Vol.
No.
July-December 2025, pp.
DOI: 10.
22515/ajdc.
Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising: A Bibliometric Synthesis .
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Robby Milana Universitas Muhammadiyah Jakarta.
Indonesia Abstract Keywords:
Bibliometric Islamic Muslim consumer Kata kunci:
Analisis branding halal.
Muslim.
Islami.
E-mail Korespondensi:
milana@umj.
Over the past decade.
Islamic advertising has gained academic attention, yet its theoretical and visual aspects remain underexplored.
This study conducts a bibliometric synthesis of 90 peer-reviewed articles .
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retrieved from Dimensions.
ai using a Boolean search combining AuIslamic advertisingAy OR AuHalal advertisingAy with symbolic and theoretical terms.
Data were analyzed through VOSviewer 1.
20 to map trends, collaboration, citation, and thematic clusters.
The bibliometric approach was chosen for its capacity to identify conceptual and representational gaps beyond qualitative reviews.
Findings show a dominance of behavioral and ethical models, while communication theory, visual semiotics, and audience reception remain Future studies are encouraged to integrate akhlaq and maslahah with communication and visual theory to enrich symbolic and audiencecentered perspectives on Islamic advertising.
Abstrak Selama satu dekade terakhir, iklan Islami semakin menarik perhatian akademik, namun dimensi teoretis dan visualnya masih belum banyak dieksplorasi.
Penelitian ini melakukan sintesis bibliometrik terhadap 90 artikel peer-reviewed yang terbit pada periode 2015Ae 2025, diperoleh dari basis data Dimensions.
ai melalui pencarian Boolean yang mengombinasikan istilah AuIslamic advertisingAy atau AuHalal advertisingAy dengan istilah simbolik dan teoretis.
Data dianalisis menggunakan VOSviewer 1.
20 untuk memetakan tren penelitian, kolaborasi penulis, sitasi, serta klaster tematik.
Pendekatan bibliometrik dipilih karena mampu mengidentifikasi kesenjangan konseptual dan representasional yang sulit diungkap melalui tinjauan kualitatif.
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan dominasi model perilaku dan etika, sementara teori komunikasi, semiotika visual, dan resepsi audiens masih terpinggirkan.
Penelitian selanjutnya disarankan mengintegrasikan prinsip akhlak dan maslahah dengan teori komunikasi dan visual guna memperkaya perspektif simbolik serta berpusat pada audiens dalam studi periklanan Islami.
ISSN 2722-1431 (P) ISSN 2722-144X (E)
Robby Milana
INTRODUCTION
According to the Halal International report .
, as of June 2023 the global Muslim population reached 1.
81 billion, around 24% of the worldAos total population, with consumer spending estimated at US$2.
2 trillion.
The report projects Muslim consumer expenditure to reach US$2.
8 trillion by 2027, with an annual growth rate of 9%, reflecting the rapid global expansion of the halal economy.
This demographic expansion, along with the rise of the halal economy, has intensified the demand for communication strategies aligned with Islamic values (Noviyanti & Hakim, 2.
Within this context.
Islamic advertising has gained momentum, serving not only as a branding tool but also as a vehicle of cultural and religious identity (Wilson & Liu, 2011.
Alserhan, 2.
Campaigns increasingly deploy halal certifications, moral appeals, and Islamic symbols to engage Muslim audiences in both majority and minority contexts.
For instance.
WardahAos AuLangkah KebaikanAy campaign in Indonesia integrates halal certification, modest visual codes, and moral narratives to align the brand with Muslim ethical sensibilities.
Similarly.
Emirates IslamicAos AuBuilt on TrustAy campaign in the United Arab Emirates emphasizes integrity, faith-based values, and consumer trust as core elements of its brand positioning.
These cases are consistent with empirical findings by Kusumastuti.
Raharja.
Maamor, and Yulian .
, who demonstrate that consumer trust in halal symbols is constructed through multidimensional perceptions of religiosity, credibility, and cultural resonance.
