The effect of brand personality and brand identification on customer retention : examining Islamic banking services in Malaysia / Husniyati Ali, 'Ismah Osman and Sharifah Faigah Syed Alwi

The development of Islamic banks in Malaysia is increasingly challenging with more banks offering products and services based on Islamic principles. Hence, this study explores customers' perception towards corporate image and its impact on selfexpressive value, brand distinctiveness, brand attractiveness as well as brand identification towards their most preferred Islamic bank in Malaysia. Institutional theory as well as theory of social identification was exploited as the theoretical foundation for developing the conceptual model. Accordingly, data was collected firstly, through an exploratory study, through interviews with customers, Shari' ah supervisors, practitioners and lecturers in Islamic banking. Next, 'self-administered questionnaires were distributed among 600 customers of Islamic banks in Kuala Lumpur through purposive sampling, specifically in selected Islamic banks, shopping malls and stations of public transportation. Analysis of data was conducted through descriptive, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Subsequently, structural equation modelling with 308 respondents was then conducted to test the hypothesized relationships among the constructs, as postulated in the model. Nine hypothesis links were supported, while eight were rejected. Results indicate that firstly, corporate image of Islamic banks are determined by institutional image and performative image. Performative image constitutes items including friendliness, reliability, honesty, security, achievement-orientation, leading-orientation, up-to-date and excitement. In consequence, institutional image constitutes god-consciousness, which includes items like being Islamic, humbleness, fairness and trustworthiness. Secondly, institutional image and performative image have impact on brand attractiveness. However, they do not have an impact on self-expressive value, brand distinctiveness and brand identification. Thirdly, self-expressive value has an impact on brand's attractiveness. Fourth, brand's attractiveness and brand's distinctiveness have an impact on consumers' identification with a brand. Fifth, brand's attractiveness has an impact on word of mouth, as well as brand loyalty. Sixth, consumers' identification with a brand has an impact on brand loyalty. It is hoped that this study would facilitate in developing corporate image in Islamic banks, due to intense competition from many players of the industry

Enhancing cross border connectivity: venturing into Islamic finance as a new source of infrastructure financing / Saadiah Mohamad … [et al.]

Unlike the traditional Finance, Islamic finance must observe the teachings of Shari’ah whose basic teaching cannot be violated at any point in time. These basic teachings constitute the core element of the faiths that are best described as maqasid al-shari’ah. While prohibiting Riba, Gharar, Maysir, Islam promotes maslahah by protecting the interests and benefits of all parties involved in the market. This paper emphasizes on the main underlying causes (‘Illah) for the prohibition of these on the basis of Islamic and socio-economic point of views. This is paper is based on secondary sources such as classical books, articles etc. There is no difference of opinion among scholars that Riba, Gharar, Maysir is clearly prohibited by both Quran and the Sunnah. However, Questions continue to be raised about their meanings and implications because of the diverse applications in commercial transactions (Mu’malat). This paper is a humble attempt to clarify the meaning and implications of these terms

General Takaful claims: An experience of Takaful operator in Malaysia / Amirul Afif Muhamat, Mohamad Nizam Jaafar and Sharifah Faigah Syed Alwi.

Takaful is interchangeably referred as Islamic insurance. In Malaysia, the takaful sector is part of the main components for Islamic finance industry. The business can be divided into two: general and family takaful. To ease understanding on this niche sector; general takaful is comparable to general insurance while family takaful is akin to life insurance with special reference needs to be given on the requirement of the business to adhere to the Islamic precepts. The main business in general takaful is motor takaful and this line of business is faced with high takaful claims. This study appraised the factors which affect the general takaful claims based on the experience of one takaful operator in Malaysia (the name of takaful operator is not disclosed due to confidentiality). The factors are: number of claims; fraud; and coverage for protection. The limitation of this study is that the observation period is only 10 years which limits rigorous analysis to be done. Nevertheless, previous studies in this area depict the same limitation – constraint in gathering data that has long observation period. On the bright side, the data in this study is still capable to produce meaningful results to be referred with regards to this issue – general takaful claims

Determinants of capital structure: Empirical evidence from Shariah compliant plantation firms in Malaysia / Mohamad Nizam Jaafar … [et al.]

Capital structure choice is vital in corporate financial management due to its effect on both return and risk to investors. As such, the objective of this research is to analyse the capital structure of listed shariah compliant plantation companies in Bursa Malaysia. The factors that influence the level of debt in this research are profitability, tangibility and liquidity respectively. The research is conducted by observing financial data of 34 listed shariah compliant plantation firms in Malaysia from period 2006 to 2016. The study has used panel data and the regression analysis is based on ordinary least square (OLS). Capital structure is the dependaple variable referring to debt ratio of the companies, decomposed into total debts over total assets. The independent variables are profitability, liquidity and tangibility. Three theories of capital structure have guided this study i.e. the Trade-Off Theory, Asymmetric Information and the Pecking Order Theory. The study shows that profitability and tangibility have significant positive relationship capital structure. Nevertheless, liquidity does not have any significant relationship with the debt ratio. It is most likely that liquidity is not taken into account by listed plantation companies in Malaysia in making their capital structure decision. Since profitability and tangibility have significant relationship with the level of debt, the Theory of Capital Structure such as Trade Off Theory is applicable to plantation shariah compliant firms listed in Bursa Malaysia

