Ethnic marketing : brand personality in engaging with Muslim Millennials in the fast fashion industry

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MSc. In Business Administration | Marketing Nabila El Shehawy | 11373768 Under the supervision of Dr. Marco Mossincoff June 23rd_, 2017

ETHNIC MARKETING

BRAND PERSONALITY IN ENGAGING WITH MUSLIM

MILLENNIALS IN THE FAST FASHION INDUSTRY

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Statement of originality

This document is written by Nabila El Shehawy who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document. I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it. The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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Acknowledgment

I would like to thank foremost my supervisor Marco Mossincoff who has guided me throughout this thesis process to get the best out of this learning experience. He helped me see connections I could not see by myself and answered all of my endless emails despite his busy schedule.

In addition, I would like to give a special thanks to Arleny Viola, a classmate but overall a friend who listened to me and brainstormed with me when I felt stuck in the process. Also, I would like to thank all members of my family and friends who supported me and encouraged me during the redaction of the thesis.

Finally, I would like to give my gratitude to all participants who have taken the time to fill in the survey and who have shared it.

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Abstract

Because Muslim Millennials are worth trillion of dollars (Pew Research, 2010) and that France has the largest Muslim community within Western countries with about 8% of the total population, understanding what guide them is essentials for companies and the choice of their future marketing strategic decisions. Thus, this quantitative research has been conducted to test what the relationship is between brand personality and customer engagement of Muslim Millennials, and the effect of religious devoutness on the relationship itself in the fast-fashion industry in France. Thanks to the analysis of the results, managerial implications have been deducted from the data collected through a survey online. Hens, it has been found that Muslim Millennials see the Halal concept in the wide sense of its definition. It means that the personality of the brand must match their main beliefs, norms and values for them to feel comfortable engaging anyhow with fast-fashion brands. Additionally, how brands market and communicate with them matter as much - to not say more than - the products themselves. This thesis adds general knowledge to previous empirical research focused on ethnic marketing with Islam as a segmentation with a special focus on Muslim Millennials.

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List of tables

Table 1: Muslim segmentation according to the role of faith in their ……….15

Table 2: Descriptive Statistic variables………28

List of figures

Figure 1: Brand personality of H&M and Zara (situation 1) ………..29

Figure 2: Brand personality perceived by females (12 months)………....………..……33

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1. Introduction

According to Pew Research, France has the largest Muslim community within Western countries with about 8% of the total population (over 4 million). Considering the growing interest of marketers to communicate with this ethnic minority group in an increasingly more diverse and multicultural society, little is known about Islamic branding and on how it differs from or is similar to traditional branding and marketing. Even less is known about Generation M, the Muslim Millennials and how their relationships with brands are.

Moreover, within the fast fashion industry, global brands from Western countries are becoming very attracted by Muslim markets as they represent great business opportunities worldwide. The fashion industry represents $224 billions according to the Global Islamic Economy report from 2013. By 2050, there will be 2.8 billion Muslims globally, more than a quarter of the world’s population. Among them, Muslim Millennials are worth trillion of dollars according to Pew Research.

Furthermore, the increasing buying power of Muslim Millennials has stimulated interest in ethnic marketing in worldwide. To appeal to a wider variety of consumers with increasing buying power, marketers need to reconsider their traditional segmentation and communication strategies to fulfill the Muslim Millennials changing and emerging needs in the fast fashion industry. The major challenge for marketers is adjusting the communication and marketing to this ethnic group without losing ground among the mainstream who is non-Muslim consumers. Although ethnic marketing strategies are well-known in the USA, there are much less common in France and the rest of Europe.

Zara, Mango and many other global clothing brands have long embraced their successful Ramadan-collections, but why catering Muslims to once a year? Why not engaging brands fully with the most connected Muslim population to strengthen their relationship? These companies prove that there is no need to be a ‘Muslim brand’ to successfully build a relationship with this new generation of Muslim consumers.

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This thesis contributes to the literature in multiple ways: it will deepen the knowledge on consuming patterns of the Muslim Millennials. It will also develop the understanding on how their religious beliefs affect the relationship between brand personality and customer brand engagement towards fast-fashion brands. There is a real lack of literature on this topic. Indeed, very little has been written about ethnic marketing based on Islam as a segmentation variable and even less based on Muslim Millennials in any specific industry in France. When combining the brand personality in the fast-fashion industry with customer brand engagement theories and the knowledge on Muslim Millennials, it is interesting for managers fully understand how they deal with brands and what guides them. This research aims to shed light on this question, adding to academic’s knowledge about ethnic marketing and Islamic branding in the fast-fashion industry and providing managers with insight on French Muslim Millennials.

Next, the aforementioned subjects are discussed in more detail. The literature review covers the theoretical background of key concepts, leading towards the research gap.

2. Literature review

In this chapter, ethnic segmentation based on demographic criteria is analyzed as well as who the Generation M. Later on, brand personality and customer brand engagement theories will be described.

2.1 Ethnic marketing

In this section, ethnic marketing theories - also called cross-cultural marketing or multicultural marketing - will be analyzed.

An ethnic group is an ethnicity that is outside of the dominant group known as the ‘general market’ (Weber, 1968). Because of the fragmentation of the consumer market (Prins, 2006), identifying consumers with similar needs is even more important for brands. The traditional segmentation techniques strictly based on socio-demographic features such as gender, age or product usage have been

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can be segmented into four variable groups: demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioristic and it shares at least the same culture, nationality, religion or language (Venkatesh, 1995).

Furthermore, ethnic marketing strategies involve identifying a culture’s traditions, beliefs, values, language and religion (Peñaloza, 2005); therefore, knowledge of the specific norms and values of the target group is required when implementing ethnic marketing strategies (Hofstede, 1998). Indeed, if cultural or religious sensitivities are not considered, communications might yield opposite effects (Wilkinson and Cheng, 1999).

While standardized messages might not sufficiently appeal to ethnic minority consumers; marketers have to keep in mind the mainstream consumers to not implement too much adaptation (Hofstede, 1998). Ethnic marketing strategies can be ranging from full standardization, advertising adaptation to product adaptation. Information on media uses and consumer behaviors of the ethnic group is key to understand them (Cui, 1997).

Moreover, for some products, ethnic segmentation can be relevant, however all products and services don’t need to address ethnic minorities differently than ‘the general market’ (Cui, 1997). It is argued that marketers do not necessarily have to adjust all elements (e.g. advertising or product adjustment) in the marketing mix to be qualified as ethnic marketing (Cui, 1997).

