Halal food and products in Malaysia: People's awareness and policy implications

Abstract

The concept of Halal products or food is gaining worldwide attention because of its recognition as an alternative benchmark for safety, hygiene and quality assurance of what is consumed. Thus products or foods produced in line with Halal prescriptions are acceptable to Muslim as well as many non-Muslim consumers. Given the significant role of Halal awareness in the life of Muslims and their obligations to be Shari'ah compliant, this paper addresses the determinants of Muslim consumers' awareness of Halal products or foods in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. It is argued that many factors have a bearing on the awareness of Halal products or food but unfortunately most of the previous studies focused mainly on the Halal certification logo. In order to fill the void, this paper delves into other factors that can influence the awareness of Muslims on Halal consumptions. Using Partial Least Square-SEM, this study found that religious belief, Halal exposure, Halal-logo, and health reasons are the determinants of Muslims' awareness about Halal consumptions. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Headnote

Abstract: The concept of Halal products or food is gaining worldwide attention because of its recognition as an alternative benchmark for safety, hygiene and quality assurance of what is consumed. Thus products or foods produced in line with Halal prescriptions are acceptable to Muslim as well as many non-Muslim consumers. Given the significant role of Halal awareness in the life of Muslims and their obligations to be Shari'ah compliant, this paper addresses the determinants of Muslim consumers' awareness of Halal products or foods in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. It is argued that many factors have a bearing on the awareness of Halal products or food but unfortunately most of the previous studies focused mainly on the Halal certification logo. In order to fill the void, this paper delves into other factors that can influence the awareness of Muslims on Halal consumptions. Using Partial Least Square-SEM, this study found that religious belief, Halal exposure, Halal-logo, and health reasons are the determinants of Muslims' awareness about Halal consumptions.

Keywords: Halal; Shari'ah; policy; quality assurance; safety.

Abstrak: Konsep produk atau makanan halal semakin mendapat perhatian di seluruh dunia kerana pengiktirafannya sebagai penanda aras alternatif untuk keselamatan, kebersihan dan jaminan kualiti terhadap apa yang digunakan dan dimakan. Oleh itu, produk atau makanan yang dihasilkan selaras dengan preskripsi halal diterima oleh pengguna Islam dan bukan Islam. Memandangkan peranan penting kesedaran tentang barangan halal dalam kehidupan orang Islam dan kewajipan mereka untuk mematuhi Syariah, kertas kerja ini menekankan penentu kesedaran pengguna Islam di bandar Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia terhadap produk atau makanan halal. Terdapat banyak faktor yang menentukan kesedaran tentang produk dan makanan halal, namun apa yang mendukacitakan, kebanyakan daripada kajian sebelum ini hanya memberi tumpuan terhadap logo pensijilan halal sahaja. Dalam usaha untuk mengisi kekosongan itu, kertas kerja ini menumpukan kepada faktor-faktor lain yang boleh mempengaruhi kesedaran orang Islam terhadap penggunaan barangan halal. Dengan menggunakan "Partial Least Square-SEM," kajian ini mendapati bahawa kepercayaan agama, pendedahan terhadap barangan halal, logo halal, dan sebab-sebab kesihatan merupakan penentur kesedaran orang Islam tentang penggunaan dan pemakanan barangan halal.

Kata kunci: Halal; Syariah; dasar; jaminan kualiti; keselamatan.

Malaysia is moving towards becoming a developed country by the year 2020. Consequently, Malaysia depends on various economic generators that can contribute to the country's wealth and economic growth. In this context, one of the most important sectors is the Halal food/product sector that is no longer an industry that merely complies with religious requirements to feed about 60 per cent Malaysians who are Muslims but it is becoming an economic force in itself domestically and globally. As per the Third Industrial Master Plan (IMP3), the government is committed to making Malaysia the Halal hub soon. Government efforts have started since 2006 yet there is much to do in making Muslim consumers more aware of what they eat, drink and use pertaining to Shari'ah compliance (Bohari, Hin, & Fuad, 2013). According to the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) reports, part of the government's effort has been in terms of special tax incentives for Halal food production. Companies that invest in Halal food production and have already obtained Halal certification from the Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) are eligible for the Investment Tax Allowance of 100 per cent of qualifying capital expenditure within a period of five years (Amanda, 2012).