Despite its expanding practice, scholarship on Islamic advertising remains Most studies privilege ethical, behavioral, or branding frameworks.
For example.
Signaling Theory has been applied to halal certification and consumer trust (Khan.
Mazher, & Adzharuddin, 2024.
Lestari & Adnani, 2.
religiosity and ethical trust have been linked to brand perception (Andini & Rufaidah, 2018.
Adawiyah, 2.
and research in Turkey demonstrates the role of trust and religiosity in purchase intent (Koy et al.
, 2.
While these perspectives enrich understanding of Muslim consumer behavior, they rarely address how meaning is constructed through media forms and interpreted by diverse audiences.
Even when visual semiotics is applied, such as in the analysis of Islamic symbolism in Sharia bank advertising (Muhammad.
Basha, & AlHafidh, 2.
or responses to the halal logo change (Khotimah & Mastika, 2.
, the insights are seldom connected to broader communication theory.
Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising:
A Bibliometric Synthesis .
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Foundational models in communication studies, including framing (Entman, 1.
, encoding/decoding (Hall, 1.
, and narrative theory (Fisher, 1.
, remain Noor .
highlights concern over the lack of theoretical grounding in Islamic advertising research.
Preliminary bibliometric mapping of 90 journal articles .
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reinforces this gap, revealing that terms such as semiotics, visual analysis, framing, and reception are largely absent, while behavioral constructs like religiosity, purchase intention, and trust dominate.
This imbalance suggests an epistemological orientation where Islamic advertising is conceptualized more as persuasion and compliance than as symbolic discourse (Eickelman & Anderson, 2.
This study is encoding/decoding, which have rarely been applied in Islamic advertising research, as well as by Islamic epistemological perspectives emphasizing akhlaq and maslahah.
The regional distribution of research further contributes to this pattern.
Malaysia and Indonesia dominate scholarly output, while perspectives from Muslimminority contexts remain limited (Miele.
Lever.
Evans, & Fuseini, 2024.
Fischer & Nisa.
Misbah & Johari, 2.
Although this concentration enriches the literature with cultural specificity, it restricts comparative and diasporic perspectives on how Islamic advertising is framed and interpreted in diverse societies.
Against this backdrop, this study offers the first global bibliometric synthesis of Islamic advertising .
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with a focus on theoretical and visual blind spots.
The novelty lies in highlighting how Islamic ethical principles could be better integrated with communication theory and visual culture to build a more comprehensive understanding of the field.
It is expected that Islamic advertising studies remain dominated by behavioral and normative approaches, while theoretical and visual dimensions continue to be marginal.
By addressing these blind spots, the study aims to contribute to a more integrative framework for communication scholarship, bridging ethical, symbolic, and audience-centered perspectives.
METHODOLOGY
This study applies a bibliometric design with a descriptiveAequantitative orientation, grounded in the methodological framework proposed by ynztyrk.
Kocaman, and Kanbach .
Their model provides a step-by-step guide for structuring bibliometric research, from data identification and screening to co-occurrence analysis Academic Journal of DaAowa and Communication Vol.
No.
July-December 2025 Robby Milana and thematic mapping, thus offering a comprehensive and practical foundation for designing this study.
The choice of this approach was intended to map the intellectual landscape of Islamic advertising studies over the last decade and to identify dominant themes, theoretical gaps, and emerging clusters.
The unit of analysis consisted of peerreviewed journal articles published between 2015 and 2025 that explicitly address Islamic advertising.
Data collection employed a documentation-based literature search through the Dimensions.
ai database.
Boolean operators were used to refine queries, while inclusion criteria were limited to English-language, peer-reviewed journal articles .
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explicitly discussing Islamic or halal advertising.
After screening for relevance and removing duplicates, a final corpus of 90 articles was established.
The dataset was organized using VOSviewer 1.
