Journal of Islamic Marketing

Boycotting foreign products: a study of Indonesian Muslim consumers

Dessy Kurnia Sari Dick Mizerski Fang Liu
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Dessy Kurnia Sari Dick Mizerski Fang Liu , (2017)," Boycotting foreign products: a study of Indonesian Muslim consumers ",
Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 8 Iss 1 pp. -
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 BOYCOTTING FOREIGN PRODUCTS: A STUDY OF INDONESIAN MUSLIM

CONSUMERS

Abstract

1. Introduction
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Boycotts among Muslim consumers are believed to be strongly associated with religious
reasons. The misuse of a religious icon or symbol may trigger a boycott from religious
followers (Anderson, 2012; Jensen, 2008; Maamoun and Aggarwal, 2008). For example, riots
across the Islamic world against the US interests in 2012 were caused by an anti-Islamic
movie (the original title is Innocence of Muslims) made by a U.S. citizen. Millions of
consumers decided to peacefully boycott American brands as a statement of their offense at
the film, and encouraged others to join them in this boycott.

Secular reasons are rarely identified in previous research about Muslims consumers
boycotting behaviour. For example, some studies (Sandkc and Ekici, 2009; Sutikno and
Cheng, 2011) found that some consumers protest against foreign brands in order to save their
local products as they believe that local products are in danger if foreign products dominate
the market. This motivation is related to consumer ethnocentrism. Some Muslim customers
perceived the act of purchasing foreign brands as an inappropriate and unpatriotic behaviour
(Sandkc and Ekici, 2009). Studies found that consumer ethnocentrism has a strong link to
the rejection (Sandkc and Ekici, 2009) and boycotting of foreign products (Tabassi et al.,
2012).

Some Muslim consumers may participate in boycotts due to peer pressure or group
influence. Al Hyari et al., (2012) highlight some characteristics of Muslim people, including
that they prefer to act in a similar manner to their fellow Muslims. They will try to follow
what other Muslims do. For example, Arabic Muslims reported that they boycott Danish
brands when they are in their home country, but most of them do not boycott the brands
when they travel abroad because they feel the effect of the boycott would be minimal when
they were alone (Al Hyari et al., 2012).

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 Hoffmann and Mller (2009, p. 240) argue that the literature on consumer boycotts
consists of three areas of research: (1) the frequency, causes, and goals of boycotts; (2) the
consequences of boycotts; and (3) the motivations of participating individuals. However,
among those three aspects, the individual motivation to engage in a boycott got the least
attention (Klein et al., 2004). Therefore, this study focuses on identifying important concepts
surrounding boycotts, including what products are boycotted and the motivations behind
boycotts for Muslim consumers.

2. Literature review
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2.1 The Boycott of Foreign brands in Muslim countries

Friedman (1985, p.97) defines a customer boycott as an attempt by one or more parties to
achieve particular objectives by urging individual customers not to buy selected products.
Boycotts are now a major method for consumers to express their anger or dislike of what
happens in relations to brands (John and Klein, 2003) and has a significant impact on the
affected brands (Friedman, 1999). Consumer boycotts are even predicted to become
increasingly common in the future (John and Klein, 2003). A boycott is the consumers way
to use their power by not buying some products/brands to show their disagreement. John and
Klein (2003, p.1198) emphasize that a boycott may also happen, ...when a number of people
abstain from purchase of a product, at the same time, as a result of the same egregious act or
behaviour, but not necessarily for the same reasons.... Therefore, different individuals may
have different reasons to engage in a boycott (Ettenson et al, 2006).

Rejection of global brands in Muslims countries may happen for various reasons. A study
by Sandkc and Ekici (2009) found that in a Muslim country, such as Turkey, brand rejection
may not necessary happen because of religious reasons. Turkish people prefer to consume
local brands such as Cola Turka rather than Coca cola simply because it is local. Customers
have a tendency to support local brands as part of their patriotism. Holt, Quelch, and Taylor
(2004) in their study reached similar conclusions. They found that customers choose global
brands only because they do not have the choice of local brands. Once the local brands are
available, they reject the global brands.

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 Muslim consumers are reported to have different behaviours compared to other
consumers in relations to their commitment to their (Islamic) doctrines (Bailey and Sood,
1993; Fam et al., 2004; Vitell and Paolillo, 2003). For example, they react more negatively to
the advertising of controversial products such as alcohol compared to Christians (Fam et al.,
2004). Muslims tend to be more impulsive shoppers and are often more influenced by their
emotions in a buying decision compared to other religions followers (Bailey and Sood,
1993). Therefore, Muslim consumers behaviours need special attention from marketers.

