Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of understanding of Islamic banking concepts and the factors that influence Islamic banking adoption in Malaysia, based on Rogers’ (1983; 2003) Diffusion of Innovation. Specifically, the impact of perceived attributes and other variables (understanding, consumer innovativeness and bank personnel’s professionalism) on Islamic banking adoption is examined. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach using a sample of 200 working MBA students in a leading public university in Malaysia was used. The instrument used was a self-administered questionnaire survey. Findings: The level of understanding of various Islamic banking concepts is below average. A logistic regression reveals that the understanding of Islamic banking concepts and perceived advantage significantly influences the adoption of Islamic banking services. Research limitations/implications: The small sample size of 200 individuals may render the findings ungeneralizable. Future studies may use a larger sample from across Malaysia and incorporate other independent variables, such as religiosity and Islamic financial literacy. Practical implications: The Malaysian government can provide tax incentives and conduct educational roadshows on Islamic banking. Educating prospective consumers on the advantages of Islamic banking as opposed to conventional banking would provide more objective benefits that would boost the adoption of Islamic banking. Originality/value: The results of this paper will be useful for Islamic financial institutions to increase their marketing and promotional efforts to keep pace with stiff competition within the industry.

Purpose: The first objective of this study is to analyze whether financial behavior (FB), financial stress (FS), financial literacy (FINLIT) and the locus of control (LOC) influence subjective financial well-being (SFWB) among low-income households in Malaysia. The second objective is to investigate whether the use of digital financial services (DFS) moderates the influence of FB and FS, on SFWB. Design/methodology/approach: Motivated by the literature on transformative service research (TRS), this study examines how the use of DFS impact SFWB among low-income households in Malaysia. Low-income households are chosen as they are more likely to be financially excluded and lack financial knowledge and skills. Using an interviewer-administered survey, trained enumerators collected data from 1,948 low-income households in Malaysia, selected using a two-stage sampling based on the National Household Sampling Frame obtained from the Department of Statistics Malaysia. Findings: Results reveal that SFWB is positively influenced by FB and the LOC, and is negatively impacted by FS and FINLIT. The evidence shows that the use of DFS counterintuitively weakened the strength of the relationship between FB and SFWB, but effectively reduced the adverse effect of FS on SFWB. Practical implications: To reverse the signs of relationship, financial services marketers need to identify the specific types of DFS that low-income households use in order to provide targeted marketing efforts and financial education to promote the use of DFS on a more holistic basis to increase financial well-being. Originality/value: The findings of this study add to the body of knowledge deliberating on the opposing effects of technology on consumers' welfare and well-being. This study focuses on the lower-income stratum of Malaysian households as this group of the population is more likely to be financially excluded and have deficiencies in financial knowledge and skills. Findings of this study show that DFS use can actually diminish the positive impact of FB on SFWB while reducing the adverse effect of FS on SFWB.

Purpose: The concept of “buy now pay later” leads Malaysian Generation Y (Gen Y) to excessively use their credit cards for spending. To gauge the extent of this worrisome scenario, the purpose of this paper is to attempt to investigate the factors, including credit attitudes, knowledge on credit card, materialism, social norm and self-efficacy, that influence credit card misuse amongst Gen Y in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: The authors have collected responses from a total of 501 respondents in two urban areas in Malaysia and estimated six multiple regression models to test five hypotheses. Findings: The results suggest that credit card knowledge and self-efficacy are negatively related to credit card misuse amongst Gen Y in Malaysia. In contrast, positive relationships were found to exist between credit card attitudes, materialism and social norm and the dependent variable. Research limitations/implications: In this study, the authors limit the data collection to the two biggest urban areas in Malaysia, namely, Klang Valley and Ipoh. Practical implications: For the regulator’s perspective, the results can be used to understand the alarming indebtedness behaviour amongst working members of Gen Y and outline appropriate and effective policies to reduce their serious indebtedness. Financial service providers, however, can collaborate with regulators to curb credit card misuse amongst Gen Y, so that the latter can avoid high bad debt from line of credit facilities and bankruptcy. Originality/value: The study’s findings will further enrich the existing literature on the factors affecting the credit card misuse, especially for the unique Gen Y cohort in Malaysia.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the association between Muslim individuals’ portfolio allocation choice and Islamic religiosity (levels and dimensions), controlling for risk tolerance and sociodemographic factors.Design/methodology/approach: The study uses primary data collected via survey questionnaires from a sample of 751 Muslim working individuals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Owing to the ordinal nature of the dependent variable, which reflects the levels of proportions of risky assets in portfolios, the data were analyzed using an ordered probit regression model.Findings: The findings reveal that Islamic religiosity levels in general were insignificantly related to portfolio allocation, but that two dimensions of religiosity (virtue and obligation) significantly impact the allocations of risky assets in the portfolio. The higher the level of virtue, the lower the propensity to allocate risky assets into the portfolio. On the contrary, the higher the level of obligation, the higher the propensity to allocate risky assets in the portfolio. Meanwhile, individuals with higher risk tolerance, income and education levels show greater propensity to allocate risky assets in the portfolio.Research limitations/implications: The sample is restricted to Muslims in Kuala Lumpur; hence, the findings are not easily generalized to Muslim investors in general. Findings may differ between Muslims across the world, so future research needs to expand from a country specific to an international analysis. In addition, future studies could include other determinants of portfolio allocation, such as financial literacy.Practical implications: The findings of this study may assist financial planners and policymakers to better understand the drivers of portfolio allocation among their Muslim clients.Originality/value: While other studies have tended to focus on the impact of religiosity on the holdings of specific financial assets, such as Islamic bank accounts or Takaful, the present study explores the effect of Islamic religiosity dimensions on the allocations of risky assets in the portfolio. The study also develops an ordinal measure of portfolio allocation and makes a methodological contribution by using an ordered probit regression analysis.

The two objectives of this paper are to examine the effect of financial literacy, risk aversion and expectations on retirement planning; and, to investigate the effect of these antecedents on the retirement portfolio allocation. Data was collected via a self-administered questionnaire from a sample of 270 working individuals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Logistic and ordered probit regressions were employed to analyse the first and second objective, respectively. The results from the logistic regression indicate that future expectations significantly influence the probability of planning for retirement. Meanwhile, individuals with higher financial literacy and lower risk aversion are more likely to hold risky assets in their retirement portfolios. Subsequently, two-sample t-test and one-way ANOVA tests were conducted to further examine the differences in financial literacy, risk aversion and expectations, across demographic subgroups. The study contributes to the literature by holistically incorporating the behavioural aspects that affect retirement planning and by exploring an uncharted issue of retirement planning—namely, the retirement portfolio allocation.