20 to generate bibliometric These instruments made it possible to examine variables such as publication trends, authorship patterns, keyword co-occurrence, citation networks, and thematic clusters.
Each of these variables was analyzed to reveal both the strengths of the field and the areas that remain underdeveloped.
The analysis proceeded in three stages, following the procedural framework proposed by ynztyrk.
Kocaman, and Kanbach .
First, publication output, country distribution, and journal outlets were mapped to capture the growth and geographic concentration of Islamic advertising research.
Second, authorship and citation patterns were examined to identify collaboration structures and influential works in the field.
Third, keyword co-occurrence and thematic clustering were performed in VOSviewer to reveal the intellectual structure and neglected areas of inquiry.
Interpretation of the results was guided by communication theories and Islamic epistemological perspectives introduced in the Introduction.
This alignment ensured that the bibliometric findings were not treated merely as descriptive statistics but were critically connected to broader debates on symbolic communication, visual culture, and the ethical foundations of Islamic advertising.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Publication Trend .
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The bibliometric mapping of 90 peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025 demonstrates a clear growth trajectory in Islamic advertising research.
shown in Figure 1, annual output remained modest from 2015 to 2019, averaging four to Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising:
A Bibliometric Synthesis .
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six articles, but increased sharply after 2020.
For instance, publications in 2021 examined the communicative role of Muslim influencers in shaping public discourse and consumption patterns.
Early studies explored the persuasive function of Instagram influencers in religiously inflected contexts .
Zuhri, 2.
, while more recent works analysed how social-media personalities promote halal cosmetics and influence Muslim consumersAo purchase intentions .
Supriani.
Ninglasari, & Iswati, 2.
Meanwhile, 2024 saw an increase in research integrating Islamic values into digital branding and fintech-based business strategies .
Rofiq.
Ariyani, & Muna, 2.
, reflecting the fieldAos gradual shift toward digitalized and value-driven orientations.
Figure 1.
Number of Publications on Islamic Advertising per Year .
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Source: Dimensions.
ccessed June 2.
As the keyword co-occurrence map (Figure .
further corroborates this trend, showing clusters dominated by terms such as purchase intention, religiosity.
Islamic marketing, and Islamic branding, particularly concentrated around 2021 and 2024.
These data-driven patterns align with the global expansion of the halal economy.
Muslim consumer spending reached approximately USD 2.
2 trillion in 2023 (Halal International.
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July-December 2025 Robby Milana 2.
, which may have stimulated academic attention to digital branding and valuebased marketing within Islamic contexts.
This upward trend reflects both the expansion of Islamic economies and the globalization of Muslim consumer identities, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Previous studies note how halal discourse and religious symbolism have become central to commercial narratives (Tieman, 2012.
Koy et al.
, 2.
Yet the growth remains regionally concentrated, with Malaysian and Indonesian authors dominating, while contributions from Muslim-minority contexts are scarce.
Although the increasing volume signals rising scholarly attention, the literature is still largely normative and descriptive, with limited theoretical engagement or interdisciplinary methods.
Thematic diversity also remains narrow, as many studies continue to privilege behavioral constructs over visual or communicative analyses.
This imbalance underscores the need for greater theoretical depth and broader geographic scope, themes that are further elaborated in the following sections.
Co-authorship by Country and Author The co-authorship map in Figure 2 shows a clear geographical concentration in Islamic advertising research.
Malaysia accounts for about 38 percent of publications, followed by Indonesia with 22 percent, while Turkey.
Pakistan.
Iran, and the United States contribute smaller shares.
This concentration mirrors earlier bibliometric findings that highlight the dominance of Southeast Asia in halal and branding studies (Misbah & Johari, 2024.
Fischer & Nisa, 2.
The limited participation of Western institutions, despite sizable Muslim diaspora populations in Europe and North America, indicates a gap in global scholarly engagement with Islamic advertising.
Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising:
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Figure 2.
Co-authorship Map by Country .
