Are non-Muslims willing to patronize Islamic financial services?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the awareness of non-Muslims coming from a non-Muslim-majority country regarding Islamic financial services, in particular, the takaful products. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses structured questionnaires to acquire and understand South Korean citizens’ perceptions of Islamic financial services (primarily takaful ) to reinforce the scant previous literature in this area of research. The questionnaires are developed and adapted based on a previous study by Htay and Salman (2013). The sample consisted of 121 Korean people who were living in Ampang, a popular suburb for South Koreans in Kuala Lumpur. Findings The findings indicate that even South Korean citizens who have dwelled in Malaysia for a significant amount of time had little awareness of Islamic financial services. Upon personal explanation about the product, however, they showed a significant interest to get to know about takaful and a willingness to subscribe to it in the near future. Research limitations/implications Respondents are limited to only South Koreans who are residing in Malaysia. Practical implications Understanding the level of awareness about Islamic financial services among non-Muslims residing in Muslim-majority country. Social implications There is ample scope to penetrate the non-Muslim market for Islamic financial products. Originality/value There is a growing concern over the lack of research in the area of perceptions of Islamic financial services among non-Muslims from non-Muslim-majority countries. The lack of study in this area of research has often been overshadowed by research studies on perceptions of Islamic financial services among non-Muslim residents in Muslim-majority countries, which may have led to a dearth of proper strategies in the Islamic financial industry to penetrate non-Muslim-majority markets.