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Muslim
Translating the impacts of social consumers
advertising on Muslim consumers buying
behavior
buying behavior: the moderating
role of brand image
Fazal Ur Rehman Received 13 July 2021
Revised 30 September 2021
Department of Business and Management Sciences, University of Lakki Marwat, 13 January 2022
KPK, Pakistan and Department of Technology Management, FPTP, UTHM, 6 March 2022
Accepted 13 July 2022
Batu Pahat, Malaysia, and
Ali Zeb
Department of Business Management, Karakoram International University,
Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Department of Technology Management,
UTHM, Batu Pahat, Malaysia

Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to examine the impact of social advertising (informative, entertainment,
credibility, ease of use, privacy and contents) on the buying behavior of Muslim consumers toward the
fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan along with the moderating role of brand
image. Precisely, it focuses on the marketing techniques and strategies in social advertising to enhance
buying behavior.
Design/methodology/approach – Using the convenience sampling technique, data was collected from
304 Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Questionnaires were self-administered, and data
was analyzed via Smart partial least square structural equation modeling.
Findings – Social advertising (informative, entertainment, credibility, privacy, ease of use, contents) and
brand image have a positive relationship with the buying behavior of Muslim consumers toward the fashion
clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan, while the brand image has nonmoderating effects.
Furthermore, social advertising has a positive and significant relationship with the brand image.
Research limitations/implications – This study is only limited to fashion clothing brands in the
Malaysian Muslim community and is based only on the few dimensions of the theory of reasoned action and
technology acceptance model (TAM).
Practical implications – Results clarified the impact of social advertising and brand image on the
buying behavior of Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of
Ramadan and the moderating role of brand image in achieving the business objectives.
Originality/value – This study has evaluated the effects of social advertising and brand image in
enhancing the buying behavior of Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan toward the fashion
clothing brands along with the moderating role of brand image based on the theory of reasoned action and
TAM model. Precisely, this study examined the unique characteristics of social advertising and the relative
importance of informative, entertainment, credibility, ease of use, privacy and content in enhancing the

This research was not supported by any funding agency. The authors pay special thanks and
appreciate the assistance of the following colleagues in developing and improving this manuscript: Journal of Islamic Marketing
Khan, Muhibullah, Ahmed, Muhammad Shakil, Memon, Mumtaz Ali, Akbar and Fazal. Thank you © Emerald Publishing Limited
1759-0833
all. DOI 10.1108/JIMA-07-2021-0231
JIMA buying behavior of Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan, where consumers are emotionally
involved in buying fashion clothing brands due to Eid al Fitr celebration.
Keywords Social advertising, Brand image, Muslims consumers buying behavior,
Fashion clothing brands, Theory of reasoned action, TAM model
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
The proliferation of social media has immensely changed the style of businesses, created new
challenges and opportunities for companies and brands and forced to apply new marketing
strategies to engage customers and connect with peers (Dwivedi et al., 2021; Ismail, 2017;
Vendemia, 2017; Kaur et al., 2018). It has altered the contemporary marketing approaches to
catch the attention of consumers toward brands (Nofal et al., 2020; Ismail, 2017; Dehghani and
Tumer, 2015) and become a powerful advertising platform around the world (Sama, 2019). Due
to its wide fame, many advertisers, companies and brands have revised their marketing
strategies to reap maximum benefits, product articulation, direct customers engagement
(Dwivedi et al., 2021; Shang et al., 2017; Ananda et al., 2019; Yazdanparast, 2016; Cawsey and
Rowley, 2016) and introduced the concept of social advertising. It has attracted the literature
attention to understand consumer’s responses and building brand strategies but needs
supplementary exploration to further enrich the knowledge bases in that area (Hollebeek et al.,
2014). To date, the conception of branding via social advertising and understanding consumer
responses have received inadequate attention and needs further investigation (Sama, 2019;
Boateng and Okoe, 2015), specifically, among the Malaysian Muslim consumers (Aulia and
Briliana, 2017), during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Evidently, studies (Bandara, 2021; Akayleh, 2021) have examined the influence of social
advertising on the buying behavior in other settings but are less focused to evaluate among
Malaysian Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan. In addition, studies (Gupta
et al., 2021; Zhang, 2015) have examined the influence of brand image on the buying behavior of
consumers in various contexts but are less focused to assess on the buying behavior of
Malaysian Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of
Ramadan. Similarly, studies (Hafez, 2021; Dehghani and Tumer, 2015) have investigated the
impacts of social advertising on the brand image in different contexts but are less focused to
examine among Malaysian Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands as well as
the moderating role of the brand image during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
In addition, previous studies have applied the combination of the theory of reasoned
action (TRA) and awareness, interest, desire and action (AIDA) model, the combination of
the theory of planned behavior and gratification theory, the combination of the theory
of planned behavior and technology acceptance model, the combination of the theory of
planned behavior, TRA and dual process theory, the combination of the theory of planned
behavior, TRA and social exchange theory (Sama, 2019; Majeed et al., 2021; Saleem and
Elahi, 2017; Sharma et al., 2020; Rehman et al., 2019) in building theoretical framework but
never focused to apply the combination of the TRA and the TAM in the defined context. In
the Holy Month of Ramadan, Muslim consumers are emotionally involved in buying the
fashion clothing brands to warmly celebrate the event of Eid al Fitr due to religious factors.
Ramadan is a generous month for Muslims where both buyers and sellers tend to display
human values like gratitude, empathy, charity and shopping a lot. In the Holy month of
Ramadan, Muslim consumers widely divert to their religion, change their lifestyle and the
way of buying. Fashion clothing brands also introduce new designs, varieties, offer a special
discount for greater sales and contribute to the super celebration of Eid al Fitr. Therefore,
this study contributes to the prior literature by developing a comprehensive framework to Muslim
evaluate the effects of social advertising and brand image in enhancing the buying behavior consumers
of Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan toward the fashion clothing
brands along with the moderating role of brand image based on the TRA and TAM.
buying
Exactly, the prime aim of this study is to comprehensively examine the impacts of social behavior
advertising on the Malaysian Muslim consumer’s buying behavior during the Holy Month
of Ramadan toward the fashion clothing brands along with the moderating role of brand
image. Second, this study is focusing to fulfill the theoretical gap (the application of the TRA
and the TAM in the defined context) and particularly finding the answers to the following
raised research questions:

