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In our three pre-registered studies, we aimed to unravel the root and the societal implications of belief in Jewish conspiracy among Indonesian Muslims. Our findings in Study 1 (N=385) confirmed our predictions that symbolic threat and collective narcissism were strongly related to Jewish conspiracy belief and mediated the association between religious zeal and Jewish conspiracy belief. In Study 2 (N=370), we found that Jewish conspiracy belief indirectly predicted vaccination refusal and delay through vaccination conspiracy belief, and observed no evidence to confirm the moderating role of religiosity in reinforcing vaccination conspiracy belief. In Study 3 (N=396), we replicated our findings in Study 2 that belief in Jewish conspiracy theory was strongly related to vaccination conspiracy belief. Also, participants who blamed the Jews for the coronavirus pandemic inclined to refuse coronavirus vaccination if it is available. We argued that religiosity might not directly be related to conspiratorial thinking but instead, it activates a sense of outgroup threats among religious individuals thus they are more likely to endorse Jewish conspiracy theories. Despite the assumption that Jewish conspiracy theory is somehow benign, our findings disputed this premise.

After two bills passed in 2004 and 2011, a nation-wide social insurance in Indonesia has formally established. Aiming at a universal health coverage in 2019, the Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN) will cover almost 260 million Indonesians and be one of the biggest single payer national health insurance scheme in the world. Our research attempted to investigate whether justice, trust to health care services, confidence level of health system, political party support and evaluation of health care services post-JKN affected policy acceptability in our health workers (N=95) and laypeople (N=308) sample. A-two level multilevel modelling in our health worker sample revealed that justice negatively correlated to policy acceptability, while confidence to health system and institutions as well as evaluation of health care service post-JKN yielded positive correlation. In our laypeople sample, trust to health care service and evaluation of health care service post-JKN were positively affected policy acceptability. In this paper, we discussed why justice matters to a positive policy acceptability for health workers, but not for laypeople. We also discussed the possibility of laypeople’s pragmatic motives of joining JKN scheme.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the halal label on product perceptions among Muslims high (vs. low) in the centrality of their religion. Design/methodology/approach: It was hypothesized that a halal label would predict positive product perceptions, especially among those Muslims who scored high in the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS). The study was conducted among 187 Muslims in Indonesia, a country in which Islam is the dominant religion. We used an experimental design where two products (cake and energy drink), with (n = 85) or without (n = 102) the halal label (depending on the experimental condition), were displayed. The participants were randomly assigned to the research conditions. Following product exposure, the participants evaluated products on perception scales (e.g., tasty, healthy). Finally, the centrality of religiosity (moderator variable) was measured. Findings: The results of the analysis showed that the halal label increased positive product perceptions among those Muslims who scored high in the CRS. A similar pattern of results was obtained for both products (cake and energy drink), though the described effect was even more pronounced in the case of the energy drink. Originality/value: Results shed light on the role of religiosity in consumption, especially in consumers’ responses to the halal label.

In this research, we aimed to: (1) investigate the underlying factor structure of risk characteristics, specifically the risk of nosocomial TB transmission in health care facilities; (2) estimate the effects of work-related determinants and risk characteristics on risk perception; and (3) compare occupational risk perception of contracting TB with expert risk assessment. A questionnaire was administered to 179 HCWs working for ten public health centres and two hospitals in Surabaya, Indonesia. An exploratory factor analysis of nine risk characteristics revealed a two-factor solution. Structural equation modelling indicated a piece of suggestive evidence that controllability of damage positively affected risk perception, while knowledge-evoked dread did not. Perceived safety conditions yielded a positive and moderate association to controllability of damage, implying that safety infrastructure could be perceived as ‘a cue’ to the presence of a dangerous hazard. The intensity of exposure to TB patients was negatively correlated with the controllability of damage indicating that more experience in handling TB patients could lead to underestimation of risk. Although further research is necessary, our research highlights the importance of addressing risk perception, especially encouraging HCWs to become more active in advocating for the required allocation resources for their workplaces.

The purpose of this paper is to explore participants’ attitudes and receptivity to a #CondomEmoji campaign insofar as investigating whether attitudes and receptivity were important predictors for brand impression and intention to buy. This study involved 206 research participants who live in Jakarta and Surabaya and who answered online questionnaires to measure attitudes, receptivity to #CondomEmoji advertising, brand impression and intention to buy condoms. Questionnaires were circulated on several social media platforms and instant messaging apps. The participants were asked to watch the #CondomEmoji advertising video before proceeding to fill out the questionnaires. Research findings suggested that participants mostly held negative attitudes and receptivity to the campaign. Non-sexually active participants were more likely to perceive the advertising as offensive. Attitudes and receptivity were good predictors for brand impression, yet attitude was not significantly attributed to intention to buy condoms. The result was stronger in sexually active participants. Non-sexually active young people need to be more informed about healthy sexual behavior so that they would not feel embarrassed to discuss and ask about sexual behavior. A socially acceptable condom-use advertising campaign needs to be conducted to lessen the resistance of conservative audiences. This paper offers an insight into how conservative audiences may respond to social-media-based campaign of safer sex.

Halal refers to what is permissible in traditional Islamic law. Food that meets halal requirements is marked by a halal label on the packaging and should be especially attractive to those Muslims who follow the set of dietary laws outlined in the Quran. This research examines the role of the halal label (explicit cue) and the country-of-origin (COO) (implicit cue) in predicting positive product perceptions among Muslim consumers. We hypothesized that when an explicit sign of “halalness” (i.e., halal label) relating to a particular product is accompanied by an implicit sign of anti-“halalness” (i.e., non-Islamic COO information), Muslim consumers who pay attention to the dietary laws of Islam would have negative perceptions of such a product. We tested our assumptions in an experiment conducted among Indonesian participants who declared themselves as Muslims (n = 444). We manipulated: (a) exposure to the halal label, and (b) the COO information. Religion-based purchase behavior was measured as a moderator variable. Positive product perceptions were measured as a dependent variable. The results showed that the halal label itself had limited influence on product perceptions. However, we found that positive product perceptions significantly decreased among people who were high in religion-based purchase behavior in response to exposure to non-Islamic COO information accompanied by a halal label. In conclusion, people who are high (vs. low) in religion-based purchase behavior do not seem to trust halal-labeled food produced in a country with other than an Islamic tradition.

Due to its diverse nature, being an Indonesian is sometimes confusing as it entails overlapping national, ethnic and religious identity. By using a social representation approach, online survey research involving 114 Indonesians was carried out to explore these questions: How do Indonesians negotiate their ethnic, religious and national identity? What identity markers should one possess to claim being an Indonesian? And lastly, who is the nationalist? Research findings suggest that national and ethnic identity as well as ethnic and religious identity were consensual, while the relation between religious and national identity was emancipated. It is also found that being a Muslim and possessing a stronger sense of ethnic identity would increase the likelihood of being a prouder Indonesian, while being a female, living abroad for 5–10 years, being a nationalist Muslim and embracing transnational Islamic movements reduced the probability of having a stronger sense of national identity.