A major bottleneck in materializing and achieving the dream of becoming a Halal hub lies in the issues of Halal certificates and logos especially for products manufactured outside Malaysia but locally sold. The problem is compounded further because of the absence of a globally-standardised Halal authority that can properly monitor the production process in accordance with Shari'ah stipulations. A starting point for policy-makers is to formulate policy-research questions such as: What is the level of awareness of Halal food/products among Muslims? What are the factors that contribute to the level of awareness of Muslims about Halal food or products? Are there any significant relationships between the identified factors and the level of awareness of the Muslims about Halal food or products? What is the overall predictive capacity of these factors on the level of Halal awareness among the Muslims? This study attempts to provide answers to these questions. The objectives of this paper are: (a) to examine the level of awareness of the Muslims about Halal food or products; (b) to identify the factors that contribute to the level of awareness about Halal among the Muslim; (c) to examine the relationships between the identified factors and level of Muslims' awareness about Halal food or products among the Muslims; and (d) to examine the predictive capacity of the identified factors that influence Muslims' awareness about Halal consumptions in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Literature review

According to Abdul Latif (2006), Islam is the fastest growing religion and second largest in the world are true. The increasing awareness of Muslims all over the world on their obligation to consume food that meets Islamic dietary requirements has created a much greater demand for Halal food and products. In Malaysia, "Halal Express" by MISC Bhd has been established in response to the growing number and increased volume and movement of Halal products and the demands for specialised transportation and/or logistics services.

Malaysia, though having Muslim majorities in states such as Kedah, Terengganu, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, and Kelantan, and Shah Alam, is nonetheless multi-religious and multiracial, comprising the Malays, Chinese, Indians and other races. Apart from their own religious beliefs, customs and traditions that these races inherit from their ancestors, influences from the environment and uniqueness of the states they are from affect their way of living with special reference to their eating habits, perception and attitudes towards food and products. For example, for a Muslim consumer, Halal food and drinks mean that the products have met the requirements laid down by the Shari'ah law as well as safety and hygienic matter, whereas for a non-Muslim consumer, Halal consumptions represent hygiene, quality and safety given that the products are manufactured strictly under the Holistic Halal Assurance Management System. Therefore, in any region of Malaysia, people from different states converge and form diverse groups who have their own reasons for demanding Halal food and products.

The word "Halal" means permissible or lawful according to Islamic laws. It also refers to food or products that are lawful for Muslim consumption. According to Wahab (2004), Halal, when used in relation to food in any form in the course of trade or business or as part of a trade description, is applied to lawful products, foods and drinks. Halal can also be applied to any action indicating or likely to be understood as permissible by Islam. Concerning food, "Halal" denotes that it does not contain anything which is considered to be impure according to the Shari'ah. Halal meat indicates that the animal has been slaughtered in accordance with the Shari'ah. In reference to food stuff, Halal based on Shari'ah means that it has not been prepared, processed or manufactured using instruments or ingredients that were impure. Moreover, it has not in the course of preparation, processing or storage been in contact with or close proximity to anything that is considered to be impure by Shari'ah prerequisites. Thus, in Islam, all foods or products for consumption are considered Halal except the following: swine/pork and its by-products; animals improperly slaughtered or are dead before slaughtering; animals killed in the name of other than Allah (SWT) and drinks that intoxicate such as alcohol and other intoxicants. Haram also comprises carnivorous animals, birds of prey and land animals without external ears; blood and blood by-products and foods "contaminated" with any of the above mentioned products as Muslims are raised to eat or drink Halal, hygienic and safe foods or products (Riaz & Chaudry, 2004).

Halal in the Qur?an and Sunnah

To deem something lawful (Halal) or unlawful (Haram) is the prerogative of Allah the Al-Mighty alone. No human being, no matter how pious or powerful, could wield that authority. The basis for a prohibition is due to impurity and harmfulness. A Muslim is not supposed to question why or how something is unclean or harmful in what Allah has prohibited, rather he should be thankful to Him (SWT) as indicated in the following verse of the Qur.an: "O ye who believe! Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you, and render thanks to Allah if it is (indeed) He whom ye worship" (2:172).

An in-depth understanding of the prohibitions Allah (SWT) has decreed demands our appreciation because these prohibitions are for our own well-being. Looking for excuses are among the biggest lies told against Allah (SWT) or a form of distortion of what He (SWT) permits and forbids. Thus, Allah's command on prohibitions and non-prohibitions must be abided by all Muslims. The fact is that Islamic laws are universally applicable to all races, creeds, and sexes. Allah (SWT) has commanded us to do that which He commanded the Messengers, where He pronounces: "O ye Messengers! Eat of the good things, and do right. Lo! I am aware of what ye do" (23:51).

