Islamic branding and marketing: An insight of consumer perception in Pakistan

This paper studies the impact of Islamic marketing and branding on consumer perception in Pakistan. Although traditionally Islam enforces the idea of Halal for all the products in accordance to teachings of the Holy Quran, scholars have time and again debated the connection of this traditional Islamic branding to the modern branding and marketing theories. Modern branding and marketing techniques focus on creating a demand among the target population, which is then met by supplying adequately. More often than not, these techniques can be dubious or sometimes borderline malpractice, leading to consumer dissatisfaction and disappointment. However, Islamic marketing techniques focus not only on meeting consumer expectations. But also take into consideration the cultural, social and hierarchical aspects of the society. Therefore, the question arises if Islamic marketing and branding techniques falls under the item hypothesis or the brand hypothesis. Following an extensive review of literature, Islamic marketing and Islamic branding were chosen as predictors, the impact of which was to be seen on consumer perception. Two hypotheses were constructed accordingly and a questionnaire was constructed with several appropriate parameters using Islamic brands and Islamic marketing practices. The target population consisted of all consumers in Karachi who had ever experienced or had awareness of Islamic marketing and branding strategies. Sample was drawn using the unrestricted non-probabilistic method and a total of 280 consumers were interviewed. The survey was carried out, and the data was processed using inferential statistics using the SPSS 21.0 software. The Independent T-Test and Frequency Distribution statistical techniques were performed on the data and results interpreted accordingly. The results showed that while Islamic marketing is highly influential on consumer perception, the same could not be said of Islamic branding. Although there are a lot of factors affecting the consumer’s decision of buying products, the average Muslim consumer was highly influenced by the laws of Islam, especially the idea of halal. Along with these, consumers are also driven by moral values deeply imbibed in Islam, to buy products that reflect or adhere to the same. Consequently, manufacturers and marketers are forced to play closer attention to these Islamic teachings and rules of halal and haram, in order to avoid consumer disappointment and lawsuits. This study has strong implications on the future of Islamic marketing, since the rules shall apply to not only Pakistanis, but all the Muslims all over the world. Lastly, further research has to be done in order to develop a model based on Islamic branding and marketing rules.