Additionally, it exists three ethnic marketing approaches. Firstly, the ‘etnomarketing approach’ stresses differences between ethnic groups. Firms adjust their products and services as well as the advertising messages to the specific characteristics and needs of the ethnic groups. It uses either mainstream or ethnic media (René Romer, 2002). Then, the ‘diversity marketing approach’ is looking for similarities that might bind different groups. Ethnic minority groups are not analysed as a different segment, but as a part of the general market (René Romer, 2002). Lastly, the ‘urban marketing approach’ pays the least attention to ethnic cultural differences by placing a particular urban lifestyle at the center of the development of marketing communications (René Romer, 2002).

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Next to this section, ethnic marketing based exclusively on Islam will be analyzed in order to identify what influences them.

A. Ethnic marketing based on the religion of Islam

Religion is complexly intertwined with ethnic identity as both influence daily life and social relations. Firstly, they are major markers of identity where religion shapes attitudes, values and lifestyles but also consumer behavior and political views (Bonne, Verbeke, 2008). Indeed, individuals with strong religious beliefs - no matter the religion - values complying with religious laws are an essential requirement to take into consideration before purchasing (Shafie &Othman, 2006). Also, it has been found that for the most spiritual consumers, the search for high status and reconnaissance is low (Othman, 2006). Consequently, from a Muslim perspective, every industries are influenced by Islam as it is considered as a mindset that plays a role in every aspects of life: from food, clothes to finance and tourism consumption (Janmohamed, 2015). The impact of religion on consumption varies from the consumer’s degree of religiousness by following the norms, rituals and rules (Musaiger, 1993; Verbeke, 2006). The more religious the consumer is, the less affected he is by high status and self-image represented by brands (Borg, 1997).

Following this section, the main rules, norms and rituals of Islam are explained regarding the fast-fashion industry in order to understand what strive Muslim Millennials as consumers.

B. Islamic Branding and Marketing in the fast fashion industry

Ethnic marketing based on Islam as a segmentation variable can be placed within Islamic branding and Marketing definition that refers to any brands that seek to address the needs of Muslim markets and any Islamic audience (Temporal, 2010). The definition can have two understanding. First, Islamic branding is a religion-based marketing in which marketing activities are guided within the framework of Islamic

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laws, the Shariah only (Alserhan, 2011). Secondly, it can also be defined as the practices carried out by companies - no matter the religious appartenance - to Muslim consumers (Alserhan, 2011).

Followed this section, a brief description of what the fast fashion industry is given.

i. The fast fashion industry

The term ‘fast fashion’ refers to a production process within the fashion industry (Karinna, 2006). They are expedited in order to get new cloth trends to the market as quickly and cheaply as possible (Karinna, 2006). Today, it is not uncommon for fast-fashion retailers to introduce new products multiple times a month including accessories. Global brands such as Zara, Primark, H&M or Mango are leading this industry that creates demand and assures quick turnover (Karinna, 2006).

Next, Islamic beliefs, norms and rituals will be analyzed in order to understand better Muslim Millennials behaviors towards brands and consumption patterns.

C. Islamic beliefs and devoutness

Knowledge of the specific rules, norms and rituals of the target group is required when implementing ethnic marketing strategies

Islam is a monotheistic faith: it is based on the belief that there is one single God, Allah in Arabic. It is based on the Quran, Muslim sacred book revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. The Quran is the primary source of every Muslim’s faith and practice no matter the origin provenance (Ramadan, 2015). The

Sunnah is the verbal transcription of the actions and sayings of Muhammad; it is a practical expression

of what is in the Quran and is considered as the second source of Muslim’s faith and practices (Ramadan, 2015). Every Muslims have to follow Mohamed’s behavior’s example as he is considered as the best creature created by Allah. Moreover, the Muslim community is called Ummah; it comprises all Muslims throughout the world (Ramadan, 2015). The Five pillars of Islam (annex 1) are a framework

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with five main obligations that every Muslim must satisfy in order to live a responsible and good life not matter the country of residence (Haddache, 2015).

In sum, it is pointless to live a life without putting faith in every actions in Islam. Thus, Islam assures a mindset, a way of life that shape Muslim daily activities - from religious rituals to working, studying, cooking and travelling for instance. When duly respected, the Five Pillars demonstrate that faith affects absolutely everything in a Muslim life, including product and service consumption (Ramadan, 2015). Followed this section, the main Islamic laws that guide Muslim consumption patterns are explained.

D. Islam and consumption

The main Shariah laws guiding Muslim consumption patterns regarding the fast fashion industry are explained in this section in order to understand the core insights.

Shariah law are the Islamic law that affect every subject in life: consumption, wedding, religion

practices, business etc. The core values of Shariah are honesty, sincerity, respect, community, kindness, authenticity, discipline, modesty, equality, humility and trustworthiness (Haroun, 2010). ‘Islamic consumption’ has to be governed by Taqwa - God consciousness: it is based on resources conservation and attaining satiable comforts rather than pursuing insatiable wants (Iquouissan, 2014). Therefore, any Muslim that wants to purchase and consume or use products and services must ensure that those products and services are halal; Arabic term that means ‘permissible’ and rightful under Islam’s Shariah Law (Temporal, 2011).

Next, the standards of Halal for Muslim applied to fast fashion industry are analyzed.

i. Standards of Halal for Muslims

The concept of Halal is commonly linked to food, but it applies in fact to all categories of products and services used in Muslims’ lives - from food, clothing and cosmetics to tourism, pharmaceutical and banking. The opposite of Halal is Haram meaning ‘not permissible’. The degree to which something is

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To be entirely accepted, ethnic marketing strategies must seek to create brands that address all of these issues by adhering to the Shariah’s principles that ensures certain ethical values and norms (Temporal, 2011). Therefore, for clothing brands, the products offered must respect the Muslim dress code norms dictated by the Shariah’ in order to be accepted and qualified as Halal.