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Source: Visualization generated by VOSviewer.
At the author level, collaboration appears fragmented.
Several small clusters emerge, with a few recurring names, yet cross-regional and inter-institutional linkages remain weak.
As Jaramillo et al.
observe, such segmentation often restricts crossdisciplinary knowledge exchange and innovation.
This lack of global collaboration may hinder the development of comparative perspectives that are vital for understanding Islamic advertising across diverse contexts.
The regional dominance of Malaysia and Indonesia has also shaped the epistemological orientation of the literature.
Much of the scholarship emphasizes branding, religiosity, and ethical compliance, while themes such as semiotics, audience analysis, and critical media studies remain underrepresented.
This pattern reinforces the argument that Islamic advertising research is still largely guided by normative and behavioral approaches rather than by symbolic or cultural communication frameworks.
Academic Journal of DaAowa and Communication Vol.
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July-December 2025 Robby Milana Keyword Co-occurrence and Conceptual Clusters The keyword co-occurrence analysis generated four main clusters from 37 terms with 523 links and a total link strength of 4738 (Figure .
Together, these clusters highlight the thematic structure of Islamic advertising research during 2015Ae2025.
Figure 3.
Keyword Co-occurrence Network Map .
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Source: Visualization generated by VOSviewer.
The first cluster emphasizes normative concepts such as Islam, theory, principle, and society, reflecting the focus on ethical and theological foundations.
The second cluster relates to consumer behavior, with terms such as religiosity, purchase intention, and halal certification, confirming the dominance of trust- and intention-based frameworks (Bansal et al.
, 2.
The third cluster is methodological, featuring keywords such as country, effect, and relationship, indicating a strong reliance on comparative and statistical designs.
The fourth cluster captures socio-cultural themes, including gender and national identity, where studies such as Nickerson et al.
demonstrate that religious affiliation does not automatically translate into positive consumer responses.
Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising:
A Bibliometric Synthesis .
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Table 1.
Keyword Clusters in Islamic Advertising Research .
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Cluster Cluster 1 .
Colour Red Keywords article, concept, field, insight.
Islam.
Islamic advertising.
Islamic marketing.
Islamic marketing research, life, literature.
Malaysia, practical implication, practice, principle, research limitations implication, researcher, society, theory country, customer, halal certification, importance, marketer.
Muslims.
Pakistan, purchase intention, religiosity, respondent attitude, brand, effect, intention, relationship Cluster 2 Green .
Cluster 3 Blue .
Cluster 4 Yellow Indonesia, man, religion, woman .
Source: Visualization generated by VOSviewer.
Notably.
Table 2 highlights the absence of keywords such as semiotic, visual, framing, and reception.
This absence is not a trivial lexical gap but reveals an epistemological bias: Islamic advertising research continues to privilege behavioral and normative constructs while overlooking symbolic and communicative dimensions.
This finding resonates with Hakiki et al.
, who note that Islamic advertising remains focused on ethical marketing practices without developing a coherent theoretical framework.
By neglecting perspectives from communication and cultural studies, such as framing, narrative, and encoding/decoding, the literature reduces advertising to message delivery and consumer reaction.
As a result, the symbolic processes through which meaning is constructed and contested remain This gap underscores the need for interdisciplinary engagement that situates Islamic advertising within broader debates on media, semiotics, and audience reception.
Table 2.
Absence of Visual and Symbolic Keywords in the Dataset
Keyword
Occurrence in Dataset
Cluster Affiliation Visual
---
Semiotic ---
Framing ---
Reception ---
Symbol
---
Narrative --- Source: AuthorAos analysis of keyword absence based on VOSviewer output Academic Journal of DaAowa and Communication Vol.
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July-December 2025 Robby Milana The absence of communication theory within the analyzed literature indicates a conceptual gap that limits interpretive depth.
To illustrate how such theories might enrich future research, selected models can be hypothetically applied to Islamic advertising contexts.
