The Islamic consumer and the halal market

Abstract

Despite the growing number of research papers dealing with Islamic consumption and the Islamic marketing themes, concepts like the Islamic consumer and what was used to be called the 'halal' market rise a considerable controversy. Through a literature review relating different theoretical perspectives such as postmodernism, Islamism and its effects on market places, this paper aims to improve our knowledge about the Islamic consumer behaviour and the new emergence of 'halal' market. Opposite to the mainstream thought, this paper argues that being a Muslim does not necessarily involve being an Islamic consumer. Therefore, the Islamic consumer is likely the consumer who seeks to consume some specific products and services that create and symbolise a particular Islamic social identity. This paper is almost the first to establish a clear definition of the Islamic consumer and also of the 'halal' market, distinguishing between the Islamic consumer and the Muslim consumer.