Religiosity refers to an individuals motivation in following their religion. It is still

regarded as an important concept that influences customers behaviours and preferences
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(Wilson and Grant, 2013; Wilson and Liu, 2011; Wilson and Liu, 2010). Two types of
religious motivation, namely intrinsics and extrinsics, have been identified by Allport
and Ross (1967). The study found that intrinsically motivated followers of Christian religions
tend to be affected by their religious values in their choices because they see religion as the
central guide for their lives. Extrinsically motivated followers tend to focus on using their
religion for their current needs like solace, social standing and assistance. The extrinsically
motivated tend to be less affected by their religions values in choices they make.
Religiosity was found to have an impact on peoples tendency to boycott particular
foreign products which could also be mediated by consumers animosity (Ahmed et al.,
2013). Muslims were found to boycott brands from the US because of what they believe the
US does in international affairs and their sympathy to Muslims in other countries, such as
Palestine (Blaydes and Linzer, 2012; Farah and Newman, 2010). A Muslims boycott may
also target products that originate from a country they believe does not respect Islam. For
example, Danish products were a boycott target of Muslims in August 2005 because of a
political cartoon representing the Prophet Muhammad, who was used as an object of satire in
Danish newspapers (Jensen, 2008).
Muslim boycotts have been supported by Muslims scholars or Ulama (AMSI, 2008;
Halevi, 2012). Ulama issued Fatwa on boycotting some foreign products such as the US
products and Danish products (Farah, 2011). Intrinsically motivated followers that see their
religion as a central motivation in their lives would be expected to have a higher possibility to
support a boycott of foreign products related to religious reasons.
Previous studies argue that there are some specific patterns of Muslims consumers
behaviour. For example, the term crescent marketing was created by Wilson et al.. (2013)
which are related to marketing phenomena in Muslim countries. They identified some

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 philosophies behind this term and this is related to the emergence of Islamic marketing as
new and important knowledge in understanding Muslim markets. These philosophies, to
some extent, can signify the complexity and nature of Muslim consumer behaviour which in
turn can help in understanding Muslim boycotts of foreign products. They identify that
Islamic marketing encompasses issues beyond the Muslim consumers big market even
though it is an important consideration. They see the crescent as a powerful symbol, not only
in the Muslim world, but also in other Eastern religions hailing from India, China, and Japan.
This can be compared to marketing from a Western context which can be totally different to a
non-Western context. The use of the crescent in the Muslim world is also to signify the
concept of a global ummah (community), emphasizing social solidarity across race, social
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status, and familism, and the concept of asabiyyah which emphasizes social solidarity based
on total loyalty regardless of adherence to Islam.

The development of the term crescent marketing led to a new understanding that although
Eastern Muslim consumers share similar characteristics with, for example, Muslim
consumers in Western countries, they may offer some peculiarities as they have different
contexts to their counterparts in Western societies. The recognition of a global ummah
signifies that Muslim consumers may come from different backgrounds, for example, a
different social status and different countries, but they still have a strong connection to each
other.
However, there are other issues beyond religion that also have a strong influence on
Muslims consumer behaviours. In their conceptual paper, Abd Razak and Abdul-Talib (2012)
describe the importance of evaluating boycotting campaigns in the Muslim world that are
caused by animosity because there is a lack of research related to this issue. Ettenson, et al.,
(2006) emphasizes the long term effect of animosity that influences consumers decisions to
boycott some products. Fischer (2007) argues that the September 11 and the Scotland Intifada
movement have made significant contributions to Muslim relationships with western people
including the decision to boycott some brands. Abd Razak and Abdul-Talib (2012) argue that
this movement is a cause of long term anger from Muslim people toward some countries
related to what they have done to other Muslim people.

One of the primary concerns of marketers is whether the "foreignness" of a product will
make it less preferable to consumers in different countries (Schooler, 1965). According to
Shimp and Sharma (1987), the consumer ethnocentrism concept can explain why consumers
persistently prefer domestic over foreign brands even if the latter are cheaper and/or of better

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 quality. Consumer ethnocentrism studies can provide important insights regarding the level
of peoples acceptance of foreign cultures (Machida, 2012). Rice and Wongtada (2007) found
those consumers who are categorized as having a high ethnocentrism level tend to prefer their
local brands. Haque et al., (2011) confirm that younger generation Muslims in Malaysia have
a high level of ethnocentrism that makes them avoid buying foreign products and prefer to
buy their national brands.

Al Hyari et al., (2012) highlight one characteristic of Muslims as that they tend to act
like their fellow Muslims. It may also affect their behaviour in boycotting foreign products.
For example, Arabic Muslims were found to boycott Danish brands mainly when other
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Muslims were with them, but not when they are alone (Al Hyari et al., 2012). Another study
found that some Muslims groups were struggling to find a balance between individualism and
collectivism as a member of society (Games et al., 2013) although being accepted in the
Muslim community is very important for a Muslim as an individual (Mangundjaya, 2011;
Wilson, 2013a; Wilson, 2013b). In summary, there is a strong link between Muslim
consumers and the influence of their Muslims friends, as well as their local Muslim society.
Peer pressure is therefore predicted to exert a strong influence upon Muslims boycotting
behaviour. Boycott activity by a Muslim group has been found to achieve success (e.g.
change marketer action) due to the tendency of Muslims to act as a unified group. This is
partly because they want to avoid doing actions that are contrary to that of their fellow
Muslims (Braunsberger and Buckler, 2011).