"Good things" in the ayah have a root in the term Halal. Thus, Halal encompasses cleanliness and hygiene in food preparation as well because cleanliness is part of religion whereby Allah sanctions only hygienic, safe and Halal food or products for consumption. This is clearly highlighted in Qur?an (2:173). In this ayah we have been clearly informed on the kind of foods Muslims should and should not consume. The reasons for prohibitions are even substantiated with clarifications through Qur?anic exegeses. For example, the reasons for forbidding carrion and dead animals for human consumption are due to health implications whereby the decaying process leads to the formation of chemicals harmful to the human body. Blood that is drained from an animal contains dangerous bacteria and toxins, which are harmful to human metabolism and development. Some of these authentic reasons are even highlighted in the Qur?anic verse 16:66 which makes it clear that Islam only allows good and healthy food for Muslims to consume. Likewise, milk is a complete food rich in protein, calcium and vitamins A and B. This natural and provisional advantage is only possible to be derived from lawful animals when they are alive.

Various sayings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) equally address the concept of Halal relating to all forms of food, products and drinks for human consumption regardless of race, colour or nationality. One of the aHadith of the Prophet (SAW) even explains the perfect way of slaughtering animals to make it lawful or Halal for eating. It was narrated by Rafi' ibn Khadij that the Prophet (SAW) told Muslims who were going to slaughter some animals using reeds: "Use whatever causes blood to flow, and eat the animals if the Name of Allah has been mentioned on slaughtering them..." (Al-Bukhari, 44:668).

This Hadith shows that the fulfilment of Halal requirements in the rules and process of slaughtering animals is fundamental in food processing in relation to its lawfulness for Muslim consumption. Other aHadith also address various unlawful or non-Halal food or products for human consumption. For example, it was narrated by al-Zuri that "Allah's Messenger forbade the eating of the meat of beasts having fangs" (Al-Bukhari, 7:4350). It can be understood from another Hadith that while there are varieties of food, drinks and products that are permitted to be consumed and used, there are also a lot of drinks and foods that are not permitted for human consumption, such as alcohol and pork.

Locus of safety and hygienic food or product in Halal

Hygiene has been given much emphasis in the concept of Halal and it includes various aspects of personal body cleanliness, clothing, equipment and the working premises for processing or manufacturing of foods, drinks and products. The objective of Halal is to ascertain that the food (whatever kinds) produced is safe, hygienic and not hazardous to human health. Thus, in the context of Halal, hygienic food, drinks and products can be defined as free from najis (dirt/impurity) or contamination and harmful germs. So, it is obvious that Halal compliance is particularly important in food matters especially in the practice of keeping ourselves and the things around us clean in order to prevent diseases. Hence, safe food, drink or product is one that is prepared in accordance with Halal requirements and does not cause harm to the consumer be a Muslim or non-Muslim. In order to ensure the safety of consumers, the producers should take necessary steps to comply with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Good Hygiene Practice (GHP). The producers should apply the combination of manufacturing and quality control procedures to ensure that the foods or products are consistently manufactured to their specifications and Halal prescriptions laid down by the Halal Certification Body. The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene and the Malaysian Standard MS1514 on General Principles of Food Hygiene have laid down a solid procedure in hygienic practices to ensure food hygiene and safety of products (Abdul Talib, Mohd Ali, & Jamaludin, 2008; Sumali, 2009). There is no doubt that the objectives of Halal as stipulated in the general principles of food hygiene complement the attainment of Halal through vigorous enforcement. Therefore, these principles are internationally recognised and the guidelines can be used together with other specific and appropriate codes of hygienic practice pronounced in the Halal certification processes by JAKIM.

Conceptualizing Halal awareness

According to Randolph (2003), the word "awareness" means the knowledge or understanding of particular subject or situation. The word "awareness" in the context of Halal literally means having special interest in or experience of something and/or being well informed of what is happening at the present time on Halal food, drinks and products. As such, awareness describes human perception and cognitive reaction to a condition of what they eat, drink and use. Subjectively, awareness is a relative concept where a person may be partially aware, subconsciously aware or may be acutely aware of issues relating to Halal aspects of what things are permitted by Allah (SWT). It may be focusing on an internal state, such as a visceral feeling or on external events or issues by way of sensory perception (Nizam, 2006). Awareness of something is, therefore, a basic part of human existence. On top of everything is self-awareness. Self awareness means one exists as an individual with private thoughts about the state of something related to Halal. Hence, the awareness of Halal can be conceptualised as the process of getting information in order to increase the level of consciousness toward what is permissible for Muslims to eat, drink and use. To have an in-depth understanding of this concept, it is befitting to examine different sources or determinants by which one can become conscious of matters pertaining to "Halality" as discussed in the following section.

