A sample (n = 295) of five-to eight-year-old children participated in an experiment, which included a control group, where the treatment group played a Froot Loops cereal advergame that made a superiority claim for the cereal compared to fresh fruit. Measures of their responses to the brand featured, as well as their level of persuasion knowledge, were collected. Although the treatment group failed to believe Froot Loops were healthier than fruit, the older children in the group reported significantly higher preference for the brand over other cereals and other food types. No differences in intentions to request the cereal were found. Children's preferences for the Froot Loops brand were not associated with their persuasion knowledge about the advergame.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of three self‐congruity constructs: the brand's personality congruity (BPC), the brand's user imagery congruity and the brand's usage imagery congruity, in consumers' attitude and brand loyalty toward two luxury fashion brands.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of Australian consumers, this study examines two luxury fashion brands (CK and Chanel) from two product categories, watches and sunglasses. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThis study finds that user and usage imagery congruity are stronger predictors for brand attitude and brand loyalty than BPC in the context of the luxury fashion brands tested. Both user and usage imagery congruity have significant effects in brand attitude and brand loyalty in most analyses. This study finds no significant effect of BPC in either brand attitude or brand loyalty for the two brands tested.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should include more populations, product categories and more brands in each category.Practical implicationsSymbolic benefits are key motivations behind luxury brand purchases. Symbolic benefits are from non‐product‐related attributes like imagery. One important implication of the study is that user and usage imagery are more important to build than attempts to develop a brand's personality. Because most luxury brands market in multiple product categories, attention should be paid to the core perceptions of user and usage imagery for the brand when designing communication strategies for different categories.Originality/valueThis study provides the first evidence that these self‐congruity concepts may represent different imageries that lead to different effects in brand attitude and brand loyalty. Findings from this study add to the understanding of the consumption of luxury brands.

Purpose -There is limited conceptual and theoretical knowledge among marketers and practitioners regarding the measurement of religious influences in consumer market-place behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to review religious factors that appear to influence buyer and consumer behaviour in the light of findings from marketing and religious psychology. Design/methodology/approach -The paper utilises academic databases to search for marketing and religious psychology papers that deal with influences of religion and constructs that have been suggested to mediate them. Findings from religious psychology are utilised as the backbone for understanding religious influence. The paper also compares and groups terminologies and concepts used in marketing studies, suggesting a holistic view of religion and factors that may mediate religious influences on consumers' market-place behaviours. Findings -Five factors of religious influence have been identified. These are commitment, motivation, affiliation, knowledge about a religion and awareness of the social consequences of following a religion. The characteristics, importance and applications of these factors are discussed. Originality/value -The paper applies knowledge from the area of religious psychology to offer a holistic view in understanding factors that tend to mediate religious influences on consumer behaviours.

This study tests the role of consumers’ religious motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) in their decision making regarding the consumption of a prohibited brand or product category because of a religious declaration called Fatwa. Despite numerous studies on the effects of religion in consumers’ marketplace behaviors, little is known of about consumers’ decision making under a religious ruling like Fatwa. A Fatwa is a decree issued by religious scholars for Muslim communities. A survey based on the Theory of Planned Behavior asked young adult Muslims about their responses to a brand, and two product categories that were subject to Fatwa. The data concerning the respondents’ decision making were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test hypotheses based on the available literature. The analyses found that the respondents’ motivation in following Islamic teachings had the greatest effects in their deciding to smoke, listen to contentious popular music, but was not relevant for buying the Coca Cola brand. The results are discussed in terms of the study's theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and future research.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the motivations behind Muslim consumers’ boycotting of foreign products. The act of boycotting foreign products has become increasingly common among Muslim consumers. Products from different countries-of-origin are their boycott targets. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions for data collection. A total of 36 Indonesian subjects participated in the study, representing the “university student” and “non-university student” samples. Leximancer, a qualitative analytical tool, was used to identify important motivations for boycotting behaviour among Muslim consumers. Findings Contrary to previous findings, this study found that Muslim consumers do not boycott solely for religious reasons. For example, most participants reported they boycotted Chinese products because they would like to protect their local products, along with the religious-based motivation of rejecting uncertainty about the halal certification of the products. Thus, the motivations identified from this study were not related exclusively to religion. Practical implications The present study offers new insights into the religious and secular motivations of Muslim consumers’ boycotts. Foreign products should adopt localised strategies such as repeatedly reminding consumers of the true halal nature of their products and their contribution to the local people. Originality/value This study contributes to the recognition of new insights into Muslim motivation to boycott product. The results develop important concepts surrounding the issue of boycotting foreign products. A concept map has been produced to offer a more comprehensive picture of Muslim’s boycotting behaviour.

Purpose – This study aims to provide insights on the influence of Muslim consumers’ knowledge on products subjected to contemporary fatwa ruling and their subsequent cognitive and behavioural responses. Design/methodology/approach – MANOVA and MANCOVA were used to examine the influence of religious orientation on young Malaysian Muslims’ product knowledge, and the extent of religious orientation and gender on Muslim consumers’ attitude and behaviour towards three contemporary fatwa rulings of products. Findings – Respondents’ religious orientation differentiates their knowledge on fatwa prohibition ruling of selected brand and behaviours. Consumers’ religious orientation and gender explain consumers’ behavioural responses to variables of the Theory of Planned Behaviour for three behaviours. Evidence suggests that ruling types affects (conditional and unconditional) consumers’ responses. Research limitations/implications – Greater insights are provided on Muslims’ motivation to search information of controversial products, and their subsequent perception and behavioural reactions to controversial products. Findings are limited to the Malaysian Muslim consumers. Practical implications – The fact that contemporary fatwa reached young Muslim generations indicates that managers have to be wary of fatwa to predict Muslim consumers’ marketplace behaviours. Social implications – A significant number of young Malaysian Muslims are keeping abreast with contemporary fatwa. This suggests that they received an early and substantial exposure to Islamic way of life through their socialisation. Originality/value – This study offer insights into the understandings of the young Muslim generation regarding contemporary fatwa on products, and revealed significant findings in relation to consumer product knowledge and religious influences on consumer behaviour.

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Young children under 8 years old are viewed as especially vulnerable to marketing communications because they do not have sufficient knowledge about the purpose of persuasive advertising messages, also known as children's persuasion knowledge (CPK). However, a review of 25 studies that have tested CPK effects, on primarily older children, finds inconsistent or no support for CPK. The lack of support depends on the effect studied, and a measurement challenge because of young children's limited capabilities in reading and responding to questions from interviewers. Thirteen measures of CPK have been tested but not compared for CPK effects. These measures were simplified to nonverbal options for young children and tested on a sample of 4‐ to 7‐year‐old North East Chinese children (n = 233). These measures were each tested in relation to the children's age (positive), their skepticism toward advertising (positive), their disbelief of false claims in a TV commercial (TVC) (positive) and their affect toward the TVC (negative). Only two measures of CPK show any expected associated responses with “knowing the source” of advertisements the best measure. Perceived marketer intentions had no expected associations, nor did the age of the child. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of theory, measurement, and applications for marketers and public policy.