Muslim customer’s shopping experiences in multicultural retail environment

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to understand better the impact of intercultural communication, social environment and personality on customer satisfaction and post-purchase stage in retailing from Muslim customers’ perspective. In this endeavour, this study illustrates the unique context of intercultural communication to highlight several improvements contributing towards the advancement of intercultural communication literature. Design/methodology/approach This research adopted a survey approach where 450 questionnaires were obtained among selected grocery retailers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The measurement of the constructs and their interrelationships were examined based on partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings The findings partially validated the proposed framework with statistically significant relationships among all constructs. Furthermore, it exposed additional insights into some practical and conceptual solutions for addressing intercultural communication of religiously and culturally diverse service encounters in the Malaysian grocery retail industry. These contributions postulated an impetus for future research in various service settings. Originality/value Based on the theories, this study assessed the role of the social environment and personality of grocery retail customers on intercultural communication competence (ICC). It also examined the impacts of ICC on inter-role congruence and interaction comfort. It is anticipated that by filling this knowledge gap, the research assisted in strengthening retail communication strategies, which require intercultural communication adjustments in a multicultural business environment. ICC is expected to improve the retail industry’s competitiveness when it positively influences inter-role congruence and interaction comfort among customers.

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).…”

“…Islamic retailing was also researched (Hashim et al., 2014; Ihtiyar, 2019; Karami et al., 2014; Mohd Suki & Abang Salleh, 2018; Sahlan et al., 2019; Zinser, 2019). As Hashim et al.…”

“…Marketing environment and culture influence the behaviour of marketers and customers (El‐Bassiouny, 2014; Ihtiyar, 2019; Jafari, 2012). Consumers' shopping experience and their perception of service quality are influenced by marketing environment (Ihtiyar, 2019; Jafari, 2012). So, researchers cannot ignore the role of marketing environment on consumer behaviour.…”

“…In IM, both wholesaling and retailing are important. Although some papers were written on various aspects of Islamic retailing (Ihtiyar, 2019; Karami et al., 2014; Mohd Suki & Abang Salleh, 2018; Sahlan et al., 2019; Zinser, 2019), till today, no researchers focused on Islamic wholesaling. It represents one of the most attainable literature gaps in which researchers may focus for future literary work.…”

“…Consumer and customer behaviour are the most widely researched areas in IM literature. Researchers approached customer and consumer behaviour research from various perspectives—from focusing on the role of religiosity on consumer behaviour (Ashraf, 2019; Diandri, 2019; El‐Bassiouny, 2016; Ihtiyar, 2019; Uysal & Okumuş, 2019), customer loyalty (Wahyuni & Fitriani, 2017; Zainudin et al., 2018), behaviour of non‐Muslim customers (Diandri, 2019; Misnan et al., 2018; Wilkins et al., 2019), to focusing on the halal status of consumer purchase (Ireland, 2011). Various factors, such as—religiosity, subjective norms, and ethnocentrism influence the buying and consumption behaviour of consumers.…”