2.2. Indonesian Attitudes Toward Foreign Products

Basri (2004) concludes that Indonesia is now heading for a better political and economic
condition as freedom of expression is a new culture and is taken for granted by Indonesians.
Freedom of expression has given significant benefits to Indonesias democracy. Indonesians
also seem more vocal in expressing their feelings. Muslims in Indonesia, as with other
Muslims in many countries, also experience some sort of a close relationship to other
Muslims around the world in places such as Palestine (Azra, 2006). Muslims are also known
to have a strong tendency to sympathize with religious-based activities (Lacar, 1994). For
example, Indonesian people love to donate money to the Red Cross from Turkey because of
the Islamic symbol in this organization (Lacar, 1994). In this case, the cross and crescent
symbol of Turkeys Red Cross organization influences Muslims decisions to give more

5
 donations because they want to help other Muslim countries or communities. This confirms
that it is important to see Indonesian Muslim customers as part of a global ummah
(community), while at the same time it is a must to consider the local context of the
Indonesian Muslim consumers.

It is also worth noting that Indonesia has become one of the fastest growing countries in
using social media. Facebook has 64 million users in Indonesia who actively access their
accounts on a monthly basis and this number puts the country in the social networking sites
top five largest markets (Grazella, 2013). Indonesia is a growing market which has the
cheapest mobile data plans in the world that give them access to information online wherever
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they are using a mobile device (Wilson, 2013a; Wilson, 2013b). Social media will facilitate
word of mouth and therefore, in terms of Muslim customers reasons for boycotting foreign
brands, the use of social media can be an effective way to spread campaign to boycott foreign
brands.
Internationally, it is recognised that Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) grew rapidly
from 2005 and this has inspired Muslims in many countries to boycott Israeli brands, and
brands that are owned by companies that are presumed to support Israel (BDSmovement,
2015). This has been supported by some Muslims in Indonesia by spreading the BDS
campaign through their news portal, blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and other
media. They boycotted, to name a few, KFC, McDonalds, A&W, Baskin & Robbins,
Marlboro, Avon, and Revlon (A tree blog, 21 September 2010). Hidayatullah.com, one of the
online media groups in Indonesia that supports this campaign have clearly stated that
Indonesias Muslim consumers should see boycotting as Islamic as it is part of the fight
against oppression (Hidayatullah, 25 June 2014).
Some people may argue that this BDS campaign is counterproductive as this movement
is too small in the capitalist world and Muslim consumers, even those who enthusiastically
promote the BDS campaign, would not be able to restrict themselves from companies and
brands which are presumed to be Israeli supporters. One of the Indonesian bloggers who
supports the BDS campaign, responds this by explaining there is nothing too small as boycott
campaigns have been an effective way in the past and this campaign is also supported by
fatwas by some ulamas such as Al Qaradhawi and Ali Khamenei (Sulaeman, 20 April 2010).
Further, Sulaeman in her blog also mentions the basic law in Islam taarudh bainal amrain
which essentially means that if there is a conflict of interest, a Muslim should choose the
option that has more benefits and less negativity. In this case, she illustrated that she still

6
 bought a laptop (related to IBM and Intel) as it helps her in doing good deeds, for example,
by promoting the BDS campaign. This means that in this case, a boycott is seen as a
manifestation of solidarity among Muslim ummah.

2.3 Indonesian Muslim Markets

Indonesia is the largest Islamic nation in the world, 88 percent of the Indonesian
population is Muslim (Suryadinata et al., 2003). Orthodox Islam can be found in Aceh, a
special province that implemented syariah law (Geertz, 1956). However, on the whole,
Indonesian Muslims can be regarded as moderate Muslims as they live together with
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followers of different religions (Dahm, 1999). Most Indonesian Muslims are Sunni followers,
and at the doctrinal level, they are the followers of Ashari theology and the Shafii school of
Islamic law which is also followed by Malaysian Muslims (Azra, 2006).

A classic study by Geertz (1956) divides the Indonesian Muslim population, especially
the Javanese into three categories: santri, priyayi, and abangan. Santri (students) represents a
special group that identify themselves as Muslim first and learn Islam comprehensively.
They are observant Muslims. Further, Samson (1971) identified that there is a new type of
santri - radical fundamentalist - who is more aggressive and open in showing their
interpretation regarding Islam and letting other people know about it. Azra (2006) identified
that in Indonesia after 1998 (after the fall of the Suharto regime), some groups more publicly
and aggressively promoted their interpretation of Islam. However, Geertz (1956) identifies
that the large majority of Indonesian Muslims, especially the Javanese, can be regarded as
abangan. This means that they do not adhere strictly to the tradition of Islam (Geert, 1956)
and can also be specified as extrinsic religious followers who use religion mainly for their
social status (Allport and Ross, 1967). While this classification santri and abangan by
Geertz can be seen as a simplification of Indonesias heterogeneous Muslims, this
conceptualisation may still be useful in understanding the characteristics of Muslims in
Indonesia (Machmudi, 2008).

