Religious faith, addictive products, and their advertisement: a qualitative inquiry

Abstract

The present study sheds some light on the issue pertaining to the influence of religious faith on marketing communication strategy. More particularly, this study attempts to answer two research questions: (i) how Malaysian consumers perceive controversial product? And (ii) what is their perception, attitude and behavioral feelings towards advertisement of the controversial products from the religious perspective? The qualitative approach has been taken to achieve the research objectives. Twenty-two in-depth interviews have been conducted on students of a reputable public university in Malaysia. It is revealed that, health conscious consumers as well as consumer with small child hold negative perception towards controversial product and its advertisement. It is also understood that, Muslim consumers are more reluctant towards such products and their advertisement compare to other consumers. Implications, limitations and future research directions are also discussed at the end of the article.