Integrating Factors Influencing Consumers’ Halal Products Purchase: Application of Theory of Reasoned Action

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to determine Muslim consumers’ purchase perceptions of Halal products in Pakistan. The research team has integrated different factors such as processing, Halal logo, ingredients, health consciousness, perceived value, food safety concern, and religious factor with Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), and they investigated their influence on consumers’ attitudes and intentions to purchase Halal food products. A survey was conducted in Islamabad and Rawalpindi city, Pakistan. A total of 282 (56.4%) completed questionnaires were received from 500 respondents. Structural equation modeling technique was used to determine consumers’ purchase intention and behavior regarding Halal products. Except for health consciousness and Halal logo, all factors positively influence consumers’ attitude and purchase intention of Halal food products and, subsequently, their purchase behavior.     

Asian economic integration: a perspective on South Asia

This paper argues in favor of open regionalism and continent-based integration in Asia. These are the effective instruments of outward-oriented development. The enlargement of trading blocs into continent-based integration also serves as a countervailing power to stem the excesses of economic globalism. The case made in the paper shows the need for institutional changes for promoting economic development. Institutional changes along with open regionalism are essential to enhancing outward-oriented development in South Asia. Respectable progress has been made in these areas across the continents in general, and in Asia in particular (ASEAN, SAARC, APEC). Efforts on these initiatives must be redoubled as we start the 21st century.     

Robust Volatility Estimation with and Without the Drift Parameter

We find the closed form solution for the joint probability of the running maximum and the drawdown of the Brownian motion with a non-zero drift parameter at a random time that is exponentially distributed and independent of the Brownian motion. This characterization leads us to come up with a robust method of estimating volatility using open, high, low and closing prices. We rigorously show the independence of robust volatility estimators based on extreme values of asset prices relative to the standard robust volatility estimator based on closing price alone. We further prove that the proposed robust volatility ratio is unbiased with no drift parameter. Moreover, we find that the robust volatility ratio with a non-zero drift parameter has only a second order effect. We have shown that our proposed extreme value robust volatility estimator is 2–3 times relatively more efficient when compared to the classical robust volatility estimator based on Monte Carlo simulation experiment. On the empirical side, we test the proposed robust volatility ratio based on high and low prices on different asset classes like stock indices, exchange rate and precious metals.

     

Understanding Non-Profit and For-Profit Social Marketing on Social Media: The Case of Anti-Texting While Driving

Previous studies suggest that consumers tend to infer more negative motives of for-profit sponsorship on social cause than to non-profits. The current study is aimed at identifying potential effective strategies for for-profit organizations to engage in social marketing efforts. Results showed that participants expressed lower texting while driving intentions when the message was initiated by a non-profit than a for-profit organization. For-profit messages were more likely to elicit desirable persuasive effects if their business offering was congruent with the social cause. Participants' intentions to interact with promotion messages on social media predicted their offline behavioral intentions regarding the promoted behaviors.     

Risk management within the cannabis industry: Building a framework for the cannabis industry

Thirty states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal and/or recreational use by either formally or informally de‐criminalizing its use. However, cannabis remains a Schedule 1 drug under the Federal Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. Sections 801 through 812), leaving federal law in conflict with the laws of over half of the states. As a result, market participants in legal cannabis businesses face risks due to the industry's unique legal status within the United States. We examine the risks and challenges deemed by the cannabis industry as the top risks facing the industry's continued future growth and its sustainability. In addition to general risks inherent in a nascent industry, a legal cannabis business faces additional risks, such as risks in its banking and finance activity, placement of insurance, payment of taxes, and managing its supply chain. These legal businesses also face true legal risk from the possibility of being shut down by the federal government and seizure of assets and product under the CSA. This paper also examines whether the cannabis industry would benefit from a futures market to mitigate price risk.     

International linkage of the Russian market and the Russian financial crisis: A multivariate GARCH analysis

This study considers the linkage of the Russian equity market to the world market, examining the international transmission of the Russia's 1998 financial crisis utilizing the GARCH–BEKK model proposed by Engle and Kroner [Engle, R.F., Kroner, K.F., 1995. Multivariate simultaneous generalized ARCH. Economet. Theor. 11, 122–150]. We find evidence of direct linkage between the Russian equity market with regards to returns and volatility, while the weakness of the linkage suggests that the Russian equity market was only partially integrated into the world market. At the time of the crisis, evidence of contagion is clear.