Following this section, the Muslim dress code is described.

ii. Muslim dress code

The Muslim dress code promotes modesty and seeks to minimize vice and immorality in society; therefore, it requires modesty (Ramadan, 2015). Both men and women dress code decency standards are set in Shari’ah Firstly, men should always be covered in loose and unrevealing clothing from navel to knee (Ramadan, 2015). This is the absolute minimum covering required in presence of other men and women; except his wife. Secondly, Muslim women should cover their hair and body in loose and unrevealing clothing, obscuring the details of their body in public (Ramadan, 2015). The face and hands can be uncovered; regarding the feet, it is open to discussion within the Muslims community (Ramadan, 2015). Long sleeves and tunics are required up to the knees are least. There are no restriction concerning the colors or patterns (Ramadan, 2015). This dress code commands respect by rejecting sexual servitude. Muslims should be able to pray with the clothes they wear when leaving home (Ramadan, 2015). The wisdom behind is to minimize sexual enticement and degradation in society as much as possible for both men and women. Obeying this dress code is a form of obedience to Allah. Islam forbids any sex appeal and physical allurement outside marriage and in public as it is against the Islamic law (Ramadan, 2015).

Moreover, some Muslims consider that wearing the niqab (face entirely covered except the eyes) or

burqa (face fully covered) is the next natural step after the Hijab as it brings them closer to Allah. They

considered it part of the Shariah. However, those two are considered by the clear majority of the Muslims worldwide as Arabic traditions coming from the Middle East and as not being part of Islam; and thus, as not mandatory in the Muslim dress code (Ramadan, 2015).

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Next, the impact of Islamic religious devoutness on consumption is analyzed.

iii. Religiosity degree influences the consumption

It exists variant affiliation degrees and religion implementation among Muslims.

Many Muslim consumer’s segmentations tend to simply scale their devoutness in terms of adherence to Islam from liberal to conservative (Young, 2010). However, ‘it seems more profound to look instead through the lens of the role that religion plays in their lives’ (Young, 2010). Despite of that, there are two main groups that can be identified among Muslims:

Firstly, Culture-compliant Muslims are Muslims who are concerned on how the society and family members see them if they would stop behavior a certain way; specially what is visible from others (Alserhan, 2015). They follow some teachings of Islam more by habit or respect to their family rather than because they truly believe in it. The best example of that is the fast of the month of Ramadan: originally it is a Muslim duty as one of the five pillars of Islam, however, culture-compliant Muslims do it more as a yearly family tradition (Alserhan, 2015).

Like the culture-compliant Muslims, Shariah-compliant Muslims are aware of the religious teaching relating to consumption: they know what is allowed and what’s not, they know when and where they can consume it; however, they mostly adhere to these teachings and follow them (Alserhan, 2015). They represent the vast majority worldwide of Muslims within majority Muslim population and minority Muslim population (Alserhan, 2015).

‘The starting point for marketing and branding must be a consideration of the role which Shariah compliance plays in the lives of modern Muslim consumers, and what they have come to expect from brands in terms of it’ says Young.

In conclusion of this chapter, knowledge of the specific rules, norms and ritual that strive Muslim Millennials is essential when implementing ethnic marketing strategies. Moreover, understanding how

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their devoutness, regardless of its level of intensity, affects their lives as ordinary people is key when marketing to Muslim Millennials.

2.2 French Muslim Millennials

In this chapter, the Generation M is analyzed in detail to deepen the knowledge of this youthful fast-growing middle class group compared to the wider population; as well as their vision on brands.

A. Generation M’s segmentation

Born in the past 30 years, Generation M refereed as the Muslim Millennials is an emerging consumer segment based on age and religion (Janmohamed, 2015). This youthful group believes that their identity encompasses both Islamic faith and modernity (Janmohamed, 2015). What sets them apart from their non-Muslim peers is the fact that their faith affects everything; it is the single factor that shapes them. They have greater expectations compared to their elders of how brands should be serving them (Janmohamed, 2015).

‘Muslim Futurism and Islamic Branding’ is a research that was conducted in 2010 by TNS and Ogilvy & Mather. It segments the Muslims into 6 groups based on the nuanced statements about the role of faith in their life. These groups are split into two macro groups: the Traditionalists and the Futurists. Each macro is divided into three segments. The second macro represents the Muslim Millennials, also called Generation M (see table 1 next page) (Young, 2010). They are younger than the Traditionalists and are differentiated by the degree to which they see themselves as Islam followers in a modern world (Young, 2010).

Generation M is driven by purposes different from their elder peers the Traditionalists. They are also more individualistic. They have chosen their religion on their own and are fiercely proud of it; thus they feel being faithful and living a modern life are complementary (Young, 2010). They are adapting to Western consumerism but are also reclaiming it as their own. (Janmohamed, 2015). Islam is perceived as an enabler for the Futurists. They value creativity and seek to integrate more globalized lifestyle with

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their own culture without compromising their fundamental beliefs. They feel strongly responsible to an Islam to change things for the better (Young, 2010).

The Traditionalists The Futurists

Connected (27%)

They tend to be more strongly aligned with the Shariah values of tolerance and compassion. Proud of their faith in a quiet way, they have an overarching desire for harmony and are collectivists

Identifiers

(27%) Islam is worn as uniform that they are pride of – ‘religion identifies me’. They want to see it strengthened and defended.

Grounded (23%)

Movers

(6%) They are successful change agents. Religion is what you do with it - ‘religion enables me’. They’re the most internet-savvy segment. Immaculate

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Synthesizers

(6%) They are pragmatic, and adapt religious practice to their needs. As one said, ‘travelling by camel is Sunnah but we need to travel by plane’. They would say ‘religion individuates me’.

Moreover, education is essential to them as it is a key of success in life (Janmohamed, 2015). They are activists; so they ask questions and expect concrete answers: they go typically deeper and more probing about the business intentions unlike their peers. More and more question what is behind purchases and are becoming more demanding (Janmohamed, 2015). Any blunder or slip-up will bring on the brand their displeasure and they will be particularly unforgiving (Young, 2010). ‘Consumption is a real badge of identity for this group. Buying Halal products, in the wider sense of the word, is something that has come to define who these people are, so they are seeking out Halal products because they want to uphold the principles of their faith’ (Janmohamed, 2015).

Next to this section, the vision of brands from any industry through Muslim Millennials eyes is analyzed.

B. Generation M’s vision on brands

Discovering Generation M’s vision on brands is essential to ethnic marketing strategies as it must fit the

Halal concept requirements.

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Besides being an extremely emotional consumer group, they want to be heard and not seen as a business opportunity only (Young, 2010). They are continually asking what the best way to express their Muslim identity (Janmohamed, 2016). Thus, brands must inform, educate and reassure Generation M on the quality of the products through innovation. The best way to gain the Futurists’ trust is by anticipating their needs (Young, 2010).

