halal and non-muslim: what matters? · 2018. 3. 7. · only focusing and serving the muslim...
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ISSN: 2289-4519 Page 1
International Journal of Accounting & Business Management
www.ftms.edu.my/journals/index.php/journals/ijabm
Vol. 5 (No.2), November, 2017
ISSN: 2289-4519 DOI: 24924/ijabm/2017.11/v5.iss2/1.12
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Research Paper
HALAL AND NON-MUSLIM: WHAT MATTERS?
Farah Raihana Ismail Department of Marketing & Management,
Faculty of Economics and Management,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, , Malaysia
Kauthar Nasiruddin Department of Marketing & Management,
Faculty of Economics and Management,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Nur Syafiqah A. Samad
Department of Economics,
Faculty of Economics and Management,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Universally, halal consumption is understood and practiced by Muslims. It is not rooted in other religions except in Islam and thus far Non-Muslims are not obligated to comply with halal food consumption. However, recent development and growth of halal market changes the perception and acceptance of Non-Muslim consumers towards halal consumption. Non-Muslim consumers viewed halal product as a trend of healthy eating and safe to consume as compared to non-halal products. Even so, there is little information available in further assessing factors which influence changing behavior of Non-Muslims towards consuming halal products specifically on food based products. This study intended to further investigate on the factors that influence halal products purchase behavior among Non-Muslim consumers. An online survey was conducted and data were collected from 209 respondents. Factor analysis was used in this study to further understand and interpret collected data. Results indicated that religion construct is not significant towards Non-Muslim halal purchase behavior, whilst, marketing and safety and convenience indicated significant influence on Non-Muslim purchase behavior. Findings may help industry player in tapping the right market, channeling the right information to Non-Muslim consumers and better strategize in tapping the lucrative and profitable halal market effectively.
Key Terms: Halal, Non-Muslim, Consumer Behavior, Marketing, Religion, Safety & Convenience
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1. INTRODUCTION
Halal is a crucial element which influences consumption behavior and consumer
purchase. There are various definitions of halal. Halal is defined as anything which is
permissible, non-doubtful and lawful (Zailani et al., 2015).
Based on Tieman, (2015), there are 1.7 billion of Muslim populations in 2014 and
expected to increase by 2.2 billion by 2030. The increasing demand for halal food in
international market is an opportunity for countries to compete in the lucrative global market
within halal food industry.
The importance of halal is increasing rapidly. There is a rise of demand in many Non-
Muslim countries (Bonne & Verbeke, 2008; Ayyub, 2014). It reveals the importance of halal
to many consumers including the Non-Muslims. Vloreen Nity Mathewa et al., (2014) further
deliberated that with the rapid growth of halal market, consumers’ demand on food has
changed accordingly creating huge opportunity for market players to tap the Non-Muslim
consumers’ market and take advantage on the lucrative industry.
Moreover, despite the rise of demand on halal product by Non-Muslim consumers,
scholars doubted that the halal concept is not well understood by Non-Muslim consumersdue
to lack of knowledge and information about halal (Golnaz Renai et al., 2010). Other than
that, lack of insights on Non-Muslim behavior towards halal consumption as well as no
significant evidence indicated that Non-Muslimsare well aware of the benefits of consuming
halal products limiting the opportunity to efficiently venture and expand into the halal market
itself (Vloreen Nity Mathewa et al., 2014; Golnaz Renai et al., 2012; Golnaz Renai et al.,
2010).
Thus, this research aims to investigate factors that influence halal product purchase
behavior among Non-Muslim consumers. By understanding Non-Muslim consumer purchase
behavior on halal food products particularly, it helps the industry player to better understand
factors that significantly influence Non-Muslim halal consumption behavior. This paper
discussed further on the influence of religion, safety and convenience and marketing on Non-
Muslims behavior towards halal consumption.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Religion and Consumer Behavior
Religion can be viewed from different perspectives and dimensions (Bergin, 1991)
and it is well understood and practiced differently by different beliefs. Commonly, religion
can be defined as a complex of human phenomenon, behavior and practices that shapes
human attitudes, values, belief, experiences, and knowledge (Khraim, 2010).Understanding
religion as a phenomenon that influence consumer behavior has been prolonged done by
Allport & Ross (1967)where they are among the first scholars who carried out the research on
this particular research area.
Additionally, scholars has significantly addressed in their past researches that religion
influenced consumer behavior and consumption (Hirscman, 1983; Delener, 1990; McDaniel
& Burnett, 1990; Sood & Nasu, 1995; Kim, 2004; Khraim, 2010).
