Exploring Muslims consumer perception and religiosity towards purchase behavior in context with western imported food products in Pakistan

Exploring Muslims consumer perception and religiosity towards purchase behavior in context with western imported food products in Pakistan

Consumers in an Islamic society are governed by Islamic norms which serve as a guide in their daily life. Moderation directs the way Muslims spend money: they are required to base their consumption on strict adherence to this practice. Despite guidelines on moderate spending and food consumption according to Islamic law and the values they entail, which contrast to the consumerism of western culture, the consumption of western imported food and the money spent on it in Pakistan has been increasing. This is surprising because western imported food is more expensive compared to locally produced food products and to purchase it seems contrary to the Muslim principle of moderation.

Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the motivation behind this behavior. This study aims to improve the understanding of the factors that influence Muslim consumers’ purchase behavior in the context of western imported food in Pakistan. The factors related to the marketing mix, which include product attributes, price, place and promotion and the consumer related factors of personality, social class, brand trust, self-concept, customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, religiosity, lifestyle and subjective norms were used to investigate this purchase behavior in detail. To test these factors, the research model used in this study was based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

This is a sequential study. A mixed method approach was adopted in the form of in-depth semi-structured interviews and a paper-based survey questionnaire. Initially, a detailed literature review was carried out to identify the factors influencing the food purchase behavior from a global perspective, which identified the factors mentioned above. From this analysis, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 90 participants comprised of professionals, housewives and university students from eight cities in Pakistan which represented different regions and demographic variables. These were Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Hyderabad, Faisalabad and Larkana. The technique used to analyse the qualitative interview findings was thematic content analysis. To confirm the results, Leximancer software Version 4.5 was used to reanalyze and validate them. This authenticated the overall qualitative interview findings. A pilot test of the survey instrument was conducted with 375 respondents in the city Karachi. On this basis, the instrument was adapted and some items were excluded. At this point, the hypotheses were developed and the conceptual model was adjusted before delivering the main survey questionnaire which involved 927 respondents from these eight Pakistani cities with the occupational demographics mentioned above. The objective of the main study was to confirm the findings that were revealed by qualitative focused in-depth interviews. Once all the questionnaires were received, a detailed screening was carried out to find any missing values and to confirm the normality of the data. Measurement models were developed for individual constructs to verify the model fit and also to construct the final structural model. To determine the reliability and validity of the constructs, convergent and construct validity methods were used. To confirm the findings of the qualitative interviews, a structural equation modeling technique was used and hypotheses were accepted and rejected by using the path analysis method.

The findings from the qualitative focused interviews revealed that the product attributes of packaging, taste, and labeling influenced their purchase behavior. The vast majority reported that food products coming from the west needs to be halal and this is an important deciding factor for purchase. Further, brand trust, loyalty, and satisfaction were influential factors for Muslim consumers purchasing and consuming western imported food in Pakistan. Also, these consumers were willing to pay a higher price for western imported food due to its overall quality, brand name and country of origin. However, the elements of promotion, lifestyle, self-concept and subjective norms were not found to significantly influence their purchase behavior. The quantitative study revealed that product attributes, price, self-concept, brand trust, personality, and religiosity were positively associated with Muslim consumer purchase intention towards western imported food products.

This study is instrumental for western food producers and exporters, providing valuable information about the motives behind the purchase of western imported food products in Pakistan, and by extension, potentially in Muslim countries in general. The study also contributes to the academic literature on Muslim consumer behavior in the context of western imported food purchasing behavior by combining factors on a single platform, grounded in the theory of planned behavior. The study’s findings add value to the field of consumer behavior, in which little research has been conducted on the relationship between consumer perception, religiosity and Muslims’ consumer behavior towards western imported food products.