Furthermore, they have no preference between global or local brands. Quality and innovations are perceived to be leading by global brands and their values are appreciated by the Generation M. Global brand are perceived as authentic thanks to their heritage and longevity (Young, 2010). On the other hand, local brands are perceived as less profit oriented and have deeper insights. However, they also see them with a lack of quality, innovation and transparency (Young, 2010).

Finally, a brand doesn’t have to be labelled as Halal to appeal to Muslim Millennials (Qufi, 2016). Providing branding expertise to satisfy specific needs is more than sufficient as long as it communicates a genuine Shariah-friendliness (Young, 2010). The main attraction for global brands is the concept of

Halal - ‘permissible’ in Arabic (Alserhan, 2015)

Following this section, the digitalization role in Muslim Millennials life is analyzed to understand what has changed compared to their peers.

C. Digital Ummah

Just like their non-Muslim Millennial peers, digitalization has played a great role in Generation M’s life and it has become an essential daily tool in every aspects.

Indeed, digitalization has united the Ummah - Muslim community - as one. For practical reasons the

Ummah could only be an emotional and spiritual attachment. However, Internet has made it extremely

real for Generation M as it connects all Muslims, despite of culture, language, geography, race or affluence (Janmohamed, 2016). Nevertheless, while the Ummah aspires to be diverse and inclusive, it is

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highly challenged. For instance, campaigns such as #BlackMuslimRamadan aim to highlight the diversity within the global Muslim population.

Moreover, social media and online space has helped established and rise a whole type of Muslim lifestyle activities going from YouTube diaries to fashion blogging, creating music and podcasts (Janmohamed, 2016). In addition, Muslim celebrities have flourished online: they are fully part of the self-expression of Generation M. It goes from hijab tutorials to Vines, business blogs and so on, all being Shari’ah compliant (Janmohamed, 2016). In addition, digital humor on social media has become a great tool for Muslim millennials against extremism and hatred (Janmohamed, 2016).

Furthermore, social media and Internet have played a great role, especially for Muslim Women Millennials. It became a great tool to ask question increase knowledge, set up businesses and build solidarity with the wider Muslim women’s rights movement’ (Janmohamed, 2016). Technology has offered them and pushed them forward into entrepreneurship and social activism (Janmohamed, 2016). Furthermore, they have the opportunity to exchange ideas about what it means to be Muslim today (e.g. forum). The result is a shared identity built on values creating a sense of solidarity and a shared community of purpose (Janmohamed, 2016).

Lastly, digitalization has highly participated to democratize religion access and knowledge: Ramadan, Hajj and prayer apps, religious YouTube Channels, online courses to learn about theology have flourished rapidly. On another level of innovation and technology, even robots teaching children how to pray have been created to inspire kids to follow the ritual prayers (Janmohamed, 2016).

In sum, this chapter has analyzed whom the Muslim Millennials are with a description of their brands’ vision and expectations as well as the role of digitalization in their daily life. Next chapter will cover the customer brand engagement and brand personality specifically applied to Muslim Millennials.

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2.3 Customer brand engagement and brand personality

Marketers have long been debating over the significant role played by brand Personality in engaging customers, especially since the advent of Web 2.0. Brands have distinguishing human like characteristics which form their personality that in turn helps connecting with the customer. However, not many studies have been found on the subject, particularly concerning Muslim Millennials. Understanding both customer brand engagement and brand personality concepts from a Muslim Millennial perspective is essential to create efficient and relevant ethnic marketing strategies.

A. Customer brand engagement

Like any other consumers, Generation M tends to engage with brands that are strong, unique and favorable and that evoke positive and emotional feelings (Keller, 1993).

Customer engagement can either be taken by the consumer or by the company. Customer brand engagement, taken by customers, is one of today’s key research issues. The term ‘engagement’ has been studied in various range of disciplines such as psychology, political science, sociology and organizational behavior in the last decade (e.g Achterberf et al 2003, Resnick 2001, Saks 2006). According to the American Marketing Association, customer engagement (CE) is “all about creating a bond between a brand and its audience”. It can also be defined as a psychological process of a new or existing customer that leads to the formation of loyalty: it is is a psychological state that is characterized by a degree of vigor, dedication, absorption, and interaction (Hollebeek, 2011) or as the customer’s behavioral manifestation towards a brand or a firm, beyond purchase, resulting from motivational drivers (Iqbal, M. 2011).

Moreover, customer engagement represents a strategic imperative for generating enhanced corporate performance, including sales growth superior competitive advantage and profitability (Brodie, R.J., Hollebeek, L. D., Juric, B, & Ilic, A. 2011). Customer engagement can be both offline and online environment. Offline engagement is the nature of engagement, but is qualitatively different from online

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engagement because online engagement offers ways to communicate and socialize which cannot be replaced by an offline channel. It is mostly a one-way communication, such as electronic word-of-mouth, reviews or referrals but also customer awareness, customer acquisition, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. (Mollen, A. & Wilson, H. 2010). In contrast, online media provides consumers the opportunity not only to engage but also to discuss and interact in discussion forums, blogs or social media platforms as Facebook or Twitter. Thus, online customer engagement is “a cognitive and affective commitment to an active relationship with the brand as personified by the website or other computer mediated entities designed to communicate brand value” (Mollen, A. & Wilson, H. 2010).

Finally, customers are more connected than ever. They also have multiple touch points with the brand (e.g website, retail stores, call centers, social media, mobile apps). The stages that customers and prospects pass through as they experience brands is illustrated in the ‘Customer Engagement Cycle’ (Ertell, 2010). It is comprised of six stages: Awareness, Acquisition, Satisfaction, Conversion, Retention and lastly, Referral. All these components combine form the complete Customer Engagement Cycle. Each of these components, when aimed at individually, result in successfully engaging the customer (Ertell, 2010).

In the next section, brand personality will be analyzed.

B. Brand personality

No matter the religious beliefs, most customers take into consideration the personality of the brand in the decision making (Wrenn, 2010).

Associating human or personality characteristics to a brand in order to differentiate and position itself from its competitors is not new; specially for brands with similar product attributes (Aaker, 1995; Chernatony, 2001; Forbes, 2005). These characteristics are made to facilitate brand choice and enable consumers to match the brand personality they purchase with the personality they wish to project of themselves as a mirror effect (Aaker, 2001; Ward, 1996). Indeed, brand personality generates emotional

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character and associations in consumer's’ mind (Aaker, 1997). It is argued to play an essential role in brand positioning as consumers seek brand that reflect their self-images (Maele et al, 2011). Brand personality develops brand equity as it sets the brand attitude. It also helps in gaining through knowledge of customers’ feelings about the brand. For that reason, marketing academicians and practitioners see the symbolic image of products or services as more important in their success than their physical characteristics and attributes (Aaker, 1991).