RQ1. What is the impact of social advertising on the brand image and buying behavior
of Malaysian Muslims consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan toward the
fashion clothing brands?
RQ2. What is the relative importance of the components of social advertising in regard
to consumers’ preferences?
RQ3. What is the impact of brand image on the buying behavior of Malaysian Muslims
consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan toward the fashion clothing
brands?
RQ4. Does brand image moderate the relationship between social advertising and the
buying behavior of Malaysian Muslims consumers during the Holy Month of
Ramadan?
Notably, this study uses a survey-based technique to collect data from Muslim consumers
during the Holy Month of Ramadan via a mall intercept approach at the State of Johor and
Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Meanwhile, the managerial implications of this study will help
for marketing professionals to evaluate their efforts in social media marketing. This study
merges the literature based on the evidence from the emerging economy and facilitates
marketers how to wisely use social advertising strategies to enhance the buying behavior of
consumers and improve the image of the brand in Muslim communities during the Holy
month of Ramadan. Consequently, this study starts with a conceptual framework of social
advertising, brand image and consumers buying behavior (shown in Figure 1). Further, this

Brand Image

Social Advertising
- Informative Buying Behavior
- Entertainment
- Credibility
- Ease of Use
- Privacy Figure 1.
- Content Conceptual model
JIMA study describes and justifies the methodological procedure of the study conduction, and
analyzes the results. A detailed discussion of findings, implications, future directions and
managerial practices are concluded in the study.

2. Theoretical framework
The subsequent section reviews studies that lead to the formulation of the hypotheses of this
study.

2.1 Theory of reasoned action and technology acceptance model

The theoretical framework of this study is based on the TRA and the TAM. The concept of
reasoned action theory was introduced by Martin Fishbein and Lcek Ajzn (1967), with the
aim to assess the relationship between attitudes and behaviors whenever consumers take
any purchase action. However, Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) have proposed two types of beliefs
precursor in behavioral intentions that are; behavioral beliefs and normative beliefs.
According to Thompson and Thompson (1996), the TRA:
[. . .] predicts intention to perform a behavior from two predictors. The first, attitude towards
behavior, measures the extent to which an individual has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of
the behavior in question. The second predictor, subjective norm, measures the influence of other
people in respect of the behavior.
In addition, the TAM was developed by Davis (1986) with the intentions of user’s motivation
in using technology (Hussein, 2017), and to understand the adoption of new technology
by individuals, groups and organizations, based on the thought of the TRA (Fishbein and
Ajzen, 1975). The TAM model was developed with the assumptions to clarify the individual
beliefs, attitudes and intentions toward technology acceptance (Ibrahim, 2014). Therefore,
the TAM model was applied due to the wide acceptance and attachment of Malaysian
consumers with social media and how the usage of social advertising has transformed their
attitude from a traditional way of business to a more advanced digital landscape. Hence, the
combination of the TRA and TAM model has been applied due to social media acceptance
among Malaysian consumers and its influence on their attitude and buying behavior.

2.2 Social advertising

The revolution of social media has drastically changed the style of advertising and brought
businesses to a new era. Now many brands are using social media as advertising and two
ways communication platforms (Martín-Consuegra et al., 2019). For example, Facebook has
become one of the famous advertising platforms around the world, where a leading brand
Unilever has started a campaign to promote its product of deodorant, stressed like “open
conversational, and ‘always on’ nature” for more personal interactions with consumers. It
has been noted that this campaign strategy was highly successful in influencing consumers’
behavior (Chan, 2012). Similarly, Dell, a computing brand has earned more than $3m via
social media, where followers click on their posts and enter their site to purchase products.
Dell has become an example for the public of how companies are making profits via social
media (Ozer, 2012). Due to wide acceptance and attractive features, social media has become
an advertising platform (Bajpai et al., 2012), and emerged the concept of social advertising as
a new trend of marketing. Social advertising is the process of gaining traffic toward social
networking sites via content to attract the audience’s attention (Rehman, 2019; Esther et al.,
2015). Particularly, in Malaysian society, it has become a part of life as more than 90% of
internet users consume time on social networking sites on a daily basis (Rehman, 2019;
Ismail et al., 2015).
2.2.1 Dimensions of social advertising Muslim
2.2.1.1 Informative. Informative social media advertising possesses value for consumers as consumers
timely, accurate and informative ads develop a positive attitude toward it (Aydın, 2016; Siau
and Shen, 2003). Logan et al. (2012) have highlighted social media as a good source of
buying
providing timely, relevant, updated, completed information and assumed as a convenient behavior
source of product information. The study has praised Facebook advertising as a better
source of product information. The information of social media advertising can enhance the
consumer’s attitude toward ads, has a positive impact on their mind (Aydın, 2016; Tsang
et al., 2004; Bauer et al., 2005), and is considered as a valuable incentive (Padmanabhan and
Anand, 2015) (Table 1).
2.2.1.2 Entertainment. The entertainment of social media advertisement may refer to the
concept that the advertisement message was designed to catch the significant attention of
consumers due to its amazing features. Entertainment is “[. . .] the ability to fulfill an
audience’s needs for escapism, diversion, aesthetic enjoyment, or emotional enjoyment and
is the properties of being enjoyable, exciting, imaginative, and flashy,” that increases
consumer loyalty and adds value to the advertisement (Padmanabhan and Anand, 2015).
Logan et al. (2012) has praised Facebook advertisements as a source of entertainment,
enjoyment, pleasure and excitement. Likewise, Soares and Pinho (2014) have highlighted
social networking advertisement as a good source of entertainment, happiness, excitement,
imagination and providing relief from a stressful life.
2.2.1.3 Credibility. Credibility is “the extent to which the consumers perceive the claims
about the brand/product advertised in the advertisement to be truthful and believable”
(Mackenzie and Lutz, 1989). According to Yaakop et al. (2012) credibility of an
advertisement is the objective and subjective component of message believability and “the
extent to which the consumer believes or trust in the media or advertising claims.” Dinh and
Mai (2016) have claimed the credibility of an advertisement as a trustworthy, honest,
believable, sincere, convincible and promotional campaign of a brand. The credibility of
social media advertising increases the trust of the audience and enhances the consumers’
response toward the advertisement (Clinton et al., 2008).

