Theory of Islamic consumer behaviour

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to propose a theory of Islamic consumer behaviour to explain the factors that influence the Islamic mortgage industry. Although previous works have shown that conventional marketing theories were, to a certain extent, able to predict factors influencing halal marketing and Islamic mortgage, these theories fail to capture or accommodate the Islamic perspectives of consumer behaviour. Conventional marketing theories have also been found to be inadequate to explain the Islamic mortgage preference among consumers. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the Maqasid al-Shariah, this study develops an Maqasid al-Shariah index (MSI) and religious satisfaction (RS) for Islamic mortgage industry in Malaysia. These indexes are developed as the basis of the theory development in this setting. The model developed is later examined using survey data. Findings – This study reveals that education and RS are instrumental in determining the Islamic home financing preference. In contrast, justice and welfare are insignificantly related to the Islamic home financing preference. Religious satisfaction, to a certain extent, plays role not only as a mediator but also as a moderator. We find that RS has a full mediation effect on the relationship between welfare and willingness to consider applying Islamic mortgage. We discover justice is moderated by RS. Education and welfare however are not moderated. Originality/value – This study contributes to the development of an empirical Islamic framework in predicting consumers’ behaviour in an Islamic mortgage market using a Maqasid approach. This study is also pioneering in introducing two indexes, notably MSI and RS, and applying these indexes to Islamic home financing context.