Most of today’s direct marketing activities at making consumers believe and recognize their brand personality reinforce the relationship between brand and consumers (Govers, 2005). Brand personality adds value to the brand in a way that improves its overall image (Govers, 2005). Thus, a strong and positive brand personality can help in enhancing the image of the brand in the eyes of the customers and make them more loyal towards a specific brand (Govers, 2005). All these features make brand personality a very useful tool for the marketers (Govers, 2005). However, all brands do not have necessarily a personality (Govers, 2005).

In sum, the relationship of brand personality in engaging customers has been analyzed in this chapter. Even if how consumers invest brand with human-like characteristics is understood, it can be concluded that empirical links of the relationship between brand personality and customer engagement is lacking in the literature when applied to Muslim Millennials. Even less is known about the impact of their religious beliefs on this relationship. There is an obvious lack in the literature review when it comes to ethnic marketing based on Islam as a segmentation variable.

3. Conceptual framework and hypothesis

In this chapter, subjects previously introduced are elaborated starting with the research question, followed by the conceptual framework and the hypotheses.

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3.1 Research question

As mentioned previously, current ethnic marketing literature has disregarded the importance of studying Muslim Millennials attitudinal and behavioral patterns. This study empirically tests the impact between the three variables: Brand Personality, Customer Engagement and Religious devoutness of Muslim Millennials in the fashion industry. This thesis applies an integrated approach by considering the relationship between the three variables together that have not been researched yet.

Based on the literature review, the research question of this paper aims to respond the following question:

How does the religious devoutness of Muslim Millennials influence the relationship between

brand personality and customer brand engagement in fast fashion brands?

3.2. Conceptual model and hypothesis

The research question is visualized in the following conceptual model and it can be used to understand the subject matter.

The model aims to show that the religious devoutness is expected to have a direct effect on the relationship between brand personality and customer engagement of Muslim Millennials. It is suggested that if the brand personality aligns with the religious norms and traditions in fast fashion industry, the customer engagement will be higher. It is also expected that the brand personality itself will impact the customer engagement. Hens, the first hypothesis that is tested is as follow:

Customer engagement Brand personality

Religious devoutness

H2+

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H1: Brand personality has a direct impact on customer engagement.

Here, the independent variable is the brand personality and the dependent variable is the customer engagement. It is expected that the brand personality itself has a direct impact on the customer engagement. Thus, if the brand personality aligns with the consumer’s self-image it has in its mind, the customer engagement will be higher. The second hypothesis is:

H2+: The Devoutness degree influences positively the relationship between the brand personality and

the customer engagement.

The religious devoutness variable is introduced as moderator. It is argued that the religious devoutness moderates the relationship between brand personality and customer engagement. The higher the brand personality fits the religious norms and traditions implied in the religious devoutness, the stronger the customer engagement will be. In contrast, the lower the brand personality is aligned with the religious norms and traditions, the weaker the customer engagement will be. This hypothesis suggests that, the more the religious devoutness is important to the consumer, the more impact the variable will have on the correlation tested in the first hypothesis.

In sum, this conceptual framework aims at testing the suggested relationships between brand personality, customer engagement and religious devoutness. The fast-fashion industry has specifically been chosen to test the model as it has been found that the religious devoutness of Muslim Millennials implies a specific dress code; thus, a set of specific needs to fulfill. Moreover, as fashion is a way of self-expression, this dress code goes deeper than just rules to how to dress accordingly: it represents a whole ethic, values and a mindset taught through Islam. Hens, the conceptual framework attempts to find practical relevance regarding marketing to French Muslim Millennials in the fast-fashion industry. Understanding what guides them is essential for companies that wish making them loyal customers in the long term.

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4. Data & Methodology

This section addresses how, where and why the data are obtained. It is important to address this so threats to the validity of data can be avoided. But also how to harness against external threads that could be of influence on this research.

4.1. Data collection

The research is descriptive in nature. It aims at investigating the relationship and impact of brand personality and customer engagement and how the religious devoutness of French Muslim Millennials influences this relationship.

A survey to gather cross-sectional data has been used to collect the data of this quantitative research (annex 2). As the most common design in the Marketing field, it has been chosen as it is easy to gather the findings and test the hypotheses on a large number of respondents. The survey has been administered online in French only from May 1st 2017 until May 20th 2017. The respondents were reached through personal email and Facebook as well. In order to reduce the risk of biases (e.g. socially desirable answers), the need for honesty were reminded as well as the guarantee of full anonymity. Also to motivate people to participate, for each questionnaire fully completed, €0.50 were given to a Muslim charity cause. The data collected was analyzed with the SPSS 23 Software.

4.2. Participants

The population of this survey is composed exclusively of French Muslim Millennials. In order to meet the basic requirement of the sample on which the model is tested, three specific demographic questions were added to the survey. The respondents were asked if they had the French nationality, were Muslim and were born between 1981 and 1997. If they didn’t meet these three requirements, they wouldn’t be able to participate to the survey. Thus, the strict sampling requirements implemented before answering the actual questions to test the hypothesis assured the legitimacy of the participants.

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Other demographic information was assessed such as the gender, the marital status and the educational background to get a global overview of the sample. A total of 128 people participated. Frequency tests were performed to check for missing data from the surveys. All participants submitted a complete survey; therefore, no case was excluded from the analysis and all met the requirements to fit the sample described above.

The final sample counts about 84% female and 16% male meeting the strict requirement. There is an obvious female dominance in the respondents. One of the explanation of the high number of female respondents could be that they feel more affected by the topic; the Muslim dress code is more specific for women than for men and might me more difficult to achieve as the products offered don’t necessarily fit the dress code.

Furthermore, when looking at the education level of the participants, only about 4% do not possess at least a high school diploma or any additional intermediate education against 30% that do have at least a high school diploma. Thus, the majority is enjoying a high education. Moreover, about 42% followed a Bachelor and about 21% a Master degree. About 5% of the French Muslim Millennials represented in the sample has a PhD. Additionally, only 20 % of them are married; in other term, 2 persons out of 10 is currently married and less than 1 person out of 10 does not have at least a high school diploma. It is interesting to note that the majority of those married are over 25 years old.