General factors of Halal awareness

Exposure to Halal: In this age of modern science and technology, people are exposed to food and products of various kinds. However, the wide range of food and products offered in the market often mislead the consumers. Many are unaware of what they consume. According to Anderson, Fornell, and Rust (1997), consumers have to rely on the seller or outside observers, and put their trust in the information received. Hence, it is important to provide consumers with guidelines through transmitting knowledge and exposure to purchasing the right foods and drinks. Patnoad (2001) suggests that one of the best ways to make people aware of what they are consuming is through educational exposure. Education would empower consumers with the wisdom to make the right choices of what they consume daily. Thus, the major responsibility of the government or agency in charge of Halal products lies in educational exposure. Food safety education efforts must be directed towards the consumers, school-aged children, and employees in food industries. In Malaysia and other Muslim countries, consumers' level of awareness on "Halality" is increased via teaching and learning. People are exposed to Halal consumption through the newspaper, television, radio, and the Internet (Ahmad, Abaidah, & Yahya, 2013).

Religious belief: Religion is a system of beliefs and practices by which a group of people interprets and responds to what they feel is supernatural and sacred (Johnstone, 1975). Most religions prescribe or prohibit certain behaviour including consumption. Schiffman and Kanuk (1997) assert that members of different religious groups in their decisions to eat, drink or use any product are influenced by their religious identity, orientation, knowledge and belief. This indicates that religion and belief are factors of awareness about consumption behaviour. Religious knowledge and belief is one of the main determinants of food avoidance, taboos, and special regulation in particular with respect to meat (Simons, 1992). Religious knowledge or belief is the best guide to determine one's food consumption because several religions impose food restrictions, e.g., the prohibition of pork and not ritually slaughtered meat in Judaism and Islam, and pork and beef in Hinduism and Buddhism. Christianity, however, has no food taboos. Although the dietary laws imposed by some religions may be rather strict, the number of people following them is usually quite substantial. For example, Hussaini (2004) points out that 75% of Muslim migrants in the US follow their religious dietary laws. This shows that wherever Muslims choose to live, they abide by their religious knowledge and belief on "Halality". It must be noted that the concept of human awareness has been highlighted in the Qur?an and Sunnah to guide Muslims to lawful actions in life. What constitute Halal and Haram are declared through Qur?anic injunctions, and the believers are obliged to accept them as such (Hussaini, 2004; Rezai, Mohamed, & Shamsudin, 2012).

Health reason of Halal: It is not only religious motives that determine people's awareness about Halal food or products for consumption, but also health issues related to religious identity and degree of acculturation in whatever they consume daily (Bonne, Vermeir, Bergeaud-Blackler, & Verbeke, 2007). For example, it is important to ensure that the meat comes from a healthy animal so that people can be healthy. Rice (1993) asserts that much modern ill-health is attributable to poor nutrition and unhealthy state of what consumers take daily. This is closely related to argument for Halal consumption since the primary aim of Allah (SWT) on Halal is to ensure healthy life for people. Halal urges to ensure full commitment to producing and serving clean, safe foods and products for the consumers. In other words, Halal products should be recognised as a symbol of cleanliness, safety and quality for a healthy life. It can be concluded that health reasons are another determinant of Halal awareness. As such, the relevant agency or government as a whole should use health reasons as an alternative policy source of information to convince Muslim consumers on the importance of their awareness of the nature of Halal foodtuffor products.

Role of Halal certification via logo/label: In a nation with a Muslim majority living with many non-Muslims, such as, Malaysia, Halal certification is an absolute key to consumption. Muslim consumers nowadays are faced with a broad selection of products and services some of which are somehow doubtful. Manufacturers and marketers have been indirectly forced to obtain and display the Halal certification or logo as a way to inform and reassure target consumers of the Halal and Shari'ah-compliance of their products. In general, Muslim consumers in Malaysia look for authentic Halal certification as the one issued by Malaysia's Department of Islamic Development (JAKIM) which is under the purview of the Ministry in the Prime Minister's Department. The introduction of Halal logo or certification by JAKIM has generated more awareness among the Muslims on the importance of consuming manufactured products and foods or engaging in services that follow Islamic guidelines and principles. In Malaysia, Muslims would ensure that the foods, drinks and manufactured products they consume or purchase carry the Halal logo issued by JAKIM. The Halal logo is an important endorsement that the food or drinks are truly Halal, safe and hygienic. Thus, labelling via logo is important as a factor of awareness about safe and hygienic foods and drinks related to diet and health.

