Scale of religiosity for Muslims: an exploratory study

Abstract

Purpose Islam plays a powerful symbolic and cultural role in the constitution of consumer preferences, especially in Muslim countries. To quantitatively study this role in the consumption patterns of Muslim consumers we need a suitable scale for religiosity. However, the existing scales of religiosity have been developed primarily for Christian/Jewish respondents and cannot provide valid results for Muslim consumers. This study aims to address these challenges by re-conceptualizing the religiosity construct for Muslims and conducting an exploratory study to generate an initial scale. Design/methodology/approach This paper initialized the scale development exercise with a systematic review of the existing Islamic literature to ensure that we use Islamic categories to build the scale. Once the authors had a large pool of items, they consulted experts on Shariah (Islamic law) to evaluate these items for clarity, face and content validity. Next, they conducted five focus groups to (a) determine if they had covered the full terrain of Muslim religiosity; (b) identify if the items correspond with the actual experiences of the target respondents; and (c) ensure linguistic compatibility. This was followed by administering an exploratory survey designed to test psychometric properties of the new scale and to analyze the underlying dimensionality of the inventory of items. Findings To extract a manageable number of latent dimensions in the survey data, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) procedure was conducted. This resulted in the extraction of five different factors which were named as Mu’amalat_societal ethics, Roshan Khayali (enlightened moderation), Ibadaat (prayers), Mu’amalat_societal laws, Azeemat (a state exhibiting scrupulous faithfulness) and Mu’amalat_business dealings. There is a divide between Ibadaat (individual and collective worship) and Muamlaat (social relations) that emerged in the data from the cluster analysis procedure. Originality/value Religion can be an important part of decision-making of a typical consumer. This paper proposes a new scale for Muslims to tap into their religiosity, as existing scales are not embedded in the Islamic literature. This study also distinguishes Muslim religiosity from its Western counterpart and thus helps in clarifying the Muslim religiosity construct.

Why religiosity is not enough in workplace ethical decision-making

“…The use of such methods can help facilitate, grow, and develop the theory behind religiosity and ethical decision-making at the workplace. This is because religiosity is a trait of an individual, and belonging to a particular religious category shapes individuals interaction and dispositions (Ul-Haq et al, 2019). Specifically, in Islam, these practices are reflected as 'amaal' (behaviours and practices) or Muslims' adherence to these practices as a result of iman (faith in Allah, and his messenger, Muhammad PBUH).…”

Is There A Need for An Improved Religiosity Measurement Tailored to Consumer Research?

“…As for consumer research, additional criteria such as clarity of objective and nature of the influence of religion and the length of the questionnaire are also applied. Ul-Haq et al (2019) also highlighted the issue of determining the total number of dimensions. Numerous dimensions have been suggested, however which dimension is the most salient in which context is an unresolved empirical question.…”

“…Apart from that, there is a need to focus on other religiosity constructs to better find out its relationship towards consumer behaviour. Several constructs can be further investigated in understanding Muslim consumer religiosity impacting muammalat or specifically marketing-related activities (Ul-Haq et al, 2019;Dali et al, 2019). In this case, the religiosity concept should be extended and to measure the commitment beyond just belief and practices within the Islamic framework.…”

“…Since contextual settings and operationalisation of this measurement must tailor towards consumer research. The raising attention of looking its impact on a consumer-related variable called for more suitable religiosity measurement (Salam, Muhammad, and Leong, 2019;Ul-Haq et al, 2019;Dali et al, 2019). As suggested by Shukor and Jamal (2013) urged to develop religiosity measurement that is to suit consumer research.…”

“…The operationalisation of these measurements or items might not be suitable for this field of study. Thus, indicates that little has been carried out in developing religiosity tailored towards other disciplines, especially in the marketing field (Salam, Muhammad, and Leong, 2019;Ul-Haq, Butt, Ahmed and Al-Said, 2019).…”