Moderating effects of marketing communication and financial consideration on customer attitude and intention to purchase Islamic banking products

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce a conceptual framework that can facilitate investigations concerning the impact of marketing communication and financial consideration on the relationship between customer attitude and purchase intention of Islamic banking products and services. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper is structured based on the extant literature; it provides a review of theoretical perspectives, highlights the gap and illustrates the significance for developing a framework. Findings The authors identify notable patterns and limitations in previous empirical studies. Specifically, despite increasing interest in Islamic banking customer behavior, prior research has not given much attention to explore moderating effects on the customer attitude–intention link. This has left researchers and bank managers with very limited information to explain the conditions that enhance customers’ attitude and intentions toward Islamic banking products. Based on this backdrop, the paper displays a viable research model with propositions that assess potential moderating effects on the domain relationship. Research limitations/implications This paper contributes to Islamic banking and management literature because prior research has predominantly focused on variables that directly influence customers’ behavior. This novel conceptual framework enables managers to better understand their customers and has implications for emerging themes, such as formulating strategies for specific customer groups and internationalization process. In addition, this paper provides a starting point to empirically examine whether and how the proposed moderators affect the link between customer attitude and behavioral intentions to purchase Islamic banking products. Originality/value To the best of knowledge, this is the first attempt to introduce relevant moderating variables for investigating the attitude and intention nexus in an Islamic banking context. Furthermore, the authors propose a new measure, namely, profit-loss sharing proportions which could enhance customers’ intention to purchase Islamic banking products.