Modeling of Islamic consumer behavior and background music regarding ambiguity in the Islamic texts

Purpose - This study aims to develop a model to analyze the effect of background music on Islamic consumer purchase behavior regarding to ambiguity in the Islamic texts. Design/methodology/approach - In this experimental design, the population included chain store consumers in Tehran, among whom more than 17,000 consumers were selected during 42 days. ANOVA was used to analyze the collected data. Findings - Based on the results, playing music in a store could significantly influence the total sales and average purchase value, while no positive role was observed on the number of purchases. Furthermore, dual impression form Islam viewpoints regarding music was observed in the present study as it failed to affect the number of sales in spite of influencing the amount of sales. Individuals affected by music buy more expensive goods, which may indicate that those who buy more luxury goods are less inclined to Islamic views or are inclined to those views which regards playing music as legitimate. Research limitations/implications - Store managers and marketers in Islamic nation are recommended to play pop music in their store to improve total sales. Managers in islamic nation should play some music when they offer more luxury and less ordinary goods. Although the present study attempted to control potential intervening variables to increase validity, controlling intervening variables is a serious limitation for conducting a field study. Uncontrollable intervening variables established by other media are considered as another limitation in this study. Originality/value - For the first time, this study sheds some light on how the types of background music influences on the Islamic consumers. The study shows the ambiguity in the islamic texts and the differences in the judgments of religious regarding playing music to muslim consumer.