Researching Muslim consumers: do they represent the fourth-billion consumer segment?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish whether Muslim consumers qualify as a homogenous billion-consumer group and, if they do, ask if they have been researched adequately in comparison to the other established, three-billion consumer groups: China, India, and women. Design/methodology/approach – A review of articles and conference papers in the field of Islamic marketing was used to indicate the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the Muslim consumer group. This was followed by counting all of the articles that have been published in marketing journals listed in Business Source Premier database which are related to the consumer groups mentioned above. Findings – The article review revealed a near consensus on the homogeneity of the Muslim consumer group. Moreover, the article count revealed that the Muslim consumer segment is under-researched in comparison to all the other major consumer groups. Finally, it was found that only six of the high-ranking Marketing journals ranked within the top ten marketing journals published articles on one or more of the four segments identified in this study. The leading journals were clearly the Journal of International Marketing and the Journal of Industrial Marketing Management, publishing 50 and 49 articles, respectively, a number unmatched by any other high-ranking journal. Originality/value – This is the first study of its kind that presents empirical evidence about the amount of research Muslim consumers received within the last eight decades.