4.3. Measurement variables

This section illustrates in details the measurement scale chosen for each of the three variables and why they have been chosen. The analysis chosen also will be explained

i.

Independent variable

Brand personality is measured with the Aaker’ scale (1997). The author develops a theoretical framework

of the brand personality construct by determining the number and nature of dimensions of brand personality. She identifies five dimensions of human characteristics associated with the brand:

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Responsibility, Activity, Aggressiveness, Simplicity and Emotionality. These five dimensions are based on the ‘’Big Five’’ human personality structure (Norman, 1963). Each dimension is divided into sub-dimensions for a total of 15 facets outlining the definable aspects that make up the sub-dimensions (annex 3). Brand personality dimensions might operate in different ways or influence consumer preference for different reasons (Aaker, 1997). For example, whereas Sincerity, Excitement, and Competence tap an innate part of human personality, Sophistication and Ruggedness tap a dimension that individuals desire but do not necessarily have (Aaker, 1997).

In the survey, participants were asked to imagine two distinct situations for the brands H&M and Zara, both leader in the fast-fashion industry (Forbes, 2015). In the first situation, the participants were asked to select several facets for both brands. It aimed to analysis their current vision of the brand personality of both brands and overall to have a baseline to compare with. In the second situation, before selecting again several facets for both brands, participants were asked to imagine that both brands added to their collection cloths that fit the Muslim dress code. However, Zara would market it as an independent collection called ‘Ramadan collection’ that would be available once a year only during one month, while H&M would integrate these additional items directly in the existing collections, such as ‘Summer collection’. Thus, those items would be available throughout the year (12 months in total). It is interesting to note that the strategy of Zara described above with a collection exclusively launched once a year during the holy month of Ramadan already exists in most European countries except in France (Hensley, 2016).

These creation of two distinct situations in the survey aimed to qualified the results regarding the influence of this independent variable. To test the validity of the measurement of the brand personality in these contexts, the Cronbach’s alpha equals an average of 0.85 which indicates that there is a high reliability.

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ii.

Dependent variable

As mentioned in the previous section, consumers tend to engage with brands that are strong, unique and favorable and that evoke positive feelings. As way to test the customer engagement of French Muslim Millennials towards brands in the fast fashion industry, respondents were asked to answer a series of 11 questions about both Zara and H&M in the two same situations that have been used to test brand personality. So just like for brand personality, the situation 1 has been used as a baseline to compare the customer engagement with the situation 2. In situation 1, participants were asked to answer the questions regarding the customer engagement with their current knowledge, feeling and associations they had with H&M and Zara. In situation 2, it has been asked to imagine that H&M offers products in alignment with the Muslim dress code and that they are incorporated in the current cloth collection without any specific distinction throughout the year (12 months). However, Zara proposes a special collection that fit the Muslim dress code but it is available only once a year during a month. In situation two, a picture of one product launched by both brands have been placed so participants could imagine better the situation 2. The Hongyan’s scale was used to measures the customer engagement (Hongyan, 2014). It has been chosen as it takes some psychometrics elements to measure emotions which are essential for engaging consumers with the brand; trust, proud and satisfaction are measured. The focus laid here on the customer engagement degree towards both brands in situation 1 and situation 2 and see what would cause an eventual difference between the two brands leading brands in the fast fashion industry. The Cronbach’s alpha is of 0.86 and measures the customer engagement towards both brands Zara and H&M using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).

iii.

Moderator

To test the religious devoutness degree, the Muhudin’ scale, developed by Muhudin and al in 2016, was used. One of the major strengths of the scale lies in its simplicity and its short scale length. Moreover, this scale allows a true comprehensive assessment of the religious beliefs and practices of Muslims compared to other scales as it is based on Iman (faith), Ihsan (favour) and Islam (submission to God).

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Indeed, other scales such as the Muslim Attitudes toward Religion Scale (Wilde & Joseph, 1997), the Attitudes toward Islam Scale (Sahin & Francis, 2002) or the Five Dimensions of Muslim Religiosity Scale (El-Menouar, 2014) are mostly based on Christian practices and beliefs and thus merely adapted to the Islamic faith. Additionally, out of the 4 scales mentioned above, the Muhudin’ scale has the highest Cronbach’s alpha with 0.92 meaning that there is a very high reliability (Mulhudin al, 2016). In other words, the Muhudin’ scale significantly measures the role of the Islamic faith plays in the daily life of Muslims (Mulhudin al, 2016).

The respondents were also asked to indicate to which extent they agreed with the 10 items presented using a 5 point Likert-scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).

Moreover, to understand better the environment where the French Muslim Millennials are living and consequently, interpret better the results of this research, it is important to mention that since 2003, it is forbidden to wear any visible religious items in the work environment, at school and in some universities in France. This law includes the hijab covering the hair but some organizations extend it to other apparels such as long skirts and dresses as they judge those as synonym of religious symbols. Also since 2011, another law forbids hiding the face entirely in public; it includes the niqab (face covered except the eyes) and burqa (face fully covered) (Keegan, 2017). As mentioned in chapter 2, some Muslims believe that wearing the niqab or burqa is the next natural step after the hijab as it brings them closer to

Allah. However, those two are considered by the vast majority of the Muslims worldwide as Arabic

traditions coming from the Middle East and not as being part of Islam; therefore, not mandatory in the Muslim dress code.

In sum, a detailed analysis of the overall method applied to analyze the conceptual model developed in this quantitative research has been presented to understand better the results stated in the next chapter.

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Table 2: Descriptive Statistic Variables

Min Max Mean Std.Dev. Variance Skewness Kurtosis

BrandPers. .00 17.00 7.426 3.718 13.825 0.035 -.600

Cust.Eng. 54.00 71.00 62.558 3.252 10.577 .187 -.114

Religiosity 16.00 50.00 40.519 7.672 58.861 -1.113 .922

Number of observation 128

5. Results

In this chapter, the results of the overall study are provided. A combination of descriptive and inferential analyses is conducted and is further discussed in the following pages.

5.1 Descriptive Statistics

Before being able to analyze the data, several variables needed to be merged and recoded as to ensure that any future inferences are based on adequate data.

First of all, frequencies have been verified to examine if there were any errors in the data. There were no errors found. This means that only cases that had no missing data in any variable were analyzed. To assure there were no counter-indicative items, the items represented in the construct measured were recoded into different variables. This means that brand personality, religiosity and customer engagement have been recoded respectively to BP, Religiosity, and CE.