Religion acts as a vital construct in consumer decision making where consumers may
use religion and belief as a guideline in choosing or consuming particular products or
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services(Delener, 1994; Stark & Finke, 2002). Khraim, (2010) furtherdiscussed that religion
is an important factor in consumer decision making as religion acted as a guideline and rule
as well as taboo for its followers.
Moreover, within various religion and belief, there are specific guidelines that the
followers must commit particularly on food consumption. Pettinger et al., (2004), highlighted
that when it comes to food consumption, consumers tend to follow the guidelines outlined by
their religion which eventually shaped their eating habits, attitudes and behavior towards
purchase decision (Ismail & Nasiruddin,2014). Additionally, Dindyal (2003) highlighted that
most of the societies stated that religion is the most vital factor in shaping societies food
consumption and choice accordingly.
Thus, even though each religion has their own guidelines in consuming food and
beverages, the role of religion itself in understanding food consumption is ambiguous (Suki
& Suki, 2015). Furthermore the circumstances (e.g. permissible or not) of consuming
particular foods and beverages is depending on the religion (belief) itself (Bonne et al., 2007).
Every religion has different restrictions on food and beverage consumption. For example;
Islam and Judaism prohibited its followers from consuming pork, Hinduism on the other hand
forbids its followers from consuming beef while Christian Protestants has less restrictions in
terms of foodand beverage consumption(Sack, 2000).Hence, it is known that faith and
religion have significant influences to a person’s food and beverage consumption behaviour.
Despite of the importance of religion in shaping consumer behavior and consumption,
Ernest Cyril De Run et al., (2010)indicated that religion concept solely is not sufficient in
understanding the role of religion in consumption. Instead, the intensity of one’s religious
affiliations known as religiosity (the degree of being religious) is crucial in moulding one’s
purchase behaviour. Thus, the commitment of particular person in practicing and following
all the guideline outlined by their religion make differences in consumption behaviour and it
is crucial to understand that no matter how strong the society’s religion is, if the follower or
believer is not committed and piously following the faith, this will reflect onto their action
attitude and behaviour(Khraim, 2010).
2.2. Safety and Convenience
Halal product by definition means anything that is permissible by Islam and permitted
by Islamic laws (Kamali, 2003). Halal products and services convey the safety concept in its
consumption.
To obtain halal status for product or service, it needs to be certified by the respective
body/institution. Obtaining halal certificate will ensure the process and the source of the
product or service is permissible and free from any doubtful sources (Golnaz Rezai et al.,
2012). Producing products or services that are halal certified will ensure production of quality
products or services as compared to those products or services that are not halal certified as
halal certified product or service tend to comply to the quality standard outline by the
respective body/institution (Talib & Ali, 2009).
Halal concept nowadays is no longer looking at the slaughtering process only instead
the halal concept has been viewed from the overall perspective of the production (process) of
the product itself, which is from the farm to fork. Nowadays, halal consumption is not just
about religion obligation by Muslims, but it is now considered as standard of practice and
choice by Non-Muslims as well due to the fact that halal concept provides a good platform
for healthy eating and lifestyle which promotes elements of safety, hygiene and quality of the
products and services (Bergeaud-Blackler et al., 2006; Golnaz Renai et al., 2010).
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In addition, the growing level of awareness on halal food consumption among Non-
Muslims has contributed to more Non-Muslims consuming halal food where Non-Muslims
perceived that halal foods are healthier and safe to be consumed (Golnaz Renai et al., 2012).
Moreover, nowadays, non-Muslims might consume halal products due to the availability and
convenience in getting them in the market.
The quality assurance among halal products promotes shoppingconvenience for both
Muslims and Non-Muslims where halal certification indirectly helps build trust (ISO, 2015)
and attracts the Non-Muslim consumers in becoming more conscious about halal food as
healthy and safety choice of eating (Bonne & Verbeke, 2008). Additionally, Bergeaud-
Blackler, (2006) stated that halal labelling as well as other labelling details promotes
convenience shopping for both Muslims and Non-Muslims as it will help in providing
information needed by both consumer types in consuming halal products.
2.3. Marketing
The halal market is growing rapidly over time and the growing trend of halal
consumption for both consumer types (i.e. Muslim and Non-Muslim) has open up more
window of opportunity for businesses and making the halal market more lucrative and
profitable (Alam & Sayuti, 2011). Halal market is able to attract Non-Muslim consumers as
nowadays they perceived halal products (food) are healthier, safer, more clean and tastier
(Burgmann, 2007).
Rapid developments within the halal market widen the market segmentation by not
only focusing and serving the Muslim consumer, but also tapping the demand from the Non-
Muslim consumer market. With the growing popularity of halal products among Non-Muslim
consumers (Golnaz Renai et al., 2012), marketers need to well address the essential
information regarding the concept and the process of halal products.
