Religious boycott in Indonesia: investigation of antecedents and the effect of religiosity dimensions

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to investigate whether religiosity holds a significant effect on religious animosity in boycott circumstances in Indonesia and the interplay of religiosity dimensions (Study 1). Second, to investigate the antecedents of the intention to participate in religious boycotts (Study 2). The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is used as the foundation to explore and develop the antecedents. Design/methodology/approach The quantitative research uses a scenario from a real case of boycott incident in Indonesia; a significant country for the Muslim community and the host to the biggest Muslim population in the world. The case is related to a boycott toward the leading brand of the bakery (Sari Roti). In total, 270 adult Muslims participate as respondents using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The data is then analyzed using multiple regression analyzes. Findings Study 1 reveals that religiosity has a significant effect on religious animosity. Thus, religiosity is a relevant factor in affecting boycotts. Further, the dimensions of religiosity (intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity) play intertwining roles in affecting religious animosity. Study 2 reveals that the significant antecedents of religious boycott intention are attitude toward religious boycott, normative belief, motivation to comply. The political tendency is a significant covariate. The attitude toward religious boycott has the highest effect on religious boycott intention and is preceded by religious animosity and perceived success likelihood. Research limitations/implications The sample is chosen from the population of Indonesian adult Muslims. Hence, caution should be applied when generalizing across other populations. Practical implications Results of the current research can help managers to prevent and to anticipate the potential negative impacts of a religious boycott on their businesses through the understanding of the factors affecting the intention to participate in such boycotts. Managers may initiate marketing interventions for such anticipations by creating communications responding to the potential animosity and boycott issues. Social implications Governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can benefit from the current research in their efforts to prevent potential national instability and social or political chaos. The research findings may increase the understanding about antecedents of religious boycott, and, in turn, the governments and NGOs can plan social engineering initiatives for corrective and preventive actions accordingly. Originality/value The paper fulfills the conceptual gap by investigating whether religiosity and religious animosity are relevant in the boycott context. The paper also shows the different effects and the interplay among the antecedents of religious boycott intention. There is no prior literature that initiates and integrates the antecedents of religious boycott intention using TPB as the base theory.

Opinion Leaders and Product Boycott Intentions: Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior in Support of Israel Boycott

“…This can be seen from the T-count value which is smaller than the T-table (0.815 < 1.98) and Pvalues which are greater than 0.05 (0.415 > 0.05), so hypothesis four is rejected. This finding contradicts several previous studies (Dekhil et al, 2017;Muhamad et al, 2018;Roswinanto & Suwanda, 2021) which stated that religiosity has an influence on a person's boycott intentions.…”

“…This indicates that conflicting religious values serve as a motivation for Muslim consumers to engage in boycotts (Cruz & Botelho, 2015). This assertion is further supported by research findings from (Dekhil et al, 2017;Roswinanto & Suwanda, 2021), which highlight the role of religiosity in motivating Muslim consumers to boycott. Additionally, (Muhamad et al, 2018) study reveals that religiosity has only an indirect impact on the motivation to boycott, while lacking a direct influence on the decision to boycott.…”

“…For example, there are still some conflicting research results. Like research (Dekhil et al, 2017;Roswinanto & Suwanda, 2021) which reveals that religiosity has a positive influence on the decision to participate in the boycott. However, research (Muhamad et al, 2018) reveals the opposite religiosity has no direct influence on the decision to participate in a boycott.…”

“…Religiosity has two dimensions, namely intrinsic and extrinsic. The intrinsic dimension is related to belief or faith, while the extrinsic dimension is related to practical matters (Allport & Ross, 1967), these two dimensions were tested by (Roswinanto & Suwanda, 2021) on boycott intentions, and it is proven that religiosity has a significant influence on boycott actions.…”

“…The variable of opinion leaders was gauged using items from studies by (Eastman et al, 2014;Xiong et al, 2018). Religiosity was measured utilizing items from research by (Ratnasari et al, 2021;Roswinanto & Suwanda, 2021). Animosity was assessed using items from research conducted by research (Mishra et al, 2023;Salma & Aji, 2023).…”