No outliers were found; all the responses were completed and were kept in the data. Below is to find the final variables that represent the constructs in the conceptual model of chapter 2 and their associated descriptive statistics.

A. Brand personality

This variable represents the personality of a brand based on the associations and image consumers have in their mind. It is illustrated by two examples of brands following two different brand strategies. As

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mentioned in chapter 4, the participants were asked to simply measure the brand personality with the current perceptions they had about H&M and Zara. Globally, all responses range from 0 till 17 with a mean average of 7.426 and a standard deviation of 3.718. Considering the following, it seems that participants have quite the same perception of both brand personalities. As it is shown in figure 1 (next

page), H&M is perceived as Sincerer than Zara with 35% against 14.8%. In terms of Competence and Ruggedness, both brands are more or less equal to each other with about 20% for Competence and about 12% in Ruggedness. However, when it comes to Excitement and Sophistication, Zara largely exceeds H&M with respectively 34.7% against 21.30% for Excitement, and 19% against 12% for Sophistication. When looking at the shape of the data for this variable, it appears that all items have a skewness between 0.03 and 0.5 but kurtosis is between -0.6 and 0. It indicates that the distribution is slightly flat and light-tailed. While H&M’s brand personality can be summarized as an honest, cheerful young person that is reliable and outdoorsy, Zara’s brand personality can be seen as a highly sophisticated and successful person who is also imaginative, up-to-date and upper-class.

B. Customer engagement

This variable measures the customer engagement of participants towards a leader brand that would respect the religious norms and traditions that religion teaches. The respondents that neither agree nor disagree were also considered in the data. All responses range from 54 to 71 with a mean average of 62.558 and a standard deviation of 3.252. Given the results obtained, it seems that the majority of the respondents tend to have the same customer engagement towards both brands which is quite high in both situations. When looking at the shape of the data for this variable, it appears that all items have a

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skewness between 0.187 and 0 but the kurtosis is between -.0114 and 0. It indicates that the distribution is slightly flat and light-tailed. Regarding the shape of distribution, the data is approximately symmetric. When looking at the data within the customer engagement variable, it seems that the different situations they have been asked to imagine barely affect the customer engagement rate; it goes from 62.55% (situation 1) to 62.15% (situation 2), a decrease of less than half of point.

C. Religious devoutness

This variable represents religious devoutness of the respondents in their daily life. All responses range from 16 till 50 with a mean average of 40.519 and a standard deviation of 7.672. Considering the maximum value of 50, the average of 40.519 is quite high and it seems that the religion plays quite an important role in the respondent's’ life. When looking at the shape of the data for this variable, it appears that all items have a skewness between -1.113 and -1.5 but kurtosis is between .922. It indicates that the distribution is slightly pointy and pile up a bit on the right.

In sum, as there were less than 200 participants in this research, there is a risk that the skewness might make a slightly difference in the analysis (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). However, the shapes of distribution of each variable are more approximately symmetric.

5.2 Inferential statistics

In this section, a closer look is taken at the expected relationships visualized in the conceptual framework in chapter 3. Several analyses have been conducted with the objective to find empirical evidence for the hypotheses.

A. Analysis of hypothesis H1

The first hypothesis suggested that brand personality affects the customer engagement. To test the first hypothesis a Pearson Correlation Test was conducted as way to not only determine whether the relationship between the constructs is positive, but whether this relationship is significant as well. From

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the Pearson correlation test, a P-value of 0.019 was obtained with a significance of 0.831. The relationship between brand personality and customer engagement is slightly positive as expected.

However, the relationship is not strong nor significant. Since the relationship does not appear to be linear, a linear regression was conducted by taking the square variant of BP. This analysis has been chosen over a multiple-way Anova because the independent variable is categorical.

Below is to find the regression model used for this analysis:

Where:

ReligosityZ is the level of religious devoutness

BE is the moderator – multiplication of Brand personality and Religiosity

An R-Square value of 0.008 was obtained, showing that the new model was not predictive for the customer engagement. Indeed, with customer engagement as dependent variable and brand personality as independent variable, there is no significant, F(1,128)=0.046 p=0.416. BP has a non-significant and weak association with CE, b*=0.02, t=0.21, p=0.83, and explains only 8% of the variation of the customer engagement. For every unit increase in brand personality, customer engagement increases by 0.02 unit.

In sum, the hypothesis remained statistically insignificant; meaning that the brand personality does not affect the customer engagement.

B. Analysis of hypothesis H2+

The second hypothesis treats religious devoutness as a moderator effect in the relationship between brand personality and customer engagement. Before being able to test the hypothesis, first the variables in question needed to be centralized and later multiplied. In this way, a new variable – ReligosityZ - is created and is further used to test the moderation. Consequently, a multiple regression analysis has been conducted. Below is to find the regression model used for this analysis.

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From the analysis conducted, a F-value of 0.266 with a significance of 0.767 was obtained for the whole model. The multivariate regression analysis does not statistically significantly predict the moderate effect of religious devoutness that was expected. When looking at the effect size of the variables individually, brand personality had no significant effect on customer engagement with 𝛽N = 0.015 and a

significance value of 0.869. Moreover, considering the 95% confidence interval, religiosity devoutness also would not have a significant effect on brand personality with the obtained 𝛽O= 0.062 and a

significance of 0.487. In addition, the moderator religiosity had no significant effect either with 𝛽_P=0.051 and a significance of 0.407. For each additional unit on the scale of religious devoutness, the level of brand personality increases by 0.05 and the level of customer engagement increases by 0.09 unit; explaining 10% of the variation of the customer engagement.

In sum, again, a negative relationship is found, but now with the moderator and the model.

Furthermore, to qualify the results and understand them better, another multivariate regression analysis has been conducted with customer engagement, religious devoutness and brand personality as dependent variables, and gender (dummy: female) as independent variable. The multiple regression shows that the model as a whole is not significant, F(3, 128) = 6.29, p > 0.001. Customer engagement CE, b*=0.03, t=0.25, p=0.94. Religious devoutness. ReligiousZ, b*=0.05, t=0.33, p=2. Brand personality BP, b*=0.08, t=0.33, p=1.2. and gender (female), b* = 0.22, t = 6.29, p < 0.001. However, there is a significance for the gender towards brand personality; it means that the gender has an influence in the perception of the brand personality This finding is analyzed in the next section.

i.

Brand personality perceived differently by females

A closer look is taken to the moderate significance that has been found regarding the gender influencing the brand personality.

