Int. J. Islamic Marketing and Branding, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2019 45 Copyright © 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The Islamic consumer and the halal market Sedki Karoui* University of Economy and Management Sciences of Sfax, Road of Airport Km 4 P14, Sfax City, Tunisia Email: sedkihec@yahoo.fr *Corresponding author Romdhane Khemakhem Institute of Higher Business Study of Sfax, Road of Sidi Mansour Km 10 3061, Sfax City, Tunisia Email: rm.khemakhem@gmail.com 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. Keywords: Islamic consumer; Islamism; postmodernity; identity; halal market; symbolic consumption. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Karoui, S. and Khemakhem, R. (2019) ‘The Islamic consumer and the halal market’, Int. J. Islamic Marketing and Branding, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp.45–58. Biographical notes: Sedki Karoui has finished his PhD in International Marketing last year. He is currently awaiting his thesis final presentation. He worked as a stand-in Professor of Marketing and Management Sciences at several public universities in Sfax, Tunisia. He has published articles in journals, newspapers and social media. He is particularly interested in studying the interaction between market and cultures, marketplace ideologies, sociology of consumption and political marketing. Romdhane Khemakhem is a Professor at the High Commercial Studies of Sfax. He has research interests in the areas of management business, international marketing of firms, strategic marketing, planning marketing, and research methodology. He is currently appointed as a member of Laboratory of Management Research (LRM), in the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management of Sfax. He has published many articles in several international journals.