & Khatami, 2017; Ireland, 2011; Wilkins et al., 2019), the implications of halal certification in food industry (Iranmanesh et al., 2019), marketing strategy of halal foods (Saleh & Salsabila, 2018; Tieman, 2015), and halal food processing aids (Al‐Mazeedi et al., 2013).…”

“…The vertical tawhid portrays the link between human and Almighty Allah; and horizontal tawhid pictures the inter‐human relationship based on the principles and guidelines of Islamic law. Traditionally, conventional marketing (CM) strategies have been applied to target Muslim customers; however, over time, the influence of religion on consumer behaviour has become more applicable and visible (Salam et al., 2019; Uysal & Okumuş, 2019). Muslim customers around the world are increasing in numbers and so is their strength of purchasing powers (Alserhan, 2010a; Saleh & Salsabila, 2018).…”