Conceptual model for Halal awareness

Given the various factors found in literature that can contribute to people's awareness about Halal consumption, it is important to empirically study them to identify actual significant roles played by each as a determinant of Halal awareness among Muslims in Malaysia (Figure 1). The outcome of this empirical investigation is expected to serve two purposes: (a) to serve as a source of relevant information for the government or agency (JAKIM) to formulate a policy on improving the level of Halal awareness among Muslims in the country and (b) to provide a new alternative direction for government policy on how to delve with issues associated with Halal products or foods in the country.

In this conceptual framework, the level of awareness on Halal food and products among Muslims is considered the dependent variable, which is expected to be influenced by the independent variables in terms of Halal exposure, religious belief, health reason, and role played by Halal logo certification.

Exposure to Halal food or products may include advertisement either in the newspaper, on television, radio, Internet or any other channel of communication, which can influence Muslims' level of awareness about Halal consumptions (Patnoad, 2001; Anderson et al., 1997). Ambali and Bakar (2012) have explained the association between Halal exposure and Muslims' awareness about daily consumption. Therefore, the research hypothesises that:

H1: Halal exposure through advertisements and teaching has a positive influence on Muslims' level of awareness towards Halal food or products.

Religion is often associated with diet, morality, and the worldview. It can also be understood that a person must pursue his religion with enthusiasm and intensely engage with his faith in relations to any item for consumption. For most Muslims, their religious belief has been theoretically identified to be a significant source in sculpting their behaviour and food habits as noted in the previous section of the literature. Therefore, the Muslims' belief in Islam can influence their level of awareness on Halal food (Simons, 1992; Hussaini, 2004). Ahmad et al. (2013) found that religious belief to pursue Halal food or products makes Muslims aware of what they consume daily (Rezai et al., 2012). Based on this point of view, it is hypothesised that:

H2: Religious belief of Muslims has direct influence on their level of awareness towards Halal food or products.

The fact that human health is related to fitness is one thing that Muslims cannot ignore. Muslims who are concerned about their health may possibly choose Halal food because it offers healthy ingredients (see: Bonne et al., 2007). This then will lead to a level of awareness on Halal food. For example, Ambali and Bakar (2012) and Ahmad et al. (2013) found in their study the association between health reason and Muslims' awareness of Halal consumption. Consequently, it is hypothesised that:

H3: Health related reasons have a positive influence on the level of awareness towards Halal food or products among Muslims.

Halal logo via Halal certification is a display of information about a product in its container or package. In this respect, the extent of information about Halal food or products that must be impacted by a label is governed by the relevant safety in Muslim societies such as Malaysia (Ahmad et al., 2013). Thus, labelling and logo enforcement can serve as important influencing mechanisms in triggering Muslim's level of awareness on Halal food or products. This is because they need to justify the products and foods' status either by its logo or by its labelling as Halal or non-Halal before purchasing or consuming it (Ambali & Bakar, 2012). Hence, this study hypothesises that:

H4: Role of Halal certification has a direct influence on level of awareness towards Halal food or products among Muslims.

Methodology

This study deals with the issue of Muslims' level of awareness about Halal consumption; the unit of analysis is individual Muslim in the selected areas of Shah Alam. The sample is composed of 210 Muslims from 18 years old selected by using a convenience sampling method. The sample contains 60 working, 50 unemployed and 100 student respondents. The data were collected through personally administered questionnaires by research assistants between April and May 2012.

Goodness of measures for instrumentation

The questionnaire used was one with the five-point Likert scale to obtain data for each of the constructs in the model of the study. Based on the insights obtained from previous studies on consumer awareness and consumer perception towards brands, labels, Halal Malaysia logo, product, science and technology (Leclerc, Schmitt, & Dubé, 1994; Mariam, 2006; Mazis & Raymond, 1997), a questionnaire was adapted to collect information. The questionnaire was subjected to both validity and reliability tests. Construct validity is used to test how well an instrument developed measures a particular construct (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010), while reliability is used to test how consistently the measuring instruments have measured the constructs. Validity measures in this research are of three types: construct, convergent and discriminant; they are used in order to examine how well the questionnaires used could tap the constructs as theorised in the model.

Construct validity

Construct validity is assessed by looking at loadings and cross loadings to identify problematic items, if any. Following Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (2010), a significant value of 0.5 loadings is used as a cutoff. As shown in Table 1, items measuring each construct in the study are highly loaded on their particular construct and loaded lower on others, thus construct validity of the instruments is established.

