The choice of a marketing channel to benefit corn producer’s welfare in Indonesia

The aim of this study is to determine the marketing channels for Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) of palm oil plantations of farmers in Labuhanbatu Regency, which are carried out by traders, causing price fluctuations. The research method was based on library research, field research and qualitative analysis of primary data collected through interviews with a number of farmers, collector traders, and palm oil mills in Labuhanbatu and surrounding areas. The results of this study showed the real price fluctuations in the FFB trade in Labuhanbatu Regency, while the marketing function of farmers and the supply chain showed the same thing, even though they had different expenses for that function. Whereas the share margin found in the findings of this study was 62% with a marketing efficiency level of 30%. The study also found that FFB marketing channels in Labuhanbatu District had eight channel levels, but this research only confirmed one level, namely the third marketing channel. Thus, this study suggests that follow-up research will explore the remaining seven channels with similar and different topics and issues.

The phenomenon of increasing customers of take-over financing from conventional banks to Islamic banks is an interesting trend to study. This research purpose is to investigate the influence of murabahah financing margins, customer religiosity to customer interest and decision making. The method used is a sequential mixed method. The instrument quantitative is a questionnaire, and the qualitative method is an interview. 199 pensioner customers participated in the survey. Internal consistency is measured by Cronbach’s alpha value. The accuracy of the structural equation modeling (SEM) and hypothesis testing was evaluated using AMOS version 23. The research findings indicate, there was a significant influence between customer religiosity on customer interest and customer interest on decision making. Meanwhile, the murabahah financing margin has no significant influence on customer interest and decision making, as well as between customer religiosity and decision making. Murabahah financing margins and customer religiosity have an influence of significance when mediated by the variable of customer interest. In conclusion, Murabahah financing margin, and customer religiosity does not have a direct significant influence on decision making without being mediated by the variable of customer interest. These results indicate that Islamic bank managers can take advantage of this research variable to increase customer interest so that customer decision making also increases. This study has practical implications for conventional banks and sharia banks. Sharia banks are an opportunity to attract customers from conventional banks, while conventional banks are a challenge because their customers have the potential to take over Islamic banks.

Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Rector of the State Islamic Institute of Sultan Amai Gorontalo, and the State Islamic University of Alauddin Makassar for funding this research collaboratively, and to the respondents who have taken the time to fill out the research questionnaire so that research data can be collected.