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Background and Objectives: Halal branding covers a wide range of economic activities including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, health, textiles, clothing, leather, financial services, banking and tourism. Among the various forms of tourism, medical tourism has grown rapidly due to its competitive advantages. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate halal branding as a strategy to develop medical tourism. Methods: A qualitative research method and a case study were used. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews and analyzed by using thematic analysis. A total of 20 interviews with patients, accompanying persons and hotel hospital staff were conducted. Results: A total of 110 main themes were drawn. These themes had two general orientations within themselves: The nature of the requirement that was either materialistic or spiritual and were simultaneously applicable to short-term and long-term affairs. Certain codes such as not serving haram foods and drinks, not performing abortion and the availability of prayer room in the facilities were specific to halal hotel hospitals. Conclusion: From the combination of these two orientations, four organizing themes, i.e. spiritual and long-term purposes, short-term requirements, materialistic and long-term requirements and short-term purposes were drawn. The inclusive themes were determined by the nature of the requirement and the time orientation of the requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose |!|#8211; The main purpose of this study is to decompose the concept of country of origin (COO) and to investigate the influence of country of brand (COB) and country of manufacture (COM) on brand equity formation. Moreover, the secondary aim of this research is to examine the moderating role of product involvement. Design/methodology/approach |!|#8211; To accomplish this, a conceptual framework was designed and relationships between its constructs (COB image, COM image, brand equity dimensions, overall brand equity) were hypothesized. Data were collected from Iranian students who were the owners of selected brands of laptops and mobile phones. All hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) in LISREL. Findings |!|#8211; As a result of exploratory factor analysis, three factors, namely brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand association/awareness were introduced for the brand equity dimensions. Results indicated that unlike COM, COB has a direct and significant effect on brand loyalty and COB positively influences perceived quality and brand awareness or association. Brand loyalty has a positive and direct effect on the overall brand equity. The results also indicate the moderating effect of product involvement on relationships between COB and brand equity dimensions. Research limitations/implications |!|#8211; This study only investigates in the country of origin of the product. The effect of laptops and mobile phones from a student|!|#39;s point of view were not taken into consideration, which includes other controlled variables (e.g. income, gender) and moderating factors (e.g. product familiarity). Originality/value |!|#8211; This paper is important in order to identify the effect of brand equity formation from the point of view of young Iranian consumers. Product involvement effect is another important case in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]