Most studies of Muslim consumer behaviours have focused on consumers in the Middle
East (Al-Khatib et al., 2005; Djursaa and Kragh, 1998; Elbashier and Nicholls, 1983; Farah,
2011; Gulf News, 2000; Lerner, 1958; Sohail and Shaikh, 2008; Solberg, 2002; Swarbrooke
and Horner, 2007), with a few about Turkey and other countries (Cukur & Carlo, 2004;
Sandkc and Ekici, 2009; Schneider et al., 2011) and very few about Indonesia (Kasri and

7
 Awaliah Kasri, 2013; Sutikno and Cheng, 2011). This is unfortunate because Indonesia is the
most populous Muslim country in the world. Based on a 2010 survey by the Pew Research
Centers Forum, Indonesia had 13.1 percent of the worlds Muslim population. Around
209,120,000 Muslims live in Indonesia which is a big marketing opportunity for foreign
companies.

3. Research Questions

The main objective of the study reported here was to examine the key motivations of
Muslims to boycott foreign brands. A qualitative approach was used in this study to explore
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religious and non-religious motivations. The interviewees were from both student and non-
students samples in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the motives
behind Muslim boycotts.

The research questions of this study were as follows:

RQ1: What foreign products were boycotted by Muslim consumers?

RQ2: What were the motivations of Muslim consumers to boycott foreign products?

4. Methodology

4.1 Data Collection

Thirty-six participants took part in this study. First, twenty interviewees were asked
questions about their opinions about boycotts. Ten interviewees were students and the other
ten were non-student subjects who had different types of occupations. University students are
selected as respondents of the study because they are considered well-informed customers
who can spread their viewpoint to wider communities. Non-university students were also
included as respondents for this research to get a broader view about Indonesian customers
reasons to boycott foreign brands.

After reviewing the interview data, further discussions with the focus groups were then
performed for further confirmation. There were two focus groups, one for the student

8
 participants and another for the non-student participants with eight participants involved in
each discussion (total focus group n=16). The interviewees were assured that their identity
would not be released in any report, so that they were free to answer the questions and to
express their opinions openly. Data was collected in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia
through digitally-recorded interviews which lasted around one hour.

As the nature of qualitative research is avoiding predetermined views, every possible

factor that motivates Muslim consumers to boycott foreign products may emerge. Focus
groups and individual in-depth interviews were used in this research because both methods
can complement each other. As was pointed out by Lambert and Louiselle (2008), combining
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individual interviews and focus groups can enhance our understandings of phenomena and
the trustworthiness of findings. Focus groups can provide some insights during interaction
between the participants and individual interviews can give further detailed explanations on
boycott issues from the perspective of particular interviewees. Focus groups may provide
detailed explanations regarding some debatable issues, while interviews may give more space
to individuals to express their opinions freely. Both the focus groups and interviews were
conducted in West Sumatra, Indonesia.

Below are some examples of questions that were used in the in-depth interviews and focus
groups:

1. What do you think about boycotting foreign products?

2. Can you give examples of products which have been boycotted?

3. Can you explain more about your experiences in boycotting products?

4. Do you have any opinion why consumers boycott particular foreign products?

5. Do customers recommend the boycotting of foreign products to others?

6. Do your family and friends influence your decision to buy or boycott a product?

7. Do you think boycotting is an effective action?

8. How many products did you boycott in the last 12 month ?

9. Do you always boycott the same products?

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 The third research question is What is the role of the religiosity of the buyer? These
following questions were asked in attempting to answer the research question:

1. What foreign products have you or have you potentially boycotted?

2. How does religion affect your decision in buying or boycotting a product?
3. Do you think boycotting is relevant to Islamic values?
More specifically to participants in the focus group discussion, some deeper issues that were
identified from the interviews were followed up. Participants were asked about their views on
religion, what they think about the boycotting of foreign brands, whether they boycott any
foreign brands and their opinion about why customers were boycotting particular foreign
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brands.

4.2. Data Analysis

The data analyses were conducted using Leximancer qualitative data analysis software.
Leximancer implements a systematic text search of the transcripts of interviews and analyses
the information. The system selects the important concepts for participants based on
interview results and analyses information based on word frequency and co-occurrence with
other words, and creates relevant concepts (Smith and Humphrey, 2006). The system
evaluates words that were mentioned most by participants and grouping those words in
shaping some concepts. Relational content analysis was implemented to define the concepts
surrounding boycotts, relationships between concepts and how these concepts are interrelated
to identify possible reasons for the participants to boycott foreign products

To check the stability of the topical concepts maps produced, the analyses of the data was
repeated. The concepts and co-occurrence of concepts remained similar indicating stability.
No new concepts or co-occurrence of concepts were found in the map after the result of the
final three of participants for both students and non-student groups. The numbers of
participants were sufficient in generating concepts maps to meet the purpose of this study.

