Depok, September 30th 2023. Prof. Sri Rahayu Hijrah Hati, S.E., M.Si., Ph.D. was inaugurated as a Permanent Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Universitas Indonesia (UI) after delivering a scientific oration entitled “The Role of Islamic Marketing as a New Discipline in the Development of the Halal Industry in Indonesia”. The inauguration procession was led directly by the Rector of UI, Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., on Saturday (30/9), at the UI Depok Campus Convention Hall.
In her speech, Prof. Sri Rahayu said that academics must take an important role in studying Islamic Marketing as a scientific discipline that is needed in developing the halal industry in Indonesia. This is because the halal industry is currently growing more rapidly, not only in countries with Muslim majority populations, but also in the world.
Statistically, based on reports from The State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2022, the expenditure value of around 1.9 billion Muslim consumers for halal products in six halal industry sectors is approximately $2 trillion. The six sectors are food and beverage, finance, fashion, media and recreation, travel, as well as halal pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. This value is outside the value of the Islamic financial sector which has assets worth $3.6 trillion.
Statistical data on the Muslim consumer segment shows market potential with quite high financial value for halal products. The large Muslim population provides high potential for sustainability for the halal market in the future. These two things have encouraged a paradigm shift from non-Muslim business actors who previously did not consider this segment important, now actually making the halal segment an interesting segment to work on.
Non-Muslim consumers have a good perception regarding halal products because they have positive associations with ethical aspects for consumer protection. The values contained in halal products such as social responsibility, nature conservation, family values, economic and social justice, animal welfare, and ethical investment are considered to be in line with the universal values held by non-Muslim consumers who also uphold the value of a good life through high quality, safe, and ethical products.
Apart from practical matters, a paradigm shift also occurs in the scientific realm related to the halal industry. Jones and Shaw (2002) state that economics is one of the parent disciplines of the conventional marketing field. Based on this statement, Islamic Economics can be analogous to one of the parent disciplines of the field of Islamic Marketing.
Marketing provides benefits to science by providing objective knowledge, providing graduates or human resources who are technically competent and socially responsible, and acting as a professional discipline that provides practical benefits for the business world. These benefits also apply to Islamic Marketing and the halal industry.
According to Prof. Sri Rahayu, academics in the field of Islamic marketing management must be able to answer big challenges in terms of critical thinking and methodological knowledge. Based on a critical perspective, Islamic Marketing Scholars must be more open, not anti-criticism, and not only based on their own perspective. Methodologically, Islamic Marketing scholars must master various methodologies because they can use any economic methodology, whether in the form of positivist or interpretivist approaches.
Apart from that, Islamic Marketing scholars must master an interpretivist or more qualitative methodology which emphasizes the importance of context, culture, and the role of researchers in forming knowledge. This is because marketing scholars have the challenge of making their teaching, research, and publication activities relevant to the halal industry. Research must be valid in accordance with the challenges faced by business actors and regulators in various sub-sectors of the halal industry.
“We can read about the various challenges faced by the halal industry based on the 2019-2024 Indonesian Sharia Economic Masterplan. It is important for Islamic Marketing Researchers to realize that research activities should be carried out not only for, but to help solve social problems related to the halal industry. Moreover, the social problems solved by Islamic Economics are not only aimed at Muslim communities, since the social problems experienced by Muslim communities are also experienced by other religious groups,” said Prof. Sri Rahayu.
Research related to Islamic Marketing is one of the many studies conducted by Prof. Sri Rahayu. Some of her research included in Scopus Q1 are Behind the Curtain of Payday Lending: Revealing Consumer Insights and Ethical Challenges in Indonesia and the USA Using Web-Scraping Methods (2023); People’s Perceptions and Coping Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological-Longitudinal Study in Bangladesh (2023); and Corporate Social Responsibility and Customer’s Responses: CSR Authenticity and Government Intervention During the COVID-19 Pandemic (2023).
Prof. Sri Rahayu Hijrah Hati, S.E., M.Si., Ph.D. completed the Bachelor’s Degree Program in the Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, UI in 2002; Master’s Program in Applied Psychology Psychometrics, Faculty of Psychology UI (2005); and Doctoral Program (Ph.D) Business Policy and Strategy, Graduate School of Business, University of Malaya/Malaysia (2015). Currently, she is a lecturer and secretary of the FEB UI Management Science Postgraduate Study Program.
Inauguration of professor Prof. Sri Rahayu was also attended by invited guests, including the Rector of President University, Prof. Dr. Chairy; Director of KNEKS Sharia Ecosystem Infrastructure, Assoc. Prof. Sutan Emir Hidayat, Ph.D.; Division Head, Marketing Communication BNI, Ganto Novialdi, M.S.M.; and Finance Director of PT Paragon, Ratih Savitri, M.S.M.