For instance, a campaign like WardahAos Langkah Kebaikan could be analyzed through FisherAos .
Narrative Paradigm, which views persuasion as storytelling governed by coherence and fidelity, allowing Islamic values to be examined as moral narratives expressed through visual and symbolic cues.
Likewise.
HallAos .
Encoding/Decoding model provides a useful lens to explore how Muslim audiences negotiate meanings between textual intention and cultural reception.
Integrating these interpretive approaches would bridge empirical mapping with theoretical analysis, highlighting how Islamic advertising could engage both ethical and communicative Citation Analysis: Influential Works and Scholarly Anchors The citation analysis highlights the works and authors that have exerted the strongest influence on Islamic advertising research during 2015Ae2025.
Citations are not a perfect proxy for quality, but they remain a useful indicator of intellectual visibility in an emerging and fragmented field.
The ten most cited journal articles, presented in Table 3, predominantly adopt behavioral or attitudinal perspectives, often drawing on consumer decision-making theories such as the Theory of Planned Behavior and religiosity frameworks.
Awan et al.
, for instance, remains the most cited with 219 citations, focusing on halal purchase intention among Pakistani consumers.
This is followed by Aji et al.
with 80 citations on halal tourism choices, and Bashir et al.
with 60 citations on Muslim consumer behavior.
These contributions are methodologically rigorous and empirically valuable, yet they rarely engage with communication theory or symbolic analysis, reinforcing the normative orientation of the field.
Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising:
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Table 3.
Top 10 Most Cited Articles in Islamic Advertising .
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TITLE
AUTHORS
SOURCE TITLE
YEAR
Factors affecting Halal purchase evidence from Pakistan The determinants of Muslim travellersAo intention to visit halal Factors Influencing the Adoption of Mobile Payment in Halal Contexts Islamic marketing: A literature review and research Cross-National Study on the Perception of the Halal Logo among Muslim Consumers Inclusive disability on Muslimmajority Islamic challenges to advertising: a Saudi Arabian Awan.
Hayat M.
Siddiquei.
Ahmad Nabeel.
Haider.
Management Research Review
TIMES
CITED
Aji.
Hendy Mustiko.
Muslichah.
Istyakara.
Seftiani.
Natasya Journal of Islamic Marketing Nur.
Triasesiarta.
Panggabean.
Rosinta Ria Journal of Accounting Research Organization and Economics Al Mamun.
Abdullah.
Strong.
Carolyn A.
Azad.
Md Abdus Samad International Journal of Consumer Studies Lee.
Yu Lim.
Jung.
Minji.
Nathan.
Robert Jeyakumar Sustainability Qayyum.
Abdul.
Jamil.
Raja Ahmed.
Shah.
Adnan Amir Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services Cader.
Akram Abdul Journal of Islamic Marketing Academic Journal of DaAowa and Communication Vol.
No.
July-December 2025 Robby Milana The effects of Raza.
Syed Hassan.
Journal of Islamic Abu Bakar.
Marketing appeals on Hassan.
Mohamad.
Bahtiar towards global brands: The mediating role of attitude and the moderating role of Developing Islam.
Mohammad Journal of Islamic Mominul.
Talib.
Marketing lenses for Mohamed upstream halal Syazwan Ab The effect of Salem.
Mohammed Journal of Islamic female portrayal Z.
Baidoun.
Samir.
Marketing in advertising Walsh.
Graham on Muslim Source: AuthorAos compilation based on citation data retrieved from Dimensions.
ccessed June At the author level.
Table 4 shows that Hendy Mustiko Aji is the most cited figure, with 97 citations from two publications, followed by Raja Ahmed Jamil with 33 citations, and both Anup Menon Nandialath and Catherine C.
Nickerson with 28 citations each.
Malaysian-based scholars such as Mohammad Mominul Islam.
Nazlida Muhamad, and Mohamed Syazwan Talib also appear prominently, reflecting Southeast AsiaAos strong institutional presence.