Convergent validity

The convergent validity of the instrument was also tested to examine the multiple items measuring the same construct of the study and the degree of their agreement with one another. In this respect, the factor loadings alongside both composite reliability and average variance were extracted as shown in Table 2.

Clearly, all items' loadings exceeded the recommended value of 0.5 suggested by Hair et al. (2010). In addition, the composite reliability is used to test how far the construct indicators really represent the latent and the values obtained ranging from 0.782 to 0.893, which exceeded the recommended value of 0.7 by Hair et al. (2010) as shown in Table 2. The average variance extracted (AVE) was used to relatively examine the variance captured by the construct indicators to measurement error. According to Barclay, Higgins, and Thompson (1995), the value must be above 0.5 for justification. In this study, the AVEs for the indicators are within the range of 0.552 and 0.675, respectively. Looking at the results for the parameter estimates and the test of their statistical significance (t-values), it can be concluded that all the five variables in the model are valid measures of their respective constructs (see: Chow & Chan, 2008).

Discriminant validity

The discriminant validity is carried out first by looking at correlations between the measures for possible potential overlapping of constructs. Second, whether items are strongly loaded on their own construct in the model were examined. Third, whether the average variance shared between each construct and that its measures are greater than the average variance shared between the constructs and other constructs are also explored, as suggested by Compeau et al. (1999). In this respect, the results of Table 3 show that the squared correlations for each construct is less than the average variance extracted by the indicators measuring that construct. Hence, the measurement model reflects an adequate convergent validity and discriminant validity.

Reliability analysis

Reliability is an indication of the internal consistency of the instruments measuring the concepts and helps access the "goodness" of measure (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010). There are many different types of reliability estimates. One of the most widely used tests is Cronbach's Alpha that is employed in this study as shown in Table 4. By looking at the results of the Cronbach's Alpha range from 0.71 to 0.84 thus confirming the reliability of the instrument used. The range of reliability test using Cronbach's Alpha is from zero to one. The closer to one the higher the level of internal consistency among items and thus the reliability of the instruments are ensured in this study.

Given the self-reported nature of the data, we also assessed Harman's one-factor test to examine any potential common method variance bias. As contended by Podsakoff& Organ (1986), common variance bias is problematic if a single latent factor accounts for the majority of the total explained variance. In this study, the result of the un-rotated factor analysis shows that the first factor only accounted for 23.72% of the total 76.3% variance and thus common method bias is not a problem.

Findings

Most of the respondents or 53.8% are within the age of 21-25 years old. Besides that, 57.4% of the respondents are female. In terms of educational qualification, most of the respondents are Bachelor degree holders (40.5%), followed by Diploma (26.2%). Furthermore, the number of respondents with working status is 60 (28.6%), while the self-employed are 23.8%. The rest are students comprising 47.6%.

The level of Muslims' Halal awareness is examined by using mean statistics and standard deviations of both individual items and overall scale of the items. It is found that the overall mean level of Halal awareness is very high among the Muslims in Shah Alam with a mean value of M = 3.7 and standard deviation of 0.74.

Exposure to Halal: On a five-point Likert scale, 52.4% of the respondents strongly agree that their understanding of Halal is based on their exposure to what they see and hear in advertisements. Also, 53.8% of the respondents agree that they can get information on Halal food or products easily from the mass media such as television, radio, magazines and the Internet. While 69% of the respondents strongly agree that their families have exposed them to Halal food, 43.8% of the respondents reveal that they have been exposed to Halal food and products through their friends.

Religious belief: The majority of the respondents (82.9%) strongly believe that they must consume only Halal edible foods or products. In addition, 71.9% believe that as Muslims they must strictly abstain from taking non-Halal food or products as required by Islamic religious tenets. Also 84.8% are of the opinion that eating non-Halal food or products is a sin for Muslims and 91.4% believe that eating Halal food or using Halal products is obedience to Islamic injunctions.

Health reasons: The findings show that 34.3% of the respondents strongly agree that they can prevent any disease and remain hygienically healthy by consuming Halal food or products. In addition, 40% of the respondents strongly agree that they must eat Halal food for better diet. Likewise, most of the respondents (44.8%) strongly agree that Halal food is healthy and that healthy food symbolises cleanliness, safety and high quality.

Role played by Halal logo/certification: In this study it is found that 41.4% of the respondents strongly agree that the role of Halal certification itself is very important with regard to the foods or products they consume. Also, 46.2% of the respondents strongly agree that they are especially attracted to buying foods or products that carry the Halal logo certification. In addition, 48.6% agree that they will only consume products or food items with genuine Halal logo or label. Interestingly, some of the respondents (40.5%) state that they can identify the genuine Halal logo.