Construct Dimensions References

Social advertising Informative Aydın (2016), Logan et al. (2012), Lee and Hong (2016),
Padmanabhan and Anand (2015), Choi et al. (2008), Xu (2006),
Sexena et al. (2018), Ferreira and Barbosa (2017), Haida and Rahim
(2015), Chiang et al. (2017)
Entertainment Aydın (2016), Logan et al. (2012), Padmanabhan and Anand
(2015), Soares and Pinho (2014), Thong et al. (2006), Choi et al.
(2008), Xu (2006), Sexena et al. (2018), Ferreira and Barbosa (2017),
Haida and Rahim (2015), Chiang et al. (2017), Cha (2010)
Credibility Aydın (2016), Padmanabhan and Anand (2015), Choi et al. (2008),
Xu (2006), Clinton et al. (2008), Yaakop et al. (2013), Boateng and
Okoe (2015), Chiang et al. (2017)
Ease of Use Thong et al. (2006), Rauniar et al. (2014), Heinrichs et al. (2011),
Sago (2013), Shipps and Phillips (2013), Cha (2010), Ruiz et al.
(2014)
Privacy Lee and Hong (2016), Yaakop et al. (2013), Cha (2010), Yaakop
et al. (2012), Tan et al. (2012), Zhang et al. (2019) Table 1.
Contents Gaber and Wright (2014), Ahmad et al. (2016), Rahman et al. Validation of the
(2017), Lee et al. (2014) construct dimensions
JIMA 2.2.1.4 Ease of use. Social advertising is flexible, easy to use and easy to become skilful of
its usage, such that one can do what he/she wants to do, and it serves as an understandable
source to share knowledge and gain beneficial information of a business (Rauniar et al.,
2014). Heinrichs et al. (2011) have highlighted the term ease of use in the sense of social
networking sites as:
[. . .] the extent to which one believes that using a particular system will be free of effort. Ease-of-
use in social networking sites implies that the user found the social networking site easy to
operate and that the user did not need to expend effort on operating the social networking site to
achieve his or her desired objective and observe or share the advertisement message with other.
2.2.1.5 Privacy. Privacy is the ability to control the physical, interactional, psychological
and informational access to self or one’s group in social media (Jung, 2017). According to
Yaakop et al. (2012), the issues of privacy among social networking users have caught
attention since the beginning and are concerned with the personal information of users such
as image, status, hobbies and others. Lee and Hong (2016) have highlighted that Facebook
users are often concerned with its usage behavior, usage detail and their liking about
content and advertisement.
2.2.1.6 Contents. The concept of content marketing has emerged as a new trend in social
media marketing and is “creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content
to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience to gain profit” (Ahmad et al., 2016). Content
marketing is the “marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and
consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of
driving profitable customer action” (Steimle, 2017). It is:
[. . .] engaging with the community around by sharing information, ideas, and experiences that
benefit others without asking anything in return. The content marketing is sharing the
information regarding the products and brands to attract others to participate in purchasing
activities that create the engagement relationship between consumers and the companies (Ahmad
et al., 2016) (Table 2).

2.3 Brand image

The word brand was derived from the old Norse word brand, “meaning burn, and it was by
this method that early man marked his livestock” (Lee et al., 2000), and is:
[. . .] a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them, which is intended to identify
the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of
competitors or perception of a brand in the minds of persons.
It is:
[. . .] the consumer’s general perception and impression of a brand (Herzog, 1963), and their
perception of a product total attributes (Newman, 1985), or is the consumer’s general impression
of the product or service (Dichter, 1985).
Brand image:
[. . .] is the sum of total of impressions the consumer receives from many sources: from actual
experience and hearsay about the brand itself as well as its packaging, its name, the company
making it, the types of people the individual has been using the brand, what was said in its
advertising, as well as from the tone, format, type of advertising vehicle in which the product
story was told (Britt, 1966).
 Muslim
Authors Topic Theory/Model Context Sample Technique
consumers
Liu et al. (2020) The Impact of Self-congruity Self-congruity Chinese’s 1,000 Convenience buying
and Virtual Interactivity on Theory
Online Celebrity Brand Equity behavior
and Fans’ Purchase Intention
Sama (2019) Impact of Media Theory of India 529 Convenience
Advertisements Reasoned
on Consumer Behaviour Action and
AIDA Model
Enehasse and The Impact of Digital Media Turkey 150 Convenience
Sa
glam (2020) Advertising on Consumer
Behavior Intention: The
Moderating Role of Brand Trust
Jibril et al. The Impact of Social Media on Theory of Czech 122 Snowball
(2019) Consumer-brand Loyalty: A Planned Republic
Mediating Role of Online Based- Behavior (TPB)
Brand Community
Nofal et al. The Impact of Social Networking TPB Cyprus 400 Face-to-Face
(2020) Sites Advertisement on Consumer and Survey
Purchasing Decision: The Turkey
Mediating
Role of Brand Awareness
Majeed et al. The Influence of Social Media on TPB, Ghana 500 Convenience
(2021) Purchase Intention: The Gratification
Mediating Role of Brand Equity Theory
Leong et al. The Influence of Social Media Information Malaysia 222 Purposive
(2021) eWOM Information on Purchase Acceptance Sampling
Intention Model Technique
Zhao and Health Advertising on Short- Technology China 350 Online
Wang (2020) Video Social Media: A Study on Acceptance Survey
User Attitudes Based on the Model
Extended Technology
Acceptance Model
Rehman et al. The Moderating Role of Trust TPB, Pakistan 250 Cluster
(2019) and Commitment Between Technology Sampling
Consumer Purchase Intention Acceptance Technique
and Online Shopping Behavior Model
in the Context of Pakistan
WAWERU Social Media Factors TPB, TRA, Africa 377 Snowball
(2017) Influencing Consumer Buying TAM
Intention: A Case Study of
United States International
University-Africa Students
Saleem and Influence of Electronic Word of TPB, TRA, Dual Pakistan 400 Purposive or
Elahi (2017) Mouth on Purchase Intention of process theory Judgmental
Fashion Products in Social Sampling
Networking Technique
Websites
Sharma et al. Social Media Activities and its Social Exchange India 305 Mall
(2020) Influence on Customer-Brand Theory, TPB, Intercept
Relationship: An Empirical TRA
Study of Apparel Retailers’ Table 2.
Activity in India Summary of
(continued) previous studies
JIMA
Authors Topic Theory/Model Context Sample Technique