However, the majority of authors in the dataset recorded fewer than 10 citations, with several receiving none at all, pointing to a concentration of influence within a small cohort.
Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising:
A Bibliometric Synthesis .
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Tabel 4.
Most Cited Authors in Islamic Advertising Dataset .
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Author Documents Citations Total Link Strength Aji.
Hendy Mustiko Jamil.
Raja Ahmed Nandialath.
Anup Menon Nickerson.
Catherine Islam.
Mohammad Mominul Muhamad.
Nazlida Talib.
Mohamed Syazwan AB Alsharif.
Ahmed H.
Mokhtar.
Aida Najib.
Moh Farid Razli.
Izyanti Awang Isa.
Salmi Mohd Harun.
Mohd Fauzi Susamto.
Burhanuddin Bui-Nguyen.
Thao Canu.
Roland Source: AuthorAos compilation based on citation and co-authorship data extracted via VOSviewer from a bibliographic dataset retrieved from Dimensions.
ccessed June 2.
Together, the article-level and author-level analyses reveal a field that is maturing in visibility but still limited in conceptual ambition.
The most cited works privilege behavioral frameworks and consumer psychology, while contributions engaging communication theory, framing, narrative, or visual semiotics remain absent.
This imbalance highlights the need for future research to broaden its epistemological scope, moving beyond transactional paradigms toward more symbolic and cultural understandings of Islamic advertising.
Thematic Clustering: Mapping the Intellectual Structure of the Field The density visualization in Figure 4 maps the thematic distribution of Islamic advertising research from 2015Ae2025.
Yellow and green zones indicate high-frequency themes, which cluster around behavioral, normative, methodological, and sociodemographic foci.
Academic Journal of DaAowa and Communication Vol.
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July-December 2025 Robby Milana Figure 4.
Thematic Cluster Map of Islamic Advertising Literature .
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The most prominent cluster centers on behavioral constructs such as purchase intention, religiosity, and brand attitude, reflecting the dominance of consumer-centered studies on Muslim responses to halal cues and advertising credibility.
A second cluster emphasizes normative and theoretical terms.
Islam, principle, theory, and concept, signaling ongoing efforts to ground Islamic advertising in ethical and theological frameworks, though often loosely connected to empirical constructs.
Additional clusters capture methodological keywords .
, practical implication, literature, researche.
and socio-demographic terms .
, woman, man.
Indonesi.
, which indicate smaller but emerging interests in review studies and cultural identity.
While this map confirms the fieldAos behavioral and normative focus, it also exposes a thematic asymmetry.
Keywords linked to communication theory, symbolic analysis, or visual representation, such as framing, semiotic, or reception, are absent from dense nodes.
This omission underscores the underdevelopment of mediatheoretical perspectives and supports earlier observations of epistemological bias toward consumer psychology.
Moreover, phenomenological approaches that could illuminate the lived experiences of Muslim audiences remain marginal.
Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising:
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This thematic imbalance is further illustrated by studies such as Lestari & Adnani .
, which apply Stuart HallAos reception theory to analyze how Muslim audiences interpret halal-certified advertising.
Their findings reveal negotiated and hegemonic readings of ZoyaAos hijab campaign, yet also highlight the commodification of religious values.
Despite using a communication-theoretical lens, such studies remain rare and are not reflected in dominant keyword clusters.
Emerging subfields, however, point to promising directions.
First, digital Islamic influencer advertising is gaining visibility, yet studies such as Ani and Yusoff .
show that persuasive appeal often overrides ethical integrity.
They call for the integration of tawheed, akhlak, maslahah, and justice into digital endorsement strategies, ensuring that message delivery reflects spiritual accountability.
Similarly.
Zuhri .
demonstrates how Instagram influencers construct meaning through visual style, narrative framing, and audience engagement, highlighting the potential of critical discourse analysis to assess symbolic and ethical dimensions in digital media.