5. Findings

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 5.1 General Themes of the Interviews

The measure of connectivity (i.e. proportion of words that were mentioned by respondents),
portrayed in Table 1, provides an estimation of what concepts were perceived as more or less
important during the interview process, comparing student and non-student groups. The
connectivity score in Table 1 indicates the relative importance of the themes in the
interviews.
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(Table 1. Themes and Connectivity Based on Frequency of Mention)

Student and non-student participants have some similarities and differences in terms of
some concepts. In general, Table 1 illustrates that
1. Non-student participants have a strong sentiment toward the US (81% connectivity)
while student participants focused more on Malaysian people (34% connectivity).
2. Non-student participants focused on the halalness of foreign products (48%
connectivity) while student participants are not really concerned about this aspect (no
connectivity score).
3. Influence of friends (peer pressure) is an important motivation for both student (14%
connectivity) and non-student (44% connectivity) participants in boycotting foreign
products. The connectivity percentages for peer pressure are stronger for non-student
compared to student.
4. Student participants are more enthusiastic in talking about their participation in
boycotting Chinese products compared to non-student participants. The connectivity
score for the concept of boycott Chinese products was almost 50% for student
participants while it was not even 20% for non-student participants.
5. Interestingly, the concept of being Muslims was not too relevant for both student
and non-student participants. The connectivity score for this concept was very low,
only .03% for the student sample compared to other concepts.

In general, the results of interviews indicate that student and non-student participants have
different boycott behaviours. Student participants tend to boycott foreign products more in

11
 general compared to non-student participants. The boycott motivation for student participants
was more related to peer pressure (influence of friends) and animosity (such as unfavourable
feeling toward Malaysian people). On the other hand, the boycott motivation for non-student
participants was mainly because of ethnocentrism (i.e they want to buy Indonesian local
products) and uncertainty about halalness of foreign products.

5.2 Differences and Similarities between Students and Non-Students

Leximancer software also provides a ranked list of each category and their prominence
scores (similar to relative probabilities) in evaluating which concepts are important for
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students and non-students. Both Figure 1 and Table 2 highlight different aspects that are
important for each category within the concept of boycotting foreign products. Table 2 show
groups of words (concepts) that are closely associated with the word boycott. The higher
prominence scores mean the more important the concepts are. For example, US product
(such as KFC) is the most important concept related to boycott for both student (2.5) and
non-student (2.3) participants. However, related to boycotting, the Muslims concept was
more important for non-student participants (1.6) compared to student participants (0.8).

(Table 2. Ranking of Category Concepts via Prominence scores)

Table 2 shows some differences between student and non-student participants in regard to
their boycotting behaviour. For example, the concept of boycott has a strong link to
Malaysian products in the student group, but not for the non-student sample.

Figures 1 and 2 show a comparison of topical maps between students and non-students. It
was found that the students focus more on the concepts of Malaysian and Chinese
products as well as Indonesian (local) people. Malaysian and Chinese products are
the two products most boycotted by students. This was because they want to save local
brands that were owned by Indonesian (local) people. Figure 1 shows that Indonesian (local)
people are closely positioned to foreign country indicating student interviewees want to save
their Indonesian (local) people from the (bad) influence of foreign countries. This result may

12
 suggest that the students sample has a higher consumer ethnocentrism than the non-student
sample.

(Figure 1. Leximancer Topical Map for Student Subjects)

(Figure 2. Leximancer Topical Maps for Non-Student Subjects)

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The non-student sample places a stronger emphasis on boycott, the US products and
the concept of Halal. The concept of boycott has a strong link with the US products for
the non-student sample. The non-student sample also emphasized the importance of
Halalness for them. This may indicate that the uncertainty about the Halalness of foreign
brands will strongly influence their decisions to boycott foreign brands (Grocer, 2007;
Wilson and Liu, 2011).
Overall, the prominence scores (refer to Table 2) and topical maps (refer to Figures 1 and
2) show what brands were boycotted by most student and non-student participants and their
motivations behind the boycotts. The higher prominence scores indicate stronger motivations
to boycott those foreign products. For example, student sample emphasizes non-religious
reasons (save local Indonesian products) as their reason to boycott Malaysian and Chinese
products. On the other hand, for non-student sample, some religious reasons, for example,
their sympathy for other Muslims and importance of Halal influence them to boycott KFC
and other US products. One key similarity between the student and non-student interviewees
was that both groups regard boycotting foreign products and influence of their friends as
important concepts.

5.3. Peer Pressure as the Strongest Reason to Boycott Foreign Products

The closeness of the friends and boycott concepts (Figures 1 and 2) indicate that
pressure from friends is one of the most influential factors that motivates participants to
boycott foreign products and brands. One study found that Muslims tend to socialize more
among similar religiously motivated individuals (Muhamad and Mizerski, 2007). Therefore,

13
 their Muslim friends may have an influence on their decisions of boycotting, including what
products and brands to be boycotted.

