The role of leader vs organisational credibility in Islamic social enterprise marketing communication

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the role of leader and organisational credibility in influencing customers’ intention to support Islamic social enterprises. Design/methodology/approach: The credibility of the leader and that of the social enterprise are exposed through advertising. Ads portraying the six largest Islamic social enterprises in Indonesia and their social entrepreneur leaders were shown to 221 existing customers via online and offline surveys. Findings: The findings indicate that organisational credibility and organisational branding have much greater influence than leaders’ personal credibility on customers’ intention to support Islamic social enterprises. Research limitations/implications: The study has highlighted the greater role of organisational credibility and branding over advertising in attracting support for Islamic social entrepreneurship. Practical implications: Islamic social enterprises need to develop a trusted brand and establish a more effective way to communicate with their stakeholders besides advertising, as the impact of ads on customer support intention is not significant. Originality/value: The study contributes to the field of marketing and social entrepreneurship by providing empirical results on the Islamic social entrepreneurship phenomenon.