People's Awareness on Halal Foods and Products: Potential Issues for Policy-makers

The concept of halal products or foods is now gaining a worldwide discussion due to its recognition as an alternative benchmark for safety, hygiene and quality assurance of what we consume or drink daily. Thus products or foods that are produced in line with halal prescriptions are readily acceptable by Muslim consumers as well as consumers from other religions. For a Muslim consumer, halal foods and drinks means that the products has met the requirements laid down by the Shariah law whereas for a non-Muslim consumer, it represents the symbol of hygiene, quality and safety product when produced strictly under the Holistic Halal Assurance Management System. Therefore, consumers nowadays are so much concerned and always be aware of what they eat, drink and use. The awareness of the Muslim and non-Muslim consumers describes their perception and cognitive reaction to products or foods in the market. As such, their awareness is an internal state or a visceral feeling by way of sensory perception towards the products/foods they used or consumed. Given the significance role of awareness about halal in the life of Muslims and their obligations to be Shariah compliant; this paper will address the determinants and identify the sources of awareness of Muslim consumers on halal products or foods. It is argued that many things can lead to awareness of halal products or food unfortunately, most of the previous studies only focused on halal certification logo. Many problems are associated with halal logo (labeling) as the only source of awareness for Muslim consumers on halal. This logo is also yet to be empirically proven as well. This paper delves into other sources that can bring about awareness of Muslims on halal products in order to fill the void. Methodologically, the paper utilizes both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitatively, the paper delves into literatures to identify those alternative ways and quantitatively tests them through self-administered survey using Partial Least Square (PLS). The findings show that the religious belief, exposure, certification logo, and health reason are potential sources of Muslim awareness about halal consumption. However, health reason is the most contributing predictor of level of halal awareness. It is hoped that the results from the paper would provide another avenues for government and policy makers to improve their policy decisions and mechanisms of making Muslims in Malaysia to be more aware of halal foods and products.