Examining relationships between identified determinants and Halal awareness

The relationship between the identified determinant factors and the level of the Muslims' Halal awareness is examined through path analysis. The results in Figure 2 show that religious belief and the role of Halal logo certification are positively related to Halal awareness among the Muslim respondents with beta values β = 0.129, p<0.01 and 0.220, p<0.01 respectively. The same goes to the Halal exposure and health reason with β values of 0.141, p<0.01 and 0.409, p<0.01 respectively.

Predictive capacity of the identified determinant factors and hypotheses testing

The t-value of the path coefficients are generated to test the significant contribution of each path following the bootstrapping approach to validate the hypotheses put forward in the study (Chin, 1998). The results show that all hypotheses in this research are supported with t-values ranging from 1.837 to 5.466 at an alpha-value less than 0.01 respectively (Table 5). As the results depicted in Figure 2, the R2 value of 0.354 indicates that 35.4% of the variance on Muslims' level of awareness about Halal food and products can be explained by religious belief; the role of Halal certification (through logo and labelling); exposures to Halal information and health reasons of the individual respondents.

It is necessary to examine the predictive power of the research model of the study. According to Kock (2012, p. 31), this can be done by assessing the average variance inflation factor (AVIF) as a comprehensive analysis of a model's overall capacity and explanatory quality of the latent factors. This is important in order to address the absence of both vertical and lateral collinearities.

The result shows a value of 1.24, which is below the threshold of 3.3 (Kock, 2012). Additionally, other indices for the model fit such as average path coefficient (APC), average r-squared (ARS) are addressed. The result of both APC and ARS are 0.226 and 0.354 respectively. In this study, the R2 value of endogenous latent variable (i.e., Halal awareness) explained by the four predictive or determinant constructs is 35.4%, (Figure 2) which is above moderate (Chin, 1998). Moreover, Q-squared coefficient is performed through blindfolding in order to assess the predictive validity associated with each latent variable block in the model. An "acceptable predictive validity in connection with an endogenous latent variable is suggested by a Q-squared coefficient greater than zero" (Kock, 2012, p. 42). The result of the predictive validity for the model of this research is 0.359.

Hence, this shows that the four predictive constructs in this study namely: Halal exposure, religious belief, health reason, and the role played by Halal certification are genuine predictors of Muslims' awareness of Halal food and products for consumption.

Discussion on findings and implications for policy-makers

The findings reveal that a significant majority of the respondents in Shah Alam are aware of Halal consumption which is a reflection of their adherence to the Muslim way of life. In addition, the findings of the study also show that the four constructs in the model which are exposure, religious belief, health related reasons, and the role of Halal certification (Halal logos or labels) are genuine predictors of Muslims' awareness of Halal food and products. This means that there are positive relationships between all these identified determinants and the level of awareness of Halal food or products among Muslims in Shah Alam. For example, educational exposure and the level of awareness on Halal have a positive relationship with each other whereby β = 0.141, p < 0.01. It aligns with Patnoad's view (2001) that media visual display of foods, drinks and products could create greater awareness through increased exposures. In Malaysia, Halal products are regularly discussed over television, radio, print media as well as the internet. Religious staunchness also shows a positive relationship with the level of awareness of Halal where β = 0.129, p < 0.01. Besides, health reasons influence the level of respondents' awareness of Halal consumptions with a positive relationship where β = 0.429, p < 0.01. This finding indirectly supports the idea raised in a study by Rice (1993) that much modern ill health is attributed to poor nutrition. According to Kartina and Vathsala (2005), people have become more cautious of what they eat as they become more critical of cleanliness and health, which epitomise the ultimate value in Halal consumption.

The implication here is that policy-makers have to recognise that Halal is no longer merely a religious issue but a global symbol of quality assurance and healthy lifestyle. Thus, policy-makers should pay attention to health related components of what people of a country are consuming by reinforcing regulatory policy of Halal compliance in food and products. Roles played by Halal certification, which are translated through Halal logos also have positive influence on the level of Halal awareness among Muslims whereby β = 0.220, p < .05. This positive influence is supported by the study conducted by Lindenmayer (2001) that one aspect of labelling via logo is based on the principle that the consumer has a right to know what he or she is purchasing and subsequently using or consuming. With the awareness that the Halal logo provides, Muslims may be better informed of the foods or products they are deliberating on buying or consuming. The implication here is that reinforcing the policy of Halal certification will also protect the consumers from false, misleading or deceptive practices Lindenmayer (2001). Nowadays, Muslims are making their presence felt socially and politically and are requesting Halal logo for foods or products (Riaz & Chaudry, 2004).