Poturak and Influence of Social Media Bosnia 332 Snowball

Poftic (2019) Content on Consumer Purchase
Intention: Mediation Effect of
Brand Equity
Ceyhan (2019) The Impact of Perception Turkey 1,078
Related Social Media Marketing
Applications on Consumers’
Brand Loyalty and Purchase
Intention
Raji et al. (2019) The Mediating Effect of Brand UAE and 800 Cluster
Image on the Relationships Malaysia Sampling
Between Social Media
Advertising Content, Sales
Promotion Content and
Behavioural Intention
Mukherjee and Social Networking Sites and TAM Model India 207 Convenience
Banerjee (2019) Customers’ Attitude Towards
Advertisements
Farzin and eWOM Through Social Iran 400 Simple
Fattahi (2019) Networking Sites and Impact on Random
Purchase Intention and Brand Sampling
Table 2. Image in Iran

2.4 Consumer buying behavior

Consumer buying behavior is the “totality of consumer decision with respect to the
acquisition, consumption, and disposition off goods, services, time and ideas by (human)
decision-making units” (Gautam and Jain, 2008). It is the:
[. . .] study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure,
use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that
these processes have on the consumer and society (Elnaga and Abunayyan, 2016).
Howard and Sheth (1969) have defined three major steps in the buying decision of
consumers that are; a set of inner psychological motives, alternative sources of action and
the decision mediators.

2.5 Research gap

A study by Okazaki and Taylor (2013) has explored the theoretical foundation of social
media advertising to identify future research directions and noted three theoretical
perspectives (networking capabilities, brand image transferability and personal
extensibility) in reaching targeted customers via social networking sites and their
behavioral response, attitude toward social networking advertising. The study has
advocated this conception in different cultures to get a better understanding of the
knowledge area. Dehghani and Tumer (2015) have examined the effectiveness of social
media advertising in enhancing the purchase intentions of consumers in Cyprus. The study
has investigated four constructs in social media advertising (Facebook), brand equity, brand
image and purchase intentions of consumers. Rehman et al. (2014) have assessed the effects
of Facebook advertising on young consumers buying behavior along with the moderating
role of gender. Enehasse and Sag lam (2020) have examined the impacts of digital media
advertising on Turkish consumers’ behavioral intentions along with the moderating role of Muslim
brand trust. Nofal et al. (2020) have evaluated the impacts of social networking advertising consumers
on the Cyprus and Turkish consumer’s purchase decision along with the mediating role of buying
brand awareness based on the theory of planned behavior. However, prior studies have less
focused to evaluate the impacts of social advertising, the brand image on Muslim consumers
behavior
buying behavior toward the fashion clothing brands along the moderating role of the brand
image during the Holy Month of Ramadan, specifically, in this part of the world. Therefore,
this study has noted a gap of knowledge to examine the impacts of social advertising, the
brand image on the buying behavior of Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of
Ramadan along with the moderating role of brand image based on the TAM model and the
TRA toward the fashion clothing brands. Consequently, this study has developed a
conceptual framework to determine the relationship among variables and to achieve the aim
and objectives of the study. On the basis of variables and previous literature, this study has
developed some hypotheses, which are explained below.
Ertemel and Ammoura (2016) have assessed the role of social media advertising on
consumers buying behavior and noted its influence in the fashion retail industry in Turkey.
Esfahani et al. (2012) have assessed the relationship between digital media advertising and
the purchase of losing weight sports goods in Iran and concluded that TV advertisement can
influence consumers to purchase the sports goods in Iran. Virvilaite and Matuleviyiene
(2013) assessed the influence of shocking advertising on Lithuanian consumers buying
behavior and summarized that shocking advertising has an influence on the buying
behavior of consumers. Therefore, we hypothesize in this study that:

H1. There is a positive relationship between social advertising and the buying behavior
of Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in Malaysia.
In addition, previous literature has mentioned various factors of online advertising which
affect the buying behavior of consumers. Hashim and Zolkepli (2014) have examined the
effects of mobile advertising messages’ contents with the intention of entertainment,
informative, irritation and credibility on the purchase intentions of consumers. Nwagwu and
Famiyesin (2016) have assessed mobile advertising acceptance among Nigerian consumers
with the intention of entertainment, informativeness, credibility, personalization and
ubiquity. Wang and Sun (2010) have examined the role of beliefs (informative,
entertainment, credibility, economy and value) and attitudes toward online advertising
among the USA and Romanian consumers. Yuanxin and Pittana (2011) have assessed the
influence of social media advertising (informative, entertainment, credibility, interactivity),
psychographic factors (reference group, privacy concerns) and demographic factors (gender,
age and usage) on consumers’ attitudes toward social media advertising in Sweden.
Therefore, to evaluate the relative importance of various factors in social advertising, we
hypothesize in this study as:

H1A. There is a positive relationship between the informativeness of social advertising

and the buying behavior of Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in
Malaysia.
H1B. There is a positive relationship between entertainment in social advertising and
the buying behavior of Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in
Malaysia.
JIMA H1C. There is a positive relationship between credibility in social advertising and the
buying behavior of Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in
Malaysia.
Likewise, Yaakop et al. (2012) evaluated the consumer’s perceptions and attitude toward
Facebook advertising and noted that privacy concern has a positive significant relationship
with the consumer’s attitude toward Facebook advertising. Similarly, Bashir et al. (2015) have
confirmed the influence of privacy in online shopping, specifically through social media, on the
buying behavior of consumers. The study has noted a positive relationship of privacy with
the buying behavior of consumers in Pakistan. In addition, Ruiz et al. (2014) have examined the
main drivers of Facebook fan page loyalty to promote the creation of effective links and long-
term relationships among users. The study noted that perceived ease of use has positive
significant effects on the user’s attitude. Khatib (2016) has examined the characteristics of social
media advertising on the purchase decision of Saudi Arabian consumers. The study found that
the ease of use in social media advertising has a positive significant relationship with the
purchase decision of consumers. Heinrichs et al. (2011) have assessed the influence of social
networking sites in terms of ease of use on social media evaluation. Further, Rahman et al.
(2017) have analyzed the contents of a Facebook fan page in enhancing users’ engagement with
brands. The study has noted that the content of the Facebook fan page can enhance users’
engagement with brands. Likewise, He and Qu (2018) have noted an influence of social media
advertising content on the purchase intention of consumers. Arceo et al. (2018) have noted a
huge effect of the contents in social media advertising on the purchase decision of consumers.
Therefore, we hypothesize in this study as:

H1D. There is a positive relationship between privacy in social advertising and the
buying behavior of Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in
Malaysia.
H1E. There is a positive relationship between ease of use in social advertising and the
buying behavior of Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in
Malaysia.
H1F. There is a positive relationship between contents in social advertising and the
buying behavior of Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in
Malaysia.
In addition, consumers often prefer to buy branded products in the marketplace (Fennis and
Pruyn, 2006). Due to this reason, studies such as; Tekin et al. (2016) have assessed the effects of
brand image on Turkish consumers’ buying behavior of luxury goods. Chovanova et al. (2015)
have examined the impacts of brands on the consumer behavior. Durrani et al. (2015) have
assessed the impacts of brand image on the buying behavior of teenage consumers. Riaz (2015)
has examined the effects of brand image on the buying behavior of Pakistani consumers in the
clothing industry and noted a positive significant relationship of brand image with the
consumers buying behavior. Tekin et al. (2016) have assessed the effects of brand image on
Turkish consumers’ behavior of buying luxury goods. Fianto et al. (2014) have investigated the
influence of brand image on purchase behavior with the intention of trust in the brand and
noted a significant influence of brand image on the purchase intentions of consumers. Likewise,
Malik et al. (2013) have determined a strong positive significant relationship of brand image
with the consumer’s buying behavior. Lien et al. (2015) have investigated the effects of brand
image, price, trust and value on the consumer’s purchase intentions. Chovanova et al. (2015)
have examined the impacts of brands on consumer behavior. Durrani et al. (2015) have
assessed the impacts of brand image on the buying behavior of teenage consumers. Sivanesan Muslim
(2014) has observed a positive significant relationship of brand image with the consumer’s consumers
buying behavior. Therefore, we hypothesize in this study that:
buying
H2. There is a positive relationship between brand image and the buying behavior of behavior
Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in Malaysia.
Social advertising is a useful mechanism to develop the brand image among targeted
consumers as social (Facebook) advertising enhances the brand preferences among users.
Authors such as Boateng and Okoe (2015) have noted that consumers respond positively
toward the social advertising of a brand and reputable firm. Social media advertising may
be a useful mechanism to develop the brand image among the targeted audience as social
media (Facebook) advertising can enhance the brand preferences among users (Humphrey
et al., 2017). Dib and Alhaddad (2015) have assessed the businesses strategies of using social
media for building brand image among the targeted audience. Godey et al. (2016) have noted
that social media marketing efforts have significant effects on brand image and brand
awareness. Social media advertising has a significant influence in enhancing the brand
reputation (Karamian et al., 2015). Hanaysha (2016) has noted a positive and significant
effect of social advertising on brand image in the fast-food restaurant industry in Malaysia.
Therefore, we hypothesize in this study that:

H3. There is a positive relationship between social advertising and the brand image
among Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in Malaysia.
Various researchers have examined the moderating and mediating role of brand image on
the relationship among numerous variables. For instance, Lee and Ganesh (1999) have
examined the effects of brand image, country image, familiarity with both brand and
country on consumer evaluation and noted that product-specific image mediates the
relationship between country image and consumer evaluation. Shabbir and Khan (2017)
have examined the mediating role of brand awareness on the relationship between brand
loyalty and brand image with brand equity. The study has noted that brand awareness
mediates the relationship of brand loyalty and brand image with brand equity. Hameed
(2013) has examined the effects of advertising on brand loyalty along with mediating role of
store image, perceived quality and customer satisfaction. Ismail (2017) has carried out a
study to investigate the impacts of social media marketing activities on brand loyalty along
with the mediating role of value consciousness and brand consciousness among Malaysian
users. Rahi (2015) has examined the moderating role of brand image on the relationship
between internet banking and customer loyalty. While Afaishat and Alnaser (2020) have
assessed the moderating role of brand experience on the relationship between social media
marketing activities and brand equity in Jordan five-star hotels. Therefore, we hypothesize
in this study that:

H4. Brand image moderates the relationship between social advertising and the buying
behavior of Muslim consumers in the Holy Month of Ramadan in Malaysia.

3. Methodology
3.1 Sample and data collection procedure
This study has collected data in a quantitative way through a questionnaire-based survey.
The questionnaire-based survey is convenient for respondents, and there are no time
constraints and can reduce interviewer bias (Forza, 2002). Considering the uniqueness of the
JIMA study, being among the few field surveys conducted in the Johor and Kuala Lumpur state in
Malaysia, data were collected from Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan
who were the targeted respondents. However, this study has selected the State Johor and
Kuala Lumpur due to the fact that State Johor is the third most populated state after
Selangor and Sabah in the country and (the State Wilayah Persekutuan) Kuala Lumpur is
the largest city, highest population density and highest median monthly household income
of the country (Department of Statistic, 2014, 2016; Worldpopulationreview, 2022). The
study applied a convenient approach (as inline studies of Ismail, 2017; Sama, 2019; Enehasse
and Sag lam, 2020) to collect data from Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of
Ramadan via the mall intercept approach. A convenience sampling technique was used,
which represents the nonprobability sampling technique, and was the most appropriate
method for data collection in this study. Muslim consumers often repeat the buying
techniques due to previous experience and religious thoughts. It highlighted that sample
being drawn from that part of the population which is close to the hand is accessible (Zeb
et al., 2021). We distributed a total of 384 questionnaires among Muslim consumers by
applying various techniques to clarify the religion of respondents (option of Muslims and
non-Muslims in questionnaires, Hijab of Female respondents, caps headed men, etc.). Almost
304 useable questionnaires were received, demonstrating a reply rate of 79.16% and 20.83%
were rejected due to missing data, incomplete records, univariate or multivariate outliers.
Malhotra and Grover (1998) stated that a response rate greater than 20% is recommended
for further analysis. It was clear to the respondents that data will be used only for research
purposes.

3.2 Measures
All questionnaires were adopted from (Logan et al., 2012; Lee and Hong, 2016; Soares and
Pinho, 2014; Prendergast et al., 2009; Dinh and Mai, 2016; Tan et al., 2012; Rauniar et al.,
2014; Kirik et al., 2015; Kim and Johnson, 2016; Bian and Moutinho, 2011; Saaksjarvi and
Samiee, 2011; Sasmita and Suki, 2015; Wang and Tsai, 2017; Anselmsson et al., 2014). All the
questions were close-ended, and respondents were given options to mark the options which
suit them the best.