Second, halal branding in non-Muslim markets, including diaspora contexts, remains underexplored despite commercial importance.
Torkestani et al.
and Sungnoi & Soonthonsmai .
demonstrate that brand equity depends not only on religiosity but also on consumer-perceived value and integrated marketing communication, suggesting the need for more comprehensive strategies beyond normative appeals.
Third, symbolic resistance among Muslim youth represents an innovative lens.
Hamami et al.
highlight how AI-driven personalization and storytelling shape Gen Z Muslim consumer culture, while Yener .
shows that halal certification can override geopolitical origin in shaping trust and purchase intention.
These subfields demonstrate opportunities for scholarship that transcends traditional behavioral models.
They invite interdisciplinary approaches, media studies, diaspora identity, digital semiotics, that can capture representation, agency, and meaning-making in Islamic advertising.
A striking example is the Wardah Cosmetics campaign Langkah Kebaikan .
, which weaves Islamic symbolism and Gen Z narratives yet has received little scholarly attention.
Its absence from academic analysis illustrates the broader neglect of narrative and visual approaches, despite their cultural Academic Journal of DaAowa and Communication Vol.
No.
July-December 2025 Robby Milana Complementing this theoretical perspective, akhlaq and maslahah offer an indigenous epistemological foundation for analyzing Islamic advertising.
As elaborated by al-GhazAl in IuyAAo Ulm al-Dn and expanded by Al-Attas .
, akhlaq encompasses not only moral conduct but also adab al-baar, the discipline of visual perception grounded in ethical consciousness.
Likewise, maslahah, rooted in al-ShAibAos al-MuwAfaqAt, emphasizes public benefit and contextual reasoning .
aqAid alshara.
, providing a philosophical basis for assessing whether visual representations in advertising genuinely promote spiritual and social well-being.
Integrating these principles allows Islamic epistemology to function not merely as a normative backdrop but as an interpretive lens that bridges ethical, visual, and communicative dimensions.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion This study set out to examine the intellectual landscape of Islamic advertising research between 2015 and 2025.
Through bibliometric analysis, it identified significant growth in publication volume, a regional concentration of scholarship in Southeast Asia, and a persistent reliance on behavioral and normative frameworks.
The findings confirm the initial hypothesis that Islamic advertising scholarship has matured in visibility yet remains epistemologically constrained.
The absence of communication-theoretical and visual-semiotic approaches, coupled with limited global collaboration, highlights structural blind spots that inhibit the fieldAos conceptual The study contributes to the discipline of daAowah and communication by offering a critical synthesis that not only maps existing trends but also uncovers underexplored dimensions such as symbolic mediation, narrative strategies, and audience reception.
By foregrounding these gaps, this research underscores the potential for Islamic advertising to be repositioned as a communicative practice embedded in cultural, ethical, and interpretive contexts, rather than solely as a marketing function.
Recommendation Future research should build on these insights by embracing interdisciplinary phenomenological inquiry into the study of Islamic advertising.
Greater scholarly Decoding the Visual and Theoretical Blind Spots in Islamic Advertising:
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engagement with visual discourse, narrative framing, and audience interpretation will expand the fieldAos theoretical horizons and enhance its contribution to the study of religious communication.
Collaboration across regions, especially with scholars in Muslim-minority contexts, is essential for producing comparative insights and avoiding regional Finally, studies should pay closer attention to emergent domains such as digital influencer marketing, diaspora branding, and youth-oriented symbolic resistance, which offer fertile ground for advancing both theory and practice.
The study contributes not only to consumer studies but also to the advancement of knowledge in daAowah and communication by illustrating how Islamic advertising operates as a medium of ethical persuasion.
Beyond promoting products, it disseminates moral narratives aligned with akhlaq and social responsibility, thereby functioning as a form of contemporary daAowah through mediated discourse.
This perspective expands the role of Islamic communication from doctrinal messaging to ethical meaning-making within consumer culture.
REFERENCES