Journal of Islamic Banking and Finance
March 2014, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 209-229
ISSN: 2374-2666 (Print) 2374-2658 (Online)
Copyright © The Author(s). 2014. All Rights Reserved.
Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development
The Impact of Islamic Branding on Consumer Preference towards
Islamic Banking Services: An E mpirical Investigation in Malaysia
Md. Abdul Jalil
1
and Muhammad Khalilur Rahman
2
Abstract
Islamic banking system as a new banking structure has drastically increased its
operations in order to expand its usage in different part of the world. The main
objective of the study is to explore how much the bank consumers are influenced by
the Islamic banking services and this research is also to identify the factors that
influence customers in preferring Islamic banking services. A structural
questionnaire is constructed to collect data to answer the research questions as being
framed on related affective factors that influence consumers’ preference towards
Islamic banking services in Malaysia. In this study, we have employed confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA), hypothesis testing and reliability analysis. The results show
that convenience of services, perception of services and ethical organization has
positive impact on Islamic banking services. The findings also present that Islamic
branding has negative impact and insignificant relationship with Islamic banking
service, since Malaysian consumers prefer Islamic banking service due to
convenience service, perception of service and ethical organization rather than
Islamic branding. One potential limitation of this study is the size and composition
of the group which participated in the study. Therefore, a generalization about the
entire population of Malaysian banking customers of banking sector is
inappropriate.This study could not incorporate all levels of diverse factors that
might influence consumers’ preference in Islamic banking service.The findings of
the study can facilitate the Islamic banking service providers to introduce innovative
service offering in according to Islamic shariah principle.
Keywords:Islamic branding, Islamic banking services, Consumer preference,
Ethical organization, Malaysia
1
Dr. Md. Abdul Jalil, Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences,
Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. E-mail: abd_jalil2@ yahoo.com
2
Muhammad Khalilur Rahman, Graduate School of Business, Faculty of Business and Accountancy,
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: mohdkhalilur@ gmail.com