3.3 Data analysis technique

All the items were measured from the range; strongly disagree to strongly agree. The study
used partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyse the results.
The PLS-SEM was applied to test the proposed research model as PLS has been suggested
as an excellent tool for assessing relationships among manifold variables in a complex
framework (Rehman et al., 2017). This study has four main hypotheses and six
subhypothesis and a complex research model. Therefore, it was appropriate to use PLS-
SEM for the analysis.

4. Results
This study has applied descriptive statistics to sketch the demographic information of the
respondents. Table 3 provides the demographic details of the respondents in terms of
gender, age, income, etc. Respondents included 39.2% male and 60.8% female. In terms of
age, 80% of consumers were from the group of 18–21 years of age, and 20% were from
22–25 years of age. In terms of income, 74% of consumers were from RM 2,000 and below
income group, and 26% consumers were from RM 2,001–4,000 income group. In terms of
education, 89.1% were with Bachelor, 10.9% with Master. It was clear to the respondents
that the data will be used only for research and publication purposes.
Demographic variable Frequency (%)
Muslim
consumers
Gender buying
Male 185 60.8
Female 119 39.2 behavior
Age
18–21 years 244 80
22–25 years 60 20
Income
RM 2,000 Group 225 74
RM 2,001–4,000 Group 79 26 Table 3.
Education Demographic
Bachelor 271 89.1 information’s of the
Master 33 10.9 respondents

In addition, by using PLS-SEM, the constructs were validated to assess the factor loading,
composite reliability (greater than 0.07) and average variance extracted (AVE) (greater than
0.05). The results of PLS-SEM indicated that the composite reliability and AVEs of each
construct were noted to exceed their threshold values which supported the reliability and
convergent validity in this study. Results also declared that all the items of the present study
have high loadings and cross-loading on their corresponding constructs. Table 4 shows
the values of items loading, composite reliability and AVEs. The discriminant validity of the
measure was assessed by applying the Fornell and Larcker (1981) criteria to compare the
correlation among construct and the square root of the AVE for that construct. The results
indicate that the diagonal values are greater than the correlation between that construct and
other constructs in corresponding rows and columns, which support the discriminant
validity. Results also indicate that the concerned values of items in cross-loading have higher
values in the corresponding rows and columns in Table 5, which shows the correlation
among variables in the data set (Tables 6 and 7).
To assess the hypotheses, bootstrapping procedure was applied along with the sample of
5,000 to get results. In the results of the structural model, the study assessed only first-order
assessment due to the formative nature of this study. The results indicated that social
advertising and brand image have positive and significant effects on the buying behavior of
Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Results indicated that social advertising has also positive and significant effects on the
brand image among Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Results also
revealed that the features of social advertising such as informative, entertainment,
credibility, ease of use, privacy and content have positive impacts on the buying behavior of
Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
At the same time, credibility and entertainment in social advertising have a greater
influence on Muslim consumers’ buying behavior toward the fashion clothing brands as
compared to other factors during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Additionally, the study
applied the PLS-SEM procedure to determine the moderating effects of the brand image on
the relationship between social advertising and Malaysian consumers’ buying behavior in
the Holy Month of Ramadan. It has also been noted that brand image has nonmoderating
effects on the relationship between social advertising and the buying behavior of Malaysian
Muslim consumers. However, the results of PLS support all the developed hypotheses in this
study except H4 (Table 8).
 values
JIMA

Table 4.

analysis, composite
Confirmatory factor

reliability and AVE

Factor Composite
Construct Items loading reliability AVE

Social Social advertisement is a good source of fashion clothing information in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.919 0.915 0.664
Advertising Social advertisement provides updated information of fashion clothing products in the Holy Month of 0.815
Ramadan
Social advertisement is a convenient source of fashion clothing information in the Holy Month of 0.869
Ramadan
Social advertisement provides complete information of fashion clothing products in the Holy Month of 0.901
Ramadan
Social advertisement provides beneficial information of fashion clothing products in the Holy Month of 0.857
Ramadan
Social advertisement provides entertainment in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.917
Social advertisement is exciting in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.921
Social advertisement makes me happy in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.839
Social advertisement stimulates my imagination in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.878
Social advertisement provides relief from a stressful life in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.881
I feel that the claims made in Social advertisements are credible in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.839
Social advertisements are trustworthy in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.859
Social advertisements are believable in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.838
Social advertisements convince me positively in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.847
Social advertisements are sincere in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.844
I am concerned that my online usage behavior might be known to others while I use the social media in 0.792
the Holy Month of Ramadan
I am concerned that my social media usage details might be known to other users in the Holy Month of 0.752
Ramadan
I am concerned that my friends might learn about my liking in the social media advertisement in the Holy 0.740
Month of Ramadan
I am concerned that my private information on social media may be misused in the Holy Month of 0.731
Ramadan
I am concerned that the unknown parties may have access to my private information on social media in 0.791
the Holy Month of Ramadan
I think, social media is flexible to interact with others in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.768
I think, social media is easy to do what I want to do in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.749
I think, it’s easy to become skilful in the usage of social media in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.725
I think, it is easy to use social media in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.746
(continued)
 Factor Composite
Construct Items loading reliability AVE

Social media is understandable to interact with others in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.793
I often follow the contents of Social advertising in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.788
The contents of social advertising describe the functions of fashion clothing brands in the Holy Month of 0.743
Ramadan
The contents of social advertising are valuable in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.734
The contents of social advertising are beneficial in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.736
The contents of social advertising enhance my emotions to purchase in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.764
Brand Image Fashion clothing brands bring me exclusivity in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.825 0.855 0.660
Fashion clothing brands attract the attention of people in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.799
Fashion clothing brands bring me prestige in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.867
Fashion clothing brands have high quality in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.791
Fashion clothing brands are credible in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.818
Fashion clothing brands have good value in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.822
Fashion clothing brands are well established in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.780
Buying I buy fashion clothing without planning in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.542 0.982 0.538
Behavior I buy fashion clothing for enjoyment in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.712
I buy fashion clothing with a group of friends in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.690
I always buy unique fashion dress in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.805
I always buy fashion clothing of latest trends in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.833
I am willing to pay a higher price for fashion clothing brand in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.742
Buy fashion clothing brand would improve the way I am perceived in the Holy Month of Ramadan 0.763

Table 4.
Muslim

buying
consumers

behavior
JIMA Results indicated that the values of Q-Square are greater than zero which shows that the path
model’s predictive relevance exists in this particular construct. On the basis of results, it can be
inferred that social advertising provides good, updated, complete, relevant and beneficial
information of fashion clothing brands to the Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of
Ramadan. It can be said that social advertising may be a convenient source of fashion
clothing information and provides entertainment, stimulate consumers’ imagination and
provides relief from a stressful life. It may be a source of credible and trustworthy
information to positively influence Malaysian Muslim consumers toward the fashion
clothing brands and consumers may feel secure in the usage of social media. It may be a
flexible source of interactions and Malaysian Muslim consumers may easily use it to get
interesting information about fashion clothing brands. It can also be inferred on the basis
of results that advertisers may use valuable and attractive content in social advertising to
sway the emotions of consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy
Month of Ramadan. It can also be concluded on the basis of results that fashion clothing
brands may bring exclusivity, attract consumers’ attraction, bring prestige to consumers,
have high quality and possess good value for Muslim consumers. Therefore, it is apprised
to the marketing professional to focus on the features of social advertising and brand
image while formulating advertising strategies for fashion clothing brands (Figure 2).