Group or social acceptance is a critical issue for Muslim communities (Al Hyari et al.,
2012; Wilson, 2013a). Some of the interviewees admitted that they love to be communal and
tend to follow their friends suggestions. This shows that in-group influence is an important
element in deciding whether or not to boycott foreign brands. One participant acknowledged
that she wanted to be accepted by her group. To achieve this she wanted to behave in a
manner similar to that of the other group members. She followed her friends suggestions.
Peer pressure is, therefore, a strong reason for her to boycott US products.
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5.4. Animosity

5.4.1 Religious Animosity

According to Riefler and Diamantopoulos (2007), customers anger toward some

countries (animosity) leads to the refusal to buy products from those countries. In the present
study, KFC is a well-known brand originating from the US that was boycotted by 15 out of
18 non-student participants. They were found to boycott KFC because of their sympathy to
other Muslims (as can be seen in Figure 2). These participants appeared to be influenced by
their identity as Muslims when dealing with boycotts. Figure 2 shows that non-student
participants strongly evaluated some religious issues surrounding Muslims, such as
uncertainty of the Halalness of the products and helping other Muslims as closer
concepts to boycotting foreign products compared to student participants.

5.4.2. Product Animosity

The present study found that Chinese products were boycotted by 30 out of 36
participants. The participants also perceived Chinese products to be low quality products.
Based on Figure 1, student participants reported they had boycotted brands and products from

14
 China. A previous study found that Indonesian people have a high level of animosity toward
China. This is consistent with a previous study by Sutikno and Cheng (2011) which found
Indonesian consumers have high levels of animosity toward some foreign countries such as
the US, Malaysia and China.

Consumer ethnocentrism was found to have a strong link to rejection (Sandkc and
Ekici, 2009) and the boycott of foreign brands (Tabassi et al., 2012) that may explain the
interviews results in the present study. Highly ethnocentric people see purchasing foreign
made products as wrong and unpatriotic as well as hindering the growth of the local economy
(Shimp and Sharma, 1987). Figure 2 shows that the concept of buy Indonesian local
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products has a very close position to the concept of Chinese products which means that
both concepts have a strong relationship. Interviewees were found to boycott Chinese
products mainly as their way to save their local economy. Consumer ethnocentrism may have
some influence on the level of animosity of participants toward Chinese products. Therefore,
the concept of buy Indonesian local products is one of the most important concepts for the
interviewees and this may have links to some earlier studies about consumer ethnocentrism.

5.4.3 Animosity Toward a Neighbouring country

Indonesia and Malaysia are two of the closest neighbours in Southeast Asia and share
many similarities. People from both countries share almost similar languages and cultures.
They understand each others spoken language although they have a slightly different accent.
Both Indonesia and Malaysia are also Muslim countries. Surprisingly, those similarities do
not inhibit some Indonesian participants, who are also Muslims, from boycotting Malaysian
products.

Most student participants showed anger toward Malaysian people because of secular and
less ideological reasons that may be categorised as people animosity; indicated by
participants dislike towards the behaviour of the people. This is in line with a study by
Shimp et al., (2004) who found that regional intra-national animosities that southerners
and northerners could produce some anger toward each other. Most of the student
participants (14 out of 18 people) also think that Indonesia can do better than Malaysia.

5.5 Halal Uncertainty

15
 The concept of halal provided additional evidence of the importance of religious concepts
in regard to the participants motivation to boycott. In Islam, food that is allowed to be
consumed is labelled as Halal and Muslims who adhere to their religion will tend to consider
the Halal factor as one of their main considerations when buying food (Lada et al., 2009;
Wilson and Liu 2010; Wilson and Liu, 2011). Here, religious factors were considered as
important concepts for the interviewees in the non-student group. The halalness of products
that come from non-Muslim countries and some rumours about foreign brands are among the
reasons to boycott that were mentioned by participants. For example, one participant (male,
22 years old, an entrepreneur) said:
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I dont believe that non-Muslims people will seriously consider Halal is important like
we do as a Muslim... I do not think they are able to produce halal products that
follow the requirements in the Quran and Hadiths,... I do not believe brands from
China are truly Halal.
The other participants supported this. Most of the non-student participants have a strong
concern about only buying brands that originate from Muslim countries because they can
fully trust the halalness of the brands, especially food. Some participants also said that they
boycotted products from non-Muslim countries because they are not sure about the
Halalness aspects of those products. They also mentioned that they feel betrayed regarding
foreign brands such as Cadbury that has a halal logo but cannot maintain the halalness of
their brands in Malaysia and Indonesia. This type of case increases respondents uncertainty
about the halalness of foreign food brands. Twenty eight participants decided to boycott some
foreign brands, especially brands that originate from non-Muslim countries such as China and
the US.

6. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The present study highlighted a new perspective on Muslims reasons for boycotting
some foreign brands/products in the market. While some academic researchers and the
mainstream mass media highlight religiosity as the main reason for Muslims to boycott
foreign products, the present study has discovered a new phenomenon in Indonesias Muslim
society. The somewhat surprising finding of this study extends the current literature about
boycotting activity within a Muslim society.

16
 There have been an increasing number of studies claiming that religion has a significant
influence upon the decision-making processes of its followers (Bailey and Sood, 1993;
Games et al., 2013; Mokhlis, 2009; Wilkes et al., 1986; Wilson and Grant, 2013). These
studies conclude, for example, that religion is still considered as important for some people in
this era of globalization as it has been in the past. Some rules in religion may also affect the
choice of brands for the religious follower. Certain concepts in Islam such as halal, and care
of other Muslims are relevant concepts for the non-student participants.

Wilson and Liu (2011) discovered ingredient brandings play an important role in being
accepted in Muslim communities as an appraisal of Holt's (2002) position articulated in 'why
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brands cause trouble'. Consequently, a comprehensive halal decision making paradigm was
designed. It involves cognitive, affective and conative decision making patterns and is also
affected by a tendency to minimize the risk. In addition to the findings of these previous
studies, this study found that there were different behaviours toward the level of uncertainty
of halalness of foreign brands. As mentioned earlier, no uncertainty of the halalness of the
US food brands was found in either sample in this study. The only effect of the uncertainty of
the halalness of Chinese brands in reported boycotting of the Chinese brands was in the non-
student sample. This may happen because Chinese brands have been regarded as brands that
have suspicious ingredients. However, for the student participants, it was found that
animosity and peer pressure are the important concepts that also require specific attention
from marketers. The findings show that participants follow what they friends are doing in
order to be accepted in their group. This is in line with Klein (2004) who found that
boycotters are usually influenced by someone close to them such as their family or friends,
and once they boycott a brand they will also influence other people who are close to them to
do a similar thing.

Overall, this study found that student and non-student participants boycotted slightly
different brands. Student participants were found to mostly boycott Malaysian and Chinese
products while non-students interviewees mostly boycott US products (such as KFC) and
Chinese products but not Malaysian products. These findings can give some important insight
for marketers to reach different Muslim consumer segments.

6.1 Theoretical Implications

17
 The first theoretical contribution of this paper is identifying concepts surrounding boycott
for Muslim consumers. While most theories about Muslim boycotts discuss the influence of
religious factors, the present study captures the idea that Muslims may have different
motivations to boycott foreign products beyond the religious reasons. Therefore, marketers
cannot overgeneralise the boycott situation in Muslim customers purely on religious
motivations.

(Figure 3 Theoretical Frameworks)

Figure 3 shows a theoretical framework developed from this study. There are three
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brands/products that were boycotted by participants in this study namely: KFC (American
brands), Chinese and Malaysian products.

6.2. Managerial Implication

This study found that the student and non-student samples may have different reasons for
boycotting foreign brands and products. These differences require different strategies from
marketers. Student participants, for example, regard animosity and peer pressure as their
main reasons to boycott foreign products. These participants appeared to have a high level of
product animosity towards Malaysian and Chinese products. They also have a high level of
ethnocentrism and consider boycotting foreign brands as a way to save their local Indonesian
products. Marketers need to advise this group that their products also contribute to the
Indonesian local economy. Recruiting local people and helping the local community may be
helpful to increase public sympathy which in return reduces their anxiety about foreign
brands. By doing so, this segment will not see foreign brands as the enemy.

Therefore, to win the Muslim market, foreign products need to focus on convincing
Muslim consumers that their products are Halal based on sharia law. The uncertainty about
the halal certification from particular countries is not only because of the logo but is also
related to the conditions where the Halal certification was made. For example, in deciding
whether some products are halal or not there are some criteria that are important for
customers. The equipment that is used has to be in a certain condition, such as separated from

18
 non-halal products. Not only that, the way the animal is slaughtered, the level of additives
that are used in the product cannot exceed the standard and many other criteria are deemed
important for some Muslim groups (Borzooi and Asgari, 2013).

Non-student participants who are more mature and have more income also consider
boycotting foreign products as an important concept. This group has a high level of
ethnocentrism and prefer to buy Indonesian local and halal product. Marketers have to
provide clear information about the halalness of their product and regularly remind their
customers that their products are still and always meet the halal requirements. It is
important especially for brands/products that originally come from non-Muslim countries to
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keep the trust of Muslim customers about the halalness of their products.

Successful brands should consider local cultures (Krisjanti, 2013). Culture is also an
important factor in the Muslim market that needs a specific marketing strategy. Evidence has
shown that Coca Cola is one among a very few foreign products that were viewed as a local
product by Indonesian consumers (Willer, 2006). Coca Cola in Indonesia attempted to
understand Indonesian culture and customize their advertising to correspond to ongoing
celebrations in Indonesia such as Ramadan (Willer, 2006) which is a sacred month for
Muslims. Coca Cola understood this and created ads that match the theme of Ramadan. Coca
Cola also creates some events such as free break fasting for Muslims and provides an
opportunity for the winner of a competition to invite five friends to join the event. This is in
relation to Indonesian Muslims collective culture in which they prefer to share the good
things with their close friends or relatives. As a foreign brand, Coca Cola seems to
understand Indonesian culture that should also be followed by other foreign products that also
want to reach the market.

