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The Islamic world spans many different languages with different language structures. This paper aims to explore one way in which language structure affects consumer response to the marketing of cobrands.

Two between subject experiments were conducted using samples of participants from Saudi Arabia and the USA. The first manipulated partner brand category similarity and brand name order, along with the structure of the language used to communicate with the market. The data for this study includes Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia as well as English speakers in the USA. The second study explores how targeting a population fluent in multiple languages of varied structure nullifies the findings from the first study and uses Latino participants in the USA.

This study finds that when brands come from similar product categories, name order did not affect cobrand evaluations, but it did when the brands come from dissimilar product categories. Here, evaluations of the cobrand are enhanced when the invited brand is in the position that adjectives occupy in the participant’s language. The authors also find that being proficient in two languages, each with a different default order for adjectives and nouns, quashes the effect of name order otherwise seen when brands from dissimilar product categories engage in cobranding.

By examining the impact of language structure on the effects of cobrand evaluation and conducting studies among participants with differing dominant languages, this research can rule out simple primacy or recency effects.

The purpose of this study is to segment the consumer Gulf market based on actionable and strategy yielding marketing variables (i.e. ethical orientations, trust, opportunisms and Machiavellianism).

Consumers from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait were asked to complete a survey which incorporated scales to measure consumers' ethical beliefs, Machiavellianism, ethical orientation, opportunism, trust, as well as demographic classification questions. Specifically, every attempt was made to have a broad distribution across the demographic categories of gender, age and education. Participation in the study was restricted to citizens of their respective nations. Local “data captains” were selected in each nation and trained in data collection techniques by two of the study's authors. Of the 598 questionnaires distributed, a total of 365 usable surveys were yielding an overall response rate of 61 percent. A multistage clustering approach was incorporated in order to identify the unique ethical consumer segments.

The analysis resulted in three distinct segments/clusters: “Principled Purchasers”, “Suspicious Shoppers” and “Corrupt Consumers”. Members of the Principled Purchasers segment tended to be less Machiavellianistic, less opportunistic, more trusting of others, less relativistic, more idealistic and perceived questionable actions in a negative light. Suspicious Shoppers were less trusting, tended to proceed with caution in their dealings, were somewhat opportunistic but placed a high emphasis on ethical behavior. Like the Suspicious Shoppers, the Corrupt Consumers were not trusting individuals. Unlike Suspicious Shoppers, however, Corrupt Consumers were Machiavellianistic, took advantage of opportunities, were not ethically oriented and were more likely to act in an unethical manner.

Future studies should attempt to obtain data from a more diverse sample in the Middle East. Social desirability bias may have been a factor in response to some of the questions resulting in respondents providing the socially desirable response in order to appear ethical. Future studies should examine the inclusion of measures for controlling such bias.

Companies should alter their marketing approach depending upon the segment being targeted. Companies focusing on “Principled Purchasers” should emphasize customer satisfaction and honesty in their transactions. “Suspicious Shoppers” are best appealed to by companies who can create a mutually satisfying relationship in which both parties benefit. In conducting business with “Corrupt Consumers”, international marketing managers must be aware of situations in which this group might try to exploit or deceive the firm, such as used or altered returns, product theft, illegal consumption or other immoral/illegal activities; all of which are costly to the organization and, ultimately, the general public at large.

Despite the socio‐economic similarities among Gulf countries (levels of income, market size, religion, language, etc.), important micro level differences exist and are often overlooked. Ignoring such differences may steer multinational firms towards the adoption of a simple and less expensive standardized marketing strategy across the region.

The aftermath of the 1990 Middle East war and the region′s subsequent exposure to Western technologies and lifestyles has contributed to an accelerated opening up of Arabic culture to Western ideas. Often relegated to a secondary role in the Arab culture, changing market conditions have helped increase the importance of many marketing functions and, in particular, personal selling. Given the increased importance of personal selling in a high context culture, such as that of Saudi Arabia, the development of a qualified salesforce should significantly improve a firm′s competitive position. This exploratory study examined the extent to which sales training philosophies and practices differ between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Findings reveal the limited extent of Saudi sales training programmes and offer insight into the future development of marketing and sales training in this Arab culture as well as implications for both Arab and foreign businesses.

Job satisfaction studies have recognized gender differences in the U.S. but have failed to address job limitations and occupational segregation for females as a result of cultural and religious restrictions experienced by women in many developing countries. This study aids in bridging this gap in the job satisfaction literature by empirically investigating job satisfaction among dual‐working couples in Saudi Arabia. Despite restrictions imposed by culture and religion, our findings indicate that women in Saudi Arabia experience higher levels of job satisfaction than men in ability utilization and achievement levels.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Chinese executives' preferred ethical ideologies and Machiavellianism on their perceived appropriateness of negotiation tactics as they operate in a nation transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy.

A self‐administered survey of a sample 300 Chinese managers with budgetary and personnel responsibilities in Tianjin, China was obtained for the purpose of the present study. A series of regression analyses were conducted to test the proposed relations.

