Halal food purchase intention: the mediating role of trust in the Chinese consumer market

The COVID-19 pandemic has helped raise the profile of halal foods due to their hygienic and tidy preparation. More non-Muslim consumers have also come to recognise the halal method as healthy and humane toward animals, and the foods made in this manner as healthy and tasty. The primary aim of the present study is to determine the association between consumers' trust in halal foods and their inclination to purchase them in China, a communist country of mainly non-Muslims. It aims to investigate themes such as credibility, certification, nutrition, and cleanliness as drivers of trust in halal foods and of the intention to purchase them. The study validates the conceptual framework via the convenience sampling of 368 Chinese consumers to test and measure structural models. Its findings indicate that trust plays a crucial role in non-Muslim consumers' choice for halal foods. Notably, these results provide a menu of potential managerial actions to improve halal product awareness in non-Muslim-majority countries like China.