5. Discussion
This study has measured the impacts of social advertising on the buying behavior of Muslim
consumers toward the fashion clothing brands along with the moderating role of the brand image
during the Holy Month of Ramadan. The results of the study contributed to the body of
knowledge that social advertising and brand image have positive and significant effects on the
buying behavior of Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan. From the results, it
has cleared that tactics in social advertising such as informative, entertainment, credibility, ease
of use, privacy and attractive contents have the advantage to achieve the marketing objectives of
the fashion clothing brands. It has been noted that brand image is an important aspect to be
considered as a part of marketing strategies to exactly fulfill the business objectives.
The managerial perspective of the study was to test whether social advertising has any
relationship with the buying behavior of Malaysian Muslim consumers toward the fashion
clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan. It was also the part of this study to test
whether brand image moderates the relationship between social advertising and the buying
behavior of Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands. However, this study is in line
with Nofal et al. (2020), who examined the impacts of social networking advertising on the

Construct Social advertising Brand image Buying behavior

Social Advertising 0.812

Table 5. Brand Image 0.508 0.733
Discriminant validity Buying Behavior 0.448 0.519 0.815

Construct Social advertising Brand image Buying behavior

Table 6.
Heterotrait– Social Advertising
Monotrait Ration Brand Image 0.467
(HTMT) Buying Behavior 0.553 0.541
Items Social advertising Brand image Consumer buying behavior
Muslim
consumers
SA1 0.919 0.434 0.494 buying
SA2 0.815 0.405 0.414
SA3 0.869 0.403 0.406 behavior
SA4 0.901 0.419 0.473
SA5 0.857 0.393 0.418
SA6 0.917 0.426 0.465
SA7 0.921 0.425 0.488
SA8 0.839 0.344 0.388
SA9 0.878 0.419 0.453
SA10 0.881 0.404 0.440
SA11 0.839 0.356 0.477
SA12 0.858 0.354 0.457
SA13 0.838 0.375 0.464
SA14 0.847 0.363 0.474
SA15 0.844 0.351 0.460
SA16 0.792 0.329 0.403
SA17 0.752 0.360 0.436
SA18 0.740 0.343 0.363
SA19 0.731 0.299 0.367
SA20 0.791 0.331 0.388
SA21 0.768 0.343 0.404
SA22 0.749 0.345 0.408
SA23 0.725 0.336 0.375
SA24 0.746 0.281 0.340
SA25 0.793 0.316 0.384
SA26 0.788 0.333 0.391
SA27 0.743 0.402 0.426
SA28 0.734 0.337 0.376
SA29 0.736 0.313 0.367
SA30 0.764 0.347 0.399
BI56 0.398 0.825 0.491
BI57 0.359 0.779 0.369
BI58 0.408 0.867 0.517
BI59 0.324 0.791 0.331
BI60 0.348 0.818 0.365
BI61 0.37 0.822 0.379
BI62 0.316 0.780 0.372
CBB63 0.261 0.197 0.543
CBB64 0.33 0.398 0.719
CBB65 0.363 0.267 0.69
CBB66 0.405 0.361 0.805
CBB67 0.53 0.465 0.833
CBB68 0.368 0.316 0.742
CBB69 0.351 0.506 0.763 Table 7.
Cross-loading for
Note: *SA: social advertising, *BI: brand image, *CBB: consumer buying behavior items

consumer’s purchase decision along with the moderating role of brand awareness in Cyprus. This
study is inline in the context of the theoretical framework. This study is in harmony with Rehman
et al. (2017), who have assessed the influence of personal factors (market maven, stability, open-
minded and agreeable) on the buying behavior of Pakistani consumers in the fashion clothing
JIMA Hypothesis Relationship St. beta Sample mean SD T-value Decision R2 F2 Q2

H1 SA ! CBB 0.364 0.369 0.054 6.766 Supported 0.364 0.025 0.303

H2 BI ! CBB 0.349 0.335 0.059 5.871 Supported 0.072
H1A INF ! CBB 0.151 0.008 0.038 7.570 Supported 0.214 0.862 0.187
H1B ETR ! CBB 0.179 0.009 0.082 9.273 Supported 0.773
H1C CRD ! CBB 0.190 0.008 0.067 4.743 Supported 0.542
H1D EOU ! CBB 0.180 0.009 0.059 8.132 Supported 0.572
H1E PRY ! CBB 0.189 0.005 0.064 8.559 Supported 0.613
Table 8. H1F CON ! CBB 0.182 0.007 0.060 6.334 Supported 0.871
H3 SA ! BI 0.593 0.280 0.561 2.581 Supported 0.605 0.130 0.402
Results of the
H4 SA*BI!CBB 0.016 0 0.096 0.169 Not-supported 0.362 0.261 0.192
structural model
analysis (hypothesis Notes: *INF: informative, *ETR: entertainment, *CRD: credibility, *EOU: ease of use, *PRY: privacy,
testing) *CON: content, *BI: brand image, *BB: buying behavior

Figure 2.
Structural model
industry. This study is in agreement with the sense of buying behavior of consumers toward the Muslim
fashion clothing brands and the method of data collection and analysis. consumers
Likewise, this study is in line with (Poturak and Poftic, 2019) who examined the influence
of social media content on the Bosnian consumer’s purchase intention along with the
buying
mediating role of brand equity. The study collected data through an online survey and behavior
analyzed it via SPSS using linear regression. The study is in association due to social media
communication’s influence on the consumer’s purchase intention in the context of the brand.
This study is also in line with Rehman et al. (2019), who have examined the moderating role
of trust and commitment between consumer purchase intention and online shopping
behavior. This study is inline in the context of theoretical background. The results of this
study also have an agreement with Majeed et al. (2021), who assessed the influence of social
media on purchase intention along with the mediating role of brand image. This study is
inline in the context of sampling technique and methodological procedure. However, the
results of this study are unique as compared to the above inline studies due to the
methodological procedure, consumer’s context and based on a sound theoretical framework.

