The Advent of Islam in Bengal; An Economic Perspective

This article aims at examining the causes to the advent of Islam in Bengal with a view to identify the economic perspectives in particular. Islam took about six hundred years for its advent into Bengal with political conquest by Bakhtiyar Khalji in the early 13th century, while it had come to Arabia at the beginning of the 7th century. But long before the conquest of Bengal by Bakhtiyar Khalji, the Arab traders had established commercial relation with the coastal lands of Bengal. Islam began to enter into Bengal with the hands of these early Arab Muslim traders. With the beginning of this early advent, Islam started to enter into Bengal through both the sea and land routes on different circumstances. Though there were many other reasons and grounds for the advent of Islam in Bengal, but the economic perspectives were the foremost and forerunner of the causes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/iiucs.v7i0.12262 IIUC Studies Vol.7 2011: 91-106

The influence of politeness on the perception of product recall notices

When companies decide — or are forced — to publish a product recall notice, their aim is to give consumers clear information on how to handle the problem and to warn them of a possible danger. On the other hand companies try to preserve their corporate image in order to guarantee a (commercial) relation in the future. This article deals with the question whether politeness strategies lead to differences in the appreciation, acceptance and perception of product recall notices. In two experimental studies we evaluated the effect of positive and negative politeness strategies in different conditions. The results show that the use of elaborated negative politeness strategies positively influences the appreciation and acceptance of the message, and has a positive effect on the perception of the corporate image. However in a context where the product recall warns of a severe risk, writers of product recalls should use politeness strategies more cautiously. In this context the use of politeness strategies even seems to have a negative effect on the acceptability of the recall message.