Usunier and Lee (2005) found that the most prominent elements in creating a
successful performance of foreign products are a combination of adaptation and
standardisation strategies for foreign companies in a local market which can also be called
glocal. Coca Cola seems to try this strategy by creating advertising that is in line with local
cultures and religious norms in targeting Muslim consumers in Indonesia. This can be a good
strategy for a foreign product to win Muslim markets and not to be seen as stranger brands
that need to be boycotted.

19
 Marketers can let consumers know that they are working together with local business
owners or local investors. They may also need to make specific contributions to local people,
so that customers feel appreciated. Marketers need to advise consumers that their products
also contribute to the Indonesian local economy. Recruiting local people and helping the local
community may be helpful in increasing public sympathy which in return reduces their
anxiety about foreign brands. By doing so, consumers will not see the foreign brands as the
enemy.

6.3 Limitation and Future Research

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The limitation of this research is that it is only based on Muslim customers in Indonesia
that cannot represent the whole Muslim community in the world. Future research needs to
include other countries that may have different characteristics of their Muslim consumers.
More specifically, future research can focus on ethnocentrism, peer pressure, and animosity
as the possible reasons for boycotting activities in Muslim countries. Such research would be
useful for a marketer designing a marketing strategy for a market involving Muslim
customers.

Additionally, the present study found that there is a link between intrinsically religious
young respondent and a boycott of foreign products. This may indicate the importance of
religious ethnocentrism studies in the near future. Previous studies identify ummah as a way
to describe Muslim solidarity (e.g., Wilson et al., 2013), but the present study found that
ethnocentrism and more specifically economic issues such as that they dislike the fact that
there are many Chinese products in Indonesias markets. Investigating reasons why some
groups of Muslims hesitate to join boycott of foreign products would also be another
interesting area for future research.

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About the authors

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Ms. Dessy Kurnia Sari is a PhD student at the UWA Business School, the University of Western
Australia. She got a Master of Business (Advanced) from the University of Queensland, Australia.
Her research interests focus on Islamic Marketing, cross-cultural consumer studies, Muslim
consumers, Boycott behaviour as well as Muslims choices of foreign products and brands.

Professor Dick Mizerski holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics and Business Administration
from University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. His research interests are marketing to children,
marketing and de-marketing consumer vices (alcohol, tobacco and gambling), the measurement and
implications of habitual purchase, marketing effects in childrens obesity, Cultural effects, Word-of-
mouth research, modelling repeat purchase, the influence of Following Islam on Muslim's choices of
Products and Brands, Social Marketing and public policy issues. Professor Mizerski published dozens
of refereed journal articles and conference proceedings.

Associate Professor Fang Liu holds an advanced MBA (with specializations in marketing and finance)
and a PhD in Marketing from the University of Western Australia. Her research interests centre on
advertising, digital and non-digital media, and branding strategies. Her recent work also concerns
cross-cultural consumer studies. Associate Professor Liu has published dozens of refereed journal
articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Prior to her academic career, she had extensive
experience in the area of international trade.

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Figure 1 Leximancer Topical Map for Student Subjects

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Figure 2. Leximancer Topical Map for Non-Student Subjects

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Figure 3. Theoretical Frameworks

Ethnocentrism:
Non-students
--Buy Local
Participants

Animosity:
-People
Students
-Product Participants
-Religious
reasons
Boycott of
Foreign produc
Peer Pressure:
-Identity
-Acceptance

Halal
Uncertainty
 List of Tables

Table 1. Leximancer Theme Results based on Frequency of mentions

Students Non-Students
Theme Connectivity Theme Connectivity
Foreign products 100% Buy Indonesian local products 100%
Boycott Chinese products 48% Foreign products 87%
Malaysian People 34% Boycott the US products 81%
Bad to Indonesia 17% Indonesian People 55%
Friends 14% Sure about Halal 48%
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Boycott 11% Friends 44%

Customers 05% Boycott Chinese products 18%
Muslims 03% Boycott KFC 09%

Table 2 Ranking of Category Concepts via Prominence scores

(Category: Boycott for student and non-student groups)
Students Non-Students
Concept Prom. scores Concept Prom. scores
KFC 2.5 KFC 2.3
Malaysian people 1.6 The US 1.9
Indonesia 1.4 Muslims people 1.6
China 1.3 Chinese products 1.6
Chinese products 1.1 Indonesia 0.9
Malaysia 1.0 Muslims country 0.6
Muslims 0.8 Indonesian people 0.0
Indonesian people 0.3