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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce the variable of halal food knowledge (HFK) into the theory of planned behavior framework to investigate Malaysian non-Muslim consumers’ decision-making process in purchasing halal food. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through 350 distributed questionnaires toward non-Muslim consumers on five most visited grocery stores (hypermarket-based) in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The collected data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and SmartPLS. Findings Purchasing halal food remain an uneasy task for the non-Muslim consumers, thus rely on their personal evaluation and closest relative’s approval. Research limitations/implications This study is focusing only on two halal food credence attributes namely health attribute and animal-friendly attributes. Practical implications Both health and animal friendly credence attributes of halal food should be the main message to be conveyed to the non-Muslim consumers. In addition, the inclusion of non-Muslim consumers within the Malaysian halal ecosystem might provide a solution to tackle the resistance of halal food from foreign countries. Originality/value The value of this study is the finding of halal food credence attributes of health and animal friendly, which are the dimensions of HFK.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate Indonesian Muslim millennials’ decision-making process in purchasing halal food by introducing knowledge variable into the theory of planned behavior framework and education level (EL; i.e. low vs high) as the moderating variable. Design/methodology/approach There were 400 questionnaires that were distributed to obtain responses from Indonesian Muslim millennials consumers. SmartPLS was used as the structural equation modeling approach to perform the multi-group analysis. Findings EL plays an important role that determines Indonesian Muslim millennials’ decision-making process to purchase halal food. Research limitations/implications The EL was distinguished based on the Indonesian formal education system, which excluded the religious education system from the analysis. Practical implications The information conveyance of halal food product attributes should be conducted gradually according to the millennial consumers’ EL. Millennial consumers with higher EL are more likely to internalize the credence attributes of halal food compared to the lower EL counterpart. Originality/value This study found the significant differences in terms of halal food purchase decision-making between the two groups of lower EL and higher EL.

Health benefits become the main reason for the non-Muslim consumers to consume halal food. However, the non-Muslim consumers perceive that the Islamic slaughtering method is inhumane, at the same time. As a result, inconclusive findings are identified within the literatures leading to the need to address the gap of empirical evidence for the knowledge of the non-Muslim consumers towards halal food purchase intention. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the relationship of Halal Food Knowledge (HFK), attitude (ATT) and purchase intention (PI) amongst non-Muslim consumers in Malaysia. The theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Hierarchy of Effect (HOE) Model are used as the basis of the relationship. This study applies the quantitative research methodology and collects the purchase intention data by questionnaire distribution. Data were collected from 315 non-Muslim consumers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor through self-administered questionnaire. Structural Equation Modelling with Smart PLS was adopted to validate the model of this study. The findings of this study reveals that attitude significantly mediates the relationship between halal food knowledge and purchase intention. The significant mediating role of attitude suggests that both health and animalfriendly attributes of halal food are aligned with non-Muslim consumers' motives on food consumption. Based on the findings, emphasizing on both attributes as informational elements would result in a positive attitude and, in turn, increase the Malaysian Non-Muslim consumers' halal food purchase intention.

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