in partnership with

 

 

Call for Papers 

World Islamic Marketing & Branding Colloquium (WIMBC):

 Muslim Markets and Consumption:

Entering A New Agenda and Frontiers

 

Venue: Middlesex University London, UK 

Date: 25^th & 26^th  November 2015

 

Delegates and paper presenters will be invited to submit a chapter

for an edited book published by Gower

Islamic marketing and branding has recently gained interest from both academics and business practitioners the world over. Parallel to the rise of academic activities (e.g., publications, conferences, and seminars), demands for products and services amongst the Muslim markets are rapidly growing. For example, we have witnessed a great increase in the availability of halal products and services, which are becoming more prevalent across different industry sectors (e.g., food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, apparel, tourism and hospitality, banking and insurance) in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. There is also an increasing awareness amongst multinational corporations who seek to formulate their marketing strategies to cater for the needs of Muslim consumers. Such a collective interest from different stakeholders can be associated with Muslims’ increasing identity awareness, disposal income, quality of life perceptions, and global mobility, and the intensification of businesses’ competition over access to new market opportunities. However, a key challenge facing Islamic marketing and branding is a lack of sufficient conceptualisation and empirical grounding that can help both advance and operationalise knowledge on the intersections between Islam, markets and marketing so that all stakeholders benefit from a sustainable engagement with markets and marketing.

Generation and operationalization of such knowledge also warrants understanding the contemporary life conditions in Muslim geographies. As a result of the acceleration of globalisation, coupled with the post 9/11 world conditions, Muslims in different parts of the world have been experiencing a strong wave of introspection at all levels. For example, since the onset of the “Arab Spring” in Tunisia, many individuals in Muslim majority countries have been questioning their identity, their lifestyle and behaviour, the way they interact with each other and with non-Muslims, etc. In many instances this has led to social “schizophrenia”. Similarly, in non-Muslim majority contexts, Muslims face challenges in terms of their ethno-religious identities and lifestyle choices. Such geo-political, economic, and sociocultural dynamics should be taken into consideration by academics and practitioners.

The existing influential literature alludes to the importance of understanding: (1) the psychographic determinants of Muslim consumers’ choice of products and service (Muhamad, Melewar and Alwi, 2012); (2) the limitations of segmentation criteria (Sand?kc?, 2011); (3) the tenets (Alserhan, 2010) and the problematic of Islamic branding (Süerdem, 2013); (4) the multiple discourses that underpin the conceptualisation of Islamic marketing (Sand?kc? and Rice, 2011; Jafari, 2012; Sand?kc? and Jafari, 2013; Ger, 2013); (5) the diversity of approaches to Islamicness in consumption and the market (Wong, 2007; Fischer, 2011; Jafari and Süerdem, 2012; Karata? and Sand?kc?, 2013) and (6) the need for a wider engagement with the existing marketing theory and practice (Wilson et al., 2013; Kadirov, 2014; Koku and Jusoh, 2014).

Building upon such advancements, for this colloquium, we are particularly eager to attract submissions from international participants engaged in high quality research which explores new ideas on Islamic marketing and branding, organisational identity and reputation. The initial submission should comprise an abstract of no more than 1000 words (excluding references) which describes the proposed research with a clear focus. If accepted, this will be followed by a presentation at a conference to be held at Middlesex University London, UK, in November 2015. Full papers must be submitted by March 2016, to be considered for publication in April 2017. We thus invite papers with an original perspective and advanced thinking linked to Islamic marketing, branding, image, and identity research on issues including, but not limited to, the following research topics:

Ø Theorising Islamic marketing and branding

Ø Comparative studies related to business issues between Islam and other belief systems

Ø Halal market and economy

Ø Halal certification and its challenges

Ø Shariah issues in marketing

Ø Strategic marketing in B2C and B2B domains

Ø Segmentation, targeting and positioning

Ø Marketing mix from Islamic perspectives

Ø Methodological issues in Islamic marketing

Ø Islamic banking and financial services

Ø Digital marketing

Ø Islamic fashion and clothing

Ø Islamic tourism and hospitality

Ø Islamic branding, identity, image and reputation

Ø Islamic business ethics

Ø Best practices in Islamic marketing and branding

Ø Reference groups and opinion leadership in Muslim geographies

Ø Identity and consumption in Muslim geographies

Ø Muslim consumer behaviour in a context of change

 

Abstracts should not have been previously published or be under consideration by other journals or conferences. Please submit your abstract electronically to TC Melewar: t.c.melewar@mdx.ac.uk.

 

Abstract deadline: 31^st July 2015

Colloquium: 25^th & 26^th November 2015

Full papers deadline: 31^st March 2016

 

Prospective contributors with queries concerning potential contributions should contact the Colloquium Founder and Director, Professor TC Melewar, t.c.melewar@mdx.ac.uk.

The 1000 word Abstract should be submitted to: t.c.melewar@mdx.ac.uk 

Conference Founder & Director:

Professor T C Melewar
Professor of Marketing and Strategy
Office W108 Williams Building
The Business School
Middlesex University London
The Burroughs, Hendon
London NW4 4BT
United Kingdom

Associate Directors

Dr S F Syed Alwi – Brunel University, UK
Dr Kaouther Kooli – Bournemouth University, UK
Dr Aliakbar Jafari – University of Strathclyde, UK
Dr Mark McPherson – Middlesex University London, UK

References

Alserhan, B.A, (2010) On Islamic branding: brands as good deeds. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 1, 101-106.

Fischer, J. (2011). The Halal Frontier: Muslim Consumers in a Globalized Market. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Ger, G. (2013). Islamic marketing at the Nexus of global markets-religions-politics and implications for research. Marketing Theory, 13, 497-503.

Jafari, A. (2012). Islamic Marketing: insights from a critical perspective. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 3, 22-34.

Jafari, A. & Süerdem, A. (2012). An Analysis of Material Consumption Culture in the Muslim World. Marketing Theory, 12, 59-77.

Kadirov, D. (2014). Islamic marketing as macromarketing. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 5, 2-19.

Karata?, M. & Sand?kc?, Ö. (2013). Religious Communities and the Marketplace: Learning and Performing Consumption in an Islamic Network. Marketing Theory, 13, 465-484.

Koku, P.S. & Jusoh, O. (2014). Where do we go from here? Towards a theory in Islamic marketing. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 5, 366-378.

Muhamad, R., Melewar, T.C. & Alwi, S.F.S. (2012). Segmentation and Brand Positioning for Islamic Financial Services. European Journal of Marketing, 46, 900-921.

Sand?kc?, Ö. (2011). Researching Islamic Marketing: Past and Future Perspectives. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 2, 246-258.

Sand?kc?, Ö. & Jafari, A. (2013). Islamic Encounters in Consumption and Marketing. Marketing Theory, 13, 411-420.

Sand?kc?, Ö. & Rice, G. (Eds.) (2011). The Handbook of Islamic Marketing. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Süerdem, A. (2013). Yes my name is Ahmet, but please don’t target me. Islamic marketing: Marketing Islam(tm)? Marketing Theory, 13, 285-295.

Wilson, J.A.J., Belk, R.W., Bamossy, G.J., Sand?kc?, Ö., Kartajaya, H., Sobh, R., Liu, J. & Scott, L. (2013). Crescent Marketing, Muslim Geographies and Brand Islam: Reflections from the JIMA Senior Advisory Board. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 4, 22-50.

Wong, L. (2007). Market Cultures, the Middle Classes and Islam: Consuming the Market? Consumption, Markets and Culture, 10, 451-480.

 

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