Results from the regression analyses provided partial confirmations for the proposed relationships. Idealism influenced perceptions of false promises, traditional competitive bargaining, and attacking an opponents' network. Perceptions of traditional competitive bargaining, attacking an opponent's network, and inappropriate information gathering were significantly influenced by relativism. Machiavellianism influenced perceptions of traditional competitive bargaining and misrepresentation of information.

Given the existing impediments to sampling and data collection in China, the sampling method used is non‐probabilistic, which calls for consideration of the results as exploratory. The present study's sample is drawn from the Northeastern region of China and since ethical beliefs and orientation in China varies by region, the results of the present study cannot be generalized to the total population of China.

The present study aims to provide the following contribution. First, as most studies in the negotiation ethics literature are focused in Western cultural contexts, this study attempts to fill this gap by investigating the negotiation ethical values of executives from Eastern culture. Second, global firms' executives can better understand the ethical mindset of their Chinese counterparts and utilize this knowledge to efficiently and effectively manage the negotiation process with their counterparts in this important market. Third, public policymakers and researchers can also benefit from this study by understanding the external validity and the degree of ethnocentrism of not only their own code of ethics but also the validity of a universal code of ethic.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the antecedents of opportunism and its effect on unethical negotiation tactics among US and Belgian managers.

Samples of managers in both countries are surveyed and cross‐country analysis using multi‐group structural equation modeling is conducted.

Across both countries, deceitful tendencies and relativism are found to be significant predictors of opportunism, which in turn predicts receptiveness to unethical negotiating tactics; however, Belgian managers were found to have higher levels of these constructs, possibly indicating a greater propensity to engage in unethical behaviors than US managers.

The current research is limited by the relatively small size of the Belgian sample, differences in data collection method, and the lack of additional contextual measures, which may influence the managers' responses.

The finding that the same structural relationships hold across the US and Belgium samples provides insights for both groups of managers engaged in negotiations.

The paper offers a comparative perspective on US and Belgian managers and establishes the validity and applicability of frequently used ethics scales in Belgium, a country infrequently studied in this context.

Assesses the economic strengths and weaknesses of the six member states of the Co‐operation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and the patterns of trade between these states and the European Union (EU): the GCC’s largest trading partner. Explains the tariffs applied by the GCC states and the provisions of the EU‐GCC Free Trade Agreement; and considers its implications for trade, tariff revenues, industry, development prospects and political stability. Believes that it will contribute positively to the GCC and EU economies and help to reduce “tension between east and west”.

Islamic banking contributes significantly to the total assets of Malaysian banking sector. Yet, many argue that Islamic banking in Malaysia does not receive satisfactory support and participation from the public mainly due to poor awareness of its products and services and misconception about the Islamic banking system. It is timely to study consumers’ awareness of Islamic banking in the hopes of providing useful strategies for and assistance with marketing plans. This study is to explore consumer awareness towards Islamic banking products and services across a diverse set of demographic variables.

A quantitative approach was used in this study. A total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed via convenience and snowballing sampling method to bank customers in a public university in Malaysia, and 817 responses from the survey were used for the analysis. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were employed to answer objectives of this study.

The findings of this study are anticipated to provide a holistic and comprehensive marketing insight to improve and strengthen Islamic banking in Malaysia.

This study examines the role of demographics such age, gender, race/religion, education level, occupation and income level in trying to understand the issues of Islamic banks’ product awareness. It is well accepted that the consumer’s attitude or behaviour should be studied among others through understanding customers’ demographics.

Retailers are increasingly forced to enter negotiations with new suppliers and have less time to develop trusting relationships prior to awarding sourcing contract. Such supplier negotiations are often guided by self‐interest‐seeking behavior. However, not all exchange partners behave opportunistically when given the opportunity and little is known about how and when opportunism actually occurs. This research seeks to develop a multidimensional perspective of exchange partners' Machiavellianism that reveals different types of opportunistic motivations in exchange relationships and to extend knowledge of socialization as a safeguard by investigating the efficacy of signaling trustworthiness as a means of reducing the risk of opportunistic behavior in exchanges with partners with different moral standards about opportunism.

The data consist of a sample of 259 purchasing professionals who are members of the Institute of Supply Chain Management and report on their negotiation behavior. Moderated regression analysis is used to analyze the research model.

The results show that opportunistic behavior originates from a multidimensional set of moral convictions held by an exchange partner. Interestingly, signaling a trusting relationship only reduces opportunistic behavior that is due to deceit, but is not effective against cynicism or flattery.

To date, retail managers have addressed potential partner opportunism by designing contractual agreements or by implementing structural and social safeguards. Little is known about how these approaches address partner‐specific causes of opportunism. The study demonstrates the extent to which trust, a popular socialization mechanism in retailing, moderates the degree to which an exchange partner's moral conviction leads to opportunism.

In recent years, business ethics has drawn increased interest from business and marketing practitioners as well as from academicians. Despite the repeated call in the literature for cross‐cultural research in this age of globalization, virtually no studies have examined the ethical beliefs and ideologies of foreign consumers and compared them to those of US consumers. Investigates the ethical beliefs, preferred ethical ideology and degree of Machiavellianism of US versus Egyptian consumers. Concludes that while US consumers appear generally less likely to accept various questionable consumer practices than Egyptian consumers, they are more likely to reject moral absolutes.