Consumer Behavior in Iran and Islamic Economics Theory

Consumption and consumption behavior in each society is influenced by factors such as unemployment, poverty, underdevelopment and also society's believes and values. As consumption and consumption behavior are affected by norms and values, normative aspect of economy must be considered with positive economics; and this is the difference of Islamic economics and convectional economics. So modifying consumption pattern in Islamic economy is so important because of development aspect and controlling instinctive demands like selfishness, greed, avidity, and luxury-oriented as well; and consumer behavior theory in Islamic theory has its own special assumption.
To explaining this subject, in this research, first the difference between conventional economics and Islamic economics is explained; then the assumptions of Islamic consumer behavior are presented. Then, because of the importance of this subject in Iran's economy by using a questionnaire, data of 420 Muslims in different areas of Iran are gathered and with the descriptive method these data are analyzed. Results show that there is a gap between Iranian Muslim consumer's behavior and assumptions of Islamic consumer behavior theory.