Pathway to Financial Well-being: A review on the role of psychological factors

This paper aimed to complete a rigorous, systematic exploration of the literature investigating the effects of psychological factors on the financial well-being in Malaysia context. We identified 13 papers that report empirical evidence on the effect of psychological factors on the financial well-being in Malaysia context. The findings conclude that the studies in financial well-being are focusing on four groups of respondents namely college student, young employees, singles mothers and Muslim individual and the eleven types of psychological variables are identified. This assemblage of reviewed research papers will be useful for the academia and government to cultivate understanding on the psychological rumblings of an individual and leading to greater financial well-being, hence uplifting the quality of life of affected parties.Keywords: Financial well-being; Financial behaviour; Psychological Factors;eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v5i13.206

Bank stability measures in dual banking system: a critical review / Norzitah Abdul Karim … [et al.]

The 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis showed that despite reported as ‘healthy’ financial institution prior to crisis had indeed suffered many problems including liquidity during the crisis. Thus, there is confusion on the healthy financial institutions, leading to loss of confidence on the overall stability of the banking system. Thus, there is an urgent need to review the current measures of financial as well as banking stability. This paper aims to look at the definition of ‘stability’ used in the academic researches and by different regulatory bodies, like International Monetary Fund, Basel Committee for Banking Supervision (BCBS) and central banks in selected countries with dual banking systems. It is then, critically review indicators used as measures of financial as well as banking stability. This review is hope to identify areas of strengths as well as weaknesses of the current measures of stability and serves as foundation for further research in future

The role of zakat distribution on the sustainability of gharimin (genuine debtors) in Islamic financial institutions in Malaysia

Purpose – This study aims to explore the COVID-19 impact on the sustainability of gharimin (genuine debtors) in Islamic financial institutions (IFI) in Malaysia. The analysis was further conducted to expand the interpretation of gharimin in zakat institutions (ZI) to use the role of zakat distribution during the postpandemic period due to income shock and long-term unemployment. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopted a qualitative research approach with grounded theory analysis to integrate theoretical insights into the interpretation of gharimin and current practices from the perspectives of ZI and IFI. An in-depth interview with 18 informants was conducted, and data were collected from senior management positions in the zakat distribution department, academicians who are experts in the area of zakat, and heads of Shariah departments in IFI. Findings – Expanding the interpretation of gharimin could help ZI and IFI recover the sustainability of gharimin for preparedness during post-pandemic and any emergency crisis in the future. Practical implications – This study implies the potential role of ZI in combating the risk of defaulting debtors in IFI to prepare for pandemic recovery in the future. Social implications – The new interpretation assists gharimin in reducing the burden debt using the zakat fund and protects genuine debtors by preventing IFI from declaring default or bankruptcy. Originality/value – This study narrows the literature gaps about gharimin in IFI in the context of the pandemic. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is, perhaps, the first paper to present the expansion of interpretation for gharimin into mu’sir in IFI in Malaysi

Bank stability measures in dual banking system: a critical review / Norzitah Abdul Karim … [et al.]

The 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis showed that despite reported as ‘healthy’ financial institution prior to crisis had indeed suffered many problems including liquidity during the crisis. Thus, there is confusion on the healthy financial institutions, leading to loss of confidence on the overall stability of the banking system. Thus, there is an urgent need to review the current measures of financial as well as banking stability. This paper aims to look at the definition of ‘stability’ used in the academic researches and by different regulatory bodies, like International Monetary Fund, Basel Committee for Banking Supervision (BCBS) and central banks in selected countries with dual banking systems. It is then, critically review indicators used as measures of financial as well as banking stability. This review is hope to identify areas of strengths as well as weaknesses of the current measures of stability and serves as foundation for further research in future

The impact of financial crisis on the determinants of capital structure among Shariah constructions firms / Mohamad Nizam Jaafar … [et al.]

The aim of this empirical study is to explore the factors that affect the capital structure of construction firms and to investigate whether the capital structure models derived from Western settings provide convincing explanations for capital structure decisions of the Malaysia firms. This study focuses on Shariah compliant construction companies since this industry has been contributing significantly towards Malaysia economic growth. In addition, this study also includes the impact of financial crisis towards firms’ capital structure decision. Panel data from 11 Shariah compliant construction companies in Malaysia were analyzed for duration of 17 years (2001-2017). Different conditional theories of capital structure are reviewed i.e. trade‐off theory, pecking order theory, agency theory, and theory of free cash flow, in order to formulate testable propositions concerning the determinants of capital structure of the construction firms. The dependent variable that being used is debt ratio, while independent variables are firm size, profitability, tangible asset, growth opportunity, liquidity, and crisis respectively. Finding indicates that firm size, profitability and tangible asset are significant towards debt ratio. However, other variables including financial crisis did not have any significant impact on capital structure decision. The results of this study provide important implication to investors and manager of firms in making best decision on capital structure. This study also adds values to the existing knowledge regarding determinants of capital structure and financial crisis