As mentioned in chapter 4, participants were asked to imagine two situations. The first one served as the baseline to measure the brand personality of H&M (HM1) and Zara (Zara1). In the second situation,

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participants were asked to imagine that both brands (HM2 and Zara2) were in alignment with their religious devoutness. H&M would respect those religious norms and traditions throughout the year (12 months) while Zara would respect those norms and traditions once a year during a month only.

In the figure 2 and 3, it can be seen that the brand personalities of both brands change in the eyes of the female respondents regarding the brand being aligned with their religious beliefs. Firstly, the Sincerity (+3 points), Excitement (+2 points) and Competence (+3 points) of H&M have increased in situation 2. However, the Sophistication and Ruggedness have dropped off -4 points each. Secondly, Zara’s Competence and Sincerity have both decreased respectively from 20% to 15% and from 15% to 12% when compared to situation 1. However, the rest have increased, especially the Sophistication dimension with +5 points (from 19% to 24%).

If comparing the brand personalities of both brands by taking into consideration the time to which the brands are aligned to their religious norms and traditions, H&M is perceived even more Sincerer and Competent than Zara by female respondents. Those two dimensions are defined as honesty, wholesome, down-to-earth but also as reliable, successful and intelligent. Moreover, those two dimensions decrease when it comes to Zara’s brand personality. However, Zara is still perceived as more Sophisticated than

Figure 2: Brand personality perceived by females (12 months) Figure 3: Brand personality perceived by females (1 month)

Where:

HM1 and Zara1: baseline of the brand personality (situation one)

HM2: brand personality aligned with the religious norms and traditions throughout the year (situation two) Zara 2: brand personality aligned with the religious norms and traditions once a year (situation two)

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In sum, longer a brand is aligned with the religious beliefs of females, the more sincere and competent it is considered by them. Consequently, the brand personality is perceived as more favorable and positive than a brand that is aligned with their religious beliefs during a much shorter time.

Note that the sample is not perfectly balanced: 84% of the participants were women against 16%. It is possible that there were not enough men to test the assumption that the gender does influence the perception of the brand personality. So, it is not excluded that males play a role in the brand personality perception.

6. Discussion

This chapter discusses the findings and the implication for real-world practice and compares them with previous researches that have been done. As it has been concluded in chapter 5, the results show no support of religiosity devoutness affecting positively the relationship between brand personality and customer engagement; the correlations are too weak and don’t support the conceptual framework. However, it has been found that women from the Generation M perceive the brand personality differently according to the marketing strategies chosen (e.g time the collection is available). Nevertheless, even though the findings of this research are dominantly not significant, assumptions and implications still can be deducted for managerial purposes.

Thus, the ethnic marketing regarding religiosity devoutness will be discussed first, followed by the practical relevance of Muslim Millennials and the fast fashion industry.

6.1 Ethnic marketing and Religious devoutness

This section discusses the findings related to ethnic marketing with Islam as a segmentation variable. Here, French Muslim Millennials are considered as an ethnicity outside of the dominant group which is the rest of the French population.

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Firstly, the majority of the French Muslim Millennials ranked high in the religiosity devoutness in this research. In other words, religion plays overall a great role in their daily life. Spiritual people tend to be less interested in material goods and over-consumption as they consider it does not help strengthening

their relationship with God (Alserhan, 2015). To some extent, it can be associated with wasting money.

Therefore, it can be deducting that even if religious devoutness plays an important role in the French

Muslim Millennials’ life, at least it does not seem to affect in any way their customer engagement in the

fast fashion industry. Nevertheless, it is possible that the conceptual framework applies in other

industries such as the food industry. Indeed, the food industry also possesses specific norms and rituals

to be completed before Muslim Millennials can even consider the products and services offered by

companies for consumption (Alserhan, 2015).

Moreover, even if no significant correlation were found regarding the moderating effect of religious devoutness, the findings regarding the brand personality of H&M (analyzed in the chapter above) can be linked to the finding from previous studies: it has been found that Muslim Millennials are seeking out

Halal products – in the wider sense - because they want to uphold the principles of their faith’

(Janmohamed, 2015). It means that not only the basic principles dictated by the Shariah are considered in the decision-making process, but also the product provenance, the values for which the brand stands for and the company’s corporate social responsibility for instance. Thus, when looking at the definition of the brand personality, it can be associated with what defines a “good” Halal brand in the wide sense. Indeed, brand personality is assigning human characteristics to a brand (Aaker, 1997). It enables consumers to match the brand personality they purchase with the personality they wish to project of themselves (Aaker, 2001; Ward, 1996). As a mirror effect, consumers want to be perceived as intelligent, successful, sincere, cheerful but also up-to-date (Escalas, 2013). Thus, the 15 facets describing the five dimensions of brand personality - specially sincerity and competent - can also be considered as descriptors of what a “good” Halal brand is in the wide definition to any female French

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it can be deducted that the more the brand personality project the self-image they have, the more it can be perceived as Halal or permissible in the wide sense; in which turn in more appeal towards the brand. Additionally, this finding also support previous researches arguing that a brand doesn’t need to be literally labelled as Halal to be considered as such my Muslim Millennials (Alserhan, 2015).

In sum, the findings support that religion does play a role in the Muslim Millennials consumption and that, indeed, a brand does not need to be labelled as Halal to be considered as permissible by Muslim Millennials to consume it. It goes deeper than that: Muslim Millennials see the Halal concept in the wide sense. It means that the personality of the brand should match their main beliefs, norms and values for them to feel comfortable engaging anyhow with fast-fashion brands. The difficulty for managers is to find a balance between Muslim Millennials and the rest of the consumers - the dominant group. None should be left aside; however, if religious sensitivities are not considered, communications might yield opposite effects for both minor and dominant group (Wilkinson and Cheng, 1999). These findings have helped developing the understanding on how their religious beliefs affect the relationship between brand personality and customer brand engagement towards fast-fashion brands. However, there is a still a lack of literature regarding ethnic marketing based on Islam as a segmentation variable and Muslim Millennials in any and across industry in France.

6.2 Practical relevance

This section discusses findings of this research regarding the practical relevance of the Muslim Millennials and the fast fashion industry.

The results show no support of religiosity devoutness affecting positively the relationship between brand personality and customer engagement in the fast fashion industry; the correlations are too weak and don’t support the conceptual framework. Thus, it can be concluded that offering products in alignment with the Muslim dress code in the fast fashion industry do not impact nor influence the customer

Ethnic marketing : brand personality in engaging with Muslim Millennials in the fast fashion industry