Furthermore, Delener (1990) highlighted that in promoting the product, marketers
must take into considerations on the aspects of religion in decision making and analysis in
predicting consumer behavior and consumption. Delener further argued that marketers tend to
neglect the elements of religion while outlining promotional strategies and positioning of
particular product in the market.
Kim (2004) further stated that in understanding the context of religion in consumer
behavior, it is important for marketers to wholly understand that religion is not a fad or trend
that has short term impact on consumers, rather, it is a significant phenomenon and valuable
construct that have a prolonged long term effect in their purchase behavior. Marketers need to
consider and assimilate religion construct as one of the strategy in tackling the Non-Muslim
consumer by channeling the right information and make use of halal certification and
labelling as part of the strategy in marketing the halal product (food).
Hence, marketing has significant influence in promoting and understanding Non-
Muslims perception and consumption towards halal food products (Ismail & Nasiruddin,
2014), Accordingly, in promoting halal products (food) to Non-Muslim consumers, marketers
need to identify the appropriate channel in communicating the relevant information to the
right target market (Golnaz Renai et al., 2010).
3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHDOLOGY
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This study analyzed the factors influence to Halal product purchase behavior among
Non-Muslims. Halal product purchase behavior is the dependent variable which has been
measured by actual usage of Halal product. Quantitative approach has been used in this
study. The data and information regarding the factors influence to Halal product purchase
behavior was gathered through questionnaires. All questionnaires were distributed through
online survey. Roughly, the online survey in this study included three major steps: design the
questionnaires, conduct the online survey, and screen the returned survey results.
Once the questionnaires have been designed, they were posted on the website. After
receiving the response from the virtual survey forms, the researchers further analyzed the
following criteria to decide whether the forms should be included for further analysis. First,
the respondents should be Non-Muslims. Second, the respondents should follow the
instructions in completing the survey. Survey forms which failed to meet the mentioned
criteria were excluded for further analysis. There were 225 respondents have answered the
questionnaires. However, only 209 respondents were able to meet the criteria.
The questionnaire used for this study was designed based on the previous literature
and TRA. The questionnaire was constructed in English. The questionnaire was divided into
three sections including multiple-choice questions only. The first section contains questions
regarding their background information (age, gender, religion, race, level of education,
occupation, marital status, , level of income, residential area, and people around respondents).
In the second section, the respondents were asked on the sources of information on
the halal label food product (personal and impersonal sources of information). The last
section contained questions on the factors and experiences relating to halal labelled food
products (safety & convenience, religion and marketing). For the last section, a five-point
Likert scale was used. It was ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’.
The factors which influence to Halal product purchase behavior among non-Muslims
were examined by using multiple linear regression analysis. Least Square estimation of the
parameters was applied in order to estimate the multiple linear regression analysis.
Mathematically, the multiple linear regressions for this study can be written as follows:
Where
At the earlier stage, factor analysis was applied in this study. It was a useful tool in
investigating variables relationships for complex concept. Factors loading for each of the
manifest variables or indicators and alpha coefficient for each latent variable or construct
were estimated using statistical R-software. The values of factor loading represented the
strongest association to the underlying latent variable. It was used to measure the convergent
validity. At the same time, cross loading was obtained and acted as the measurement for the
discriminant validity and alpha coefficient was estimated to measure the reliability of the
latent variable.
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4. RESULT AND DISUCSSION
Table 1 and Table 2 present a descriptive statistic of the respondents’ characteristics
and information about Halal label food product respectively. As illustrated in Table 1, the
background information showed that the majority of the sample were working youth, female,
Buddhist¸ Chinese, educated, single, middle income level, urban people and live around Non-
Muslim residents. While, as illustrated in Table 2, most of the respondents obtained the
information from the Internet and their friends.
Table 1: Descriptive statistics of respondents’ characteristics (n=209)
Measure Items Frequency Percentage
(%)
Age (Years) ≤ 18
19-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
>50
0
3
138
37
19
8
1
3
0
1.44
66
17.7
9.17
3.8
0.45
1.44
Gender Male
Female
86
123
41.14
58.86
Religion Buddhist
Christian
Hindu
Others
99
67
35
8
47.37
32.10
16.7
3.83
Race Chinese
Indian
Sarawakian/Sabahan
International
128
43
25
13
61.24
20.57
11.96
6.23
Level of Education Primary
Secondary
Certificate/Diploma
Professional
Bachelor
Master
PhD
1
5
19
7
131
38
8
0.45
2.40
9.10
3.35
62.68
18.19
3.83
Marital Status Single
Married
182
26
87.11
12.44
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Divorced/Widowed 1 0.45
Occupation Working
Not Working/Housewife
Student
126
2
81
60.3
0.9
29.8
Income Level (RM) ≤1,000
1,001 – 2,000
2,001 – 3,000
3,001 – 5,000
5,001 - 7,500
7,501 – 10,000
>10,000
51
28
54
46
15
10
5
24.4
13.4
25.85
22.00
7.2
4.8
3.35
Residential Area Urban
Rural
118
91
56.5
43.5
People around where
you live/work/study
Muslim
Non-Muslim
71
138
34
66
Table 2: Descriptive statistics of information about Halal Label Food Product (n=209)
The descriptive data of the variables in this study was provided in Table 3. Based on
Table 3, in average, most of the respondents were neutral about the factors and behavior
towards the purchase of Halal food product.
