Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior to Examine Factors Influencing Intention to Purchase Halal Chocolate Among Malaysian Muslims

Abstract

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: The purpose of this study is to examine factors influencing intention to purchase halal chocolate among Muslim consumers in Malaysia by extending the classical Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This study specifically investigates the influence of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, halal knowledge, habit, and religiosity on the intention to purchase halal chocolate. Design/Methodology/Approach: A total of 252 valid responses were obtained through convenience sampling and analysed using SmartPLS 4.0. Research findings: The results indicate that attitude, subjective norms, and religiosity are the factors that influence purchase intention for halal chocolate, while perceived behavioural control, halal knowledge, and habit do not. Subjective norms have the strongest influence on purchase intention for halal chocolate, followed by attitude. Theoretical contribution/Originality: The findings contribute to the growing literature on halal food and consumer behaviour. In particular, the study provides empirical evidence on the importance of attitudes, subjective norms, and religiosity in influencing purchase intentions for halal chocolate. Practitioner/Policy implications: This study could serve as a basis for halal chocolate manufacturers, retailers, exporters, and importers to better understand Malaysian Muslim customers and the factors that drive them to purchase halal chocolate. Furthermore, the government and related agencies, such as the Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB), could devise strategies to re-establish and strengthen the country’s cocoa industry, allowing Malaysia to reclaim its position as the world’s leading cocoa producer. Research limitation/Implication: This study includes six variables that influence halal chocolate purchase intention. Future studies could include other internal and external factors influencing purchase intention, such as the role of the halal certification logo

Halal Food Industry Development Strategies

“…In distributing halal food products, marketing strategies are also applied by paying attention to consumer behavior. A study proves that religious beliefs and the behavior of family and relatives greatly influence the increase in consumption of food production (Hassan & Pandey, 2019;Wan Nawang et al, 2023). Furthermore, other studies that also discuss various factors that encourage consumers to buy food products are