In a Muslim country, people are attentive to the permitted and prohibited ingredients of their foods or products, which may fuel uncertainty relating to process characteristics and credence attributes in the context of Halal tayyib issue. Thus, the concept of Halal tayyib is very vital for Muslims in choosing quality foods and products to consume (Arif & Ahmad, 2011). Funston (2006) points out that since the 1980s Muslims in Malaysia have become more concerned about whether their foods fully meet Halal requirements; being free of alcohol and pork is no longer considered sufficient. The word tayyib means good and pure where the quality or estimated value of lawfulness or unlawfulness (Halal or Haram) must be taken into account in the process of production, manners and ways of consumption and their effects (Mohd Yunus et al., 2010).

However, it remains unclear whether the manufacturers of foods and products really take this element into consideration or not. In Islamic jurisprudence, harmfulness and defectiveness are prohibited because the harm or defect cannot be removed. For example, the emergence of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) that obscure the difference between plants and animals can potentially be perplexing Muslims. This is because such products could have been mixed with non-Halal derived genes, especially where soybeans had been spliced with genes from a pig to create a resilient and bountiful harvest. In short, any food consumed must meet the criteria of Halalan tayyiban (lawful and good quality) which encompasses the holistic concept of quality (Arif & Ahmad, 2011).

From policy perspective, it can be argued that the realisation of a major part of Halalan tayyiban lies in the hands of the experts and authorities where the recognition of the concept is based on a set of collective principles to which all parties should adhere. Nonetheless, we argue that what constitutes the Islamic worldview on Halalan tayyiban and what is practiced by Muslims and non-Muslims or Western communities offer some overlap and tedious issues, which need to be carefully understood by policy-makers and Shari'ah bodies.

With regard to Islamic branding and the issue of Halal certification via Halal logo or labelling of foods or products, until now, there seems to be no clear understanding of what the term Islamic Branding (IB) means (Copinath, 2007). Mere use of a Halal logo will not rebrand a product or food for Muslim consumption. Also, mere labelling using Halal certification is an attempt to incite the matter of ambiguity in the sale and purchase transactions, or aid the transactions which involve usury, gambling, falsehood or fraud in Islamic states. There is no worldwide authority on Halal or a consistent Halal trademark, hence quality reassurance based on Islamic branding does not seem to suffice yet and therefore consumers seek additional reassurance. In addition, the lack of authority for systematic monitoring of the Halal control throughout the marketing chain, and the lack of a trustworthy Halal quality signal (Riaz, 1996) drive consumers to seek additional reassurance through effective policy standards and holistic principles.

The critical issue is to decide upon the authority that would monitor, control, and certify Halal quality. In other words, the steps and procedures for quality assessment and monitoring need paramount consideration for policy redirection. Previous research shows that someone can strictly follow the diet without following religious prescriptions (Bonne & Verbeke, 2006). For example, in Malaysia, as there are more than 20 different agencies involved in Halal regulation (Syed & Nazura, 2011), the governance of Halal is unsystematic. Since several principles of Halal have not been formalised yet, one would be rightly correct to say that there is no effective control over many food items and products especially those imported to Malaysia. Thus, monitoring is a potential issue in Halal certification especially after the issuance of the certificate, where many companies no longer worry to comply with Halal requirements as stated in the certification. Hence, certification and quality reassurance alone will not provide a satisfactory solution to determine the consumer's choice of foods and products.

Conclusion

The level of awareness about Halal food and product consumptions among Muslims is gaining impetus in Shah Alam, Malaysia. The findings of the study show that the growing demands for Halal consumptions are aided by a number of potential factors that are identified, which include religious belief, exposures, role played by Halal certification via Halal logo/label and health related reasons which have been established by modelling between these factors and the level of awareness. The paper also highlights some potential issues for future direction of food and product policies in Malaysia. This study found the lack of global standard for Halal logo, and monitoring of the processing stages after certification has been issued to a company. The policy-makers need to readdress the motivations of the different actors within the Halal chain, technical constraints, and economic necessities. This study draws the attention of the policy-makers that actors such as breeders, slaughterhouses, certifying agencies, retailers, consumers, and religious representatives in most cases have different viewpoints on Halal production and processing, which may jeopardise the economic potential of the Halal market in the future. Hence, some policy actions are needed to tackle the Halal issues in Malaysia. Finally, although the laws made by the government would eliminate the problem of fake Halal certificates, new policy measured are still needed to secure the confidence of Muslims in the certified products.

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