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Table 3: Mean and Standard Deviation of study variables
The reliability of each of the latent variable is illustrated in Table 4. It has been shown
that all latent variable demonstrate acceptable values (>0.80), which indicates that these are
reliable measures for their respective constructs.
Table 4: Alpha coefficients for construct/latent variable
By using factor analysis, the researchers attempted to reconstruct the three factors
using principal component analysis with varimax rotation. The details were shown in Table 5.
Tables 5 provided the values for factor loading and cross loading. The values for factor
loading should exceed 0.5 to suggest adequate convergent validity (Bagozzi & Yi, 1998;
Fornel & Larker, 1981). Based on Table 5, almost the entire factor loading for factor 1 has
value 0.5 and above except Q9, Q10 and Q11. Similar with the factor 2 and factor 3 except
Q16, Q17, and Q18 and Q32, Q33, and Q36 respectively.
The negative values obtained in column Factor 2 and Factor 3 indicated that there
were certain indicators which have inverse relationship with its latent variables. For the cross
loading values, the loading of an indicator on its assigned latent variable should be higher
than its loading on all other latent variables. In this case, the researchers should eliminate
indicators Q9, Q10, Q11, Q16, Q17, Q18, Q19, and Q20 since these indicators exist cross
loading issues.
Table 5: Exploratory factor analysis, with varimax rotation
Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3
Q1 0.501 0.267
Q2 0.585 -0.103 0.121
Q3 0.616 0.281
Q4 0.623 0.152
Q5 0.620 0.285
Q6 0.822 0.334
Q7 0.813
Q8 0.785
Q9 0.154 0.174
Q10 0.152 0.134
Q11 0.156 0.234
Q12 0.747 0.138
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Q13 0.622 0.237 -0.152
Q14 0.506 0.290
Q15 0.602 0.234 -0.107
Q16 0.718 0.122
Q17 0.713 0.163 -0.139
Q18 0.769 0.102
Q19 0.661 0.569
Q20 0.683 0.559
Q21 0.864
Q22 0.850
Q23 0.922 0.132
Q24 0.850 0.209
Q25 0.221 0.684
Q26 0.180 0.625 0.202
Q27 0.215 0.705
Q28 0.122 0.220 0.611
Q29 0.120 -0.537
Q30 0.110 0.212 0.598
Q31 0.215 0.194 0.518
Q32 0.227 0.197 0.326
Q33 -0.308
Q34 -0.526
Q35 -0.509
Q36 0.134 -0.203
Q37 0.133 0.146 0.534
Q38 0.108 0.556
Q39 0.188 0.660
Q40 0.559
Note: Q1-15, items for safety and convenience; Q16-26, items for religion; Q27-40, items for marketing
Lastly, Table 6 indicated the result for multiple linear regression analysis. Based on
Table 6, safety & convenience and marketing were positively significant at 1% confidence
level and religion factor is not significant. Based on two significant factors, Halal product
purchase behavior was most dominantly influenced by marketing ( ). This finding
implies that marketing is indeed a powerful factor of the Halal product purchase behavior
among Non-Muslims.
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Table 6:Result of regression analysis
Note: ***,* denote significance at 1% level and 10% level respectively. The value in the parentheses contain the p-value
5. CONCLUSION
Understanding the Non-Muslims behavior on Halal products provides an insight for
industry player in tapping the market and expanding the Halal market generally. Previous
research has shown that religion, marketing and safety and convenience play a significant
role in influencing Non-Muslims in Halal consumption. However, findings of this research
discovered that only religion is not significant in explaining the Non-Muslim Halal
consumption. Additionally, marketing indicated as a powerful factor on the Halal product
purchase behavior among Non-Muslims. However, the performance of the model is not
satisfactory as reflected by the value of adjusted R2. This limitation can be further improved
by expanding the number of samples. Thus, further research with wider samples is required to
further understand the Non-Muslims behavior regarding Halal food consumption.
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