6. Implications of the study

6.1 Practical implications
The findings of this study imply that the firms can focus their efforts on social media
advertising and brand image to enhance the buying behavior of Muslim consumers during
the Holy Month of Ramadan and increase market shares of fashion clothing brands. Regular
advertising and two ways communication through social media can create brand loyalty,
facilitate consumers in prices, verities query, updated market information, and consumers
may not find an opportunity to be convinced by competitors. Developing two ways of
communication and applying unique selling strategies that better suit the consumers of the
Muslim community can lead them to be perceived as a market leader and a top brand among
community. The wise tactics in social advertising with the combination of the brand to
create image would be a helpful marketing strategy to increase customer’s engagement and
enhance their buying behavior. Informative and credible social advertising can provide the
opportunity of entertainment, make clear the business message among targeted customers
and positively enhance their purchase intentions. Fashion brands can provide descriptive,
verbal and updated information about a product to get favorable and personalized responses
in social advertising that could be helpful in formulating more personal strategies.
Further, today’s Malaysian Muslim consumers are widely using social media to reach
market updated information and social interactions as compared to the traditional
communication systems. Therefore, fashion brands can widely focus on social advertising to
create greater exposure among Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan to
fulfill their needs as per their religious requirements. In addition, this study is the first
attempt to focus on the Muslim consumers, whose approaches of problem-solving, social
interactions, habits and living styles are different from each other in a multicultural
environment, specifically, in the Holy Month of Ramadan. Muslim consumers follow the
Islamic principles while buying the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of
Ramadan to sustain and display their culture in a global context. Muslim consumers
seriously consider the Islamic features that fashion clothing brands would offer, and try to
differentiate themselves from the people of other thoughts. Concisely, results suggest that
social advertising and brand image have significant impacts on the buying behavior of
Muslims consumers, which implies that the fashion clothing brands should focus on greater
information through social advertising and building brand image to improve their
reputation in the market. The brand image also inspires the consumers toward buying in a
JIMA specific community and can lead to getting an advantage over competitors and enhance
customers’ commitment to a brand. Precisely, this study contributes to the prior literature
by evaluating the relative importance of various features in social advertising to enhance the
buying behavior of consumers toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of
Ramadan. So, the advertisers can add the most influential features in building
advertisements for greater effects. The results are helpful for marketing and advertising
agencies to develop more influential advertisements as per the consumer’s beliefs and
characteristics to convey a more concise message in a personalized way. Social advertising
also allows marketing practitioners to use novel advertising techniques to engage customers
with fashion clothing brands and enhance buying behavior.
In addition, researchers who are interested to explore the buying behavior of Muslim
consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan can get benefits from the study results. Further,
the findings of this study are helpful for the fashion clothing brands to save time, cost and
reach the specific groups of targeted customers in a personal way. The practices of these
marketing strategies would be useful for communities to save their time and resources by
getting the updated, relevant, credible and pleasant information of fashion clothing brands at
their home through social advertising. The informative social advertising in the context of
Islamic principles can enhance the confidence, trust and faith of Muslim consumers toward the
fashion clothing brands and the consumers feel more secure and protected.

6.2 Theoretical implications

This study merged the literature of social advertising, brand image and consumers’ buying
behavior based on the findings from the emerging economy and validated the proposed
research model in the Malaysian context during the Holy Month of Ramadan. The application
of PLS-SEM in the defined context is also a novel contribution in the relevant literature. This
study has contributed to the relevant literature by developing a theoretical framework based on
the TRA and TAM, subsequently validated it with data collection and analysis, and also a
novel contribution in the context of the Holy Month of Ramadan. The validated model
contributes to the literature and enhances the systematic understanding of the characteristics of
social advertising, brand image and the influence of these factors on the Malaysian consumers
buying behavior toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan. This
study extends the TRA in the context of motivational factors of consumers’ beliefs in social
advertising that can enhance the subjective norms among them to buy the fashion clothing
brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan. This study extends the TRA in the context of
factors (suggestions, comments of friends and audience in social advertising can enhance the
subjective norms among consumers toward buying) that influence the Malaysian consumers
buying behavior toward the fashion clothing brands during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

7. Conclusion
This study examined the impacts of social advertising on the buying behavior of Muslim
consumers toward the fashion clothing brands along with the moderating role of the brand
image during the Holy Month of Ramadan based on TRA and TAM model. The study applied
a quantitative approach to collect data through a questionnaire-based survey from Muslim
consumers in the State Johor and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and applied SEM to find results.
Results indicated that social advertising (informative, entertainment, credibility, privacy, ease
of use, privacy, contents) and brand image have positive impacts on the buying behavior of
Muslim consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan toward the fashion clothing brands.
Results also indicated that social advertising has also positive and significant effects on the
brand image among Muslim consumers. The features of social advertising such as informative,
entertainment, credibility, ease of use, privacy and content have positive impacts on the buying Muslim
behavior of Muslim consumers toward the fashion clothing brands. consumers
At the same time, credibility and entertainment in social advertising have a greater
influence on Muslim consumers’ buying behavior toward the fashion clothing brands as
buying
compared to other factors during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Additionally, it has also been behavior
noted that brand image has nonmoderating effects on the relationship between social
advertising and the buying behavior of Malaysian Muslim consumers. However, while
interpreting the results, it should be kept in mind that the data used in this study was collected
from only two states of Malaysia. Therefore, readers need to be cautious in generalizing the
results. To further enrich the analysis, we, therefore, recommend that future research should
include other variables like gender and education for assessing the moderating effects as well
as the application of the theory of planned behavior. This study has evaluated only a few
elements of the TRA and TAM, while future studies can add another variable to further enrich
the knowledge area. Further, the study was limited only to the fashion clothing brands in
Malaysia, and future research can be conducted in other services and manufacturing sectors.

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Corresponding author
Fazal Ur Rehman can be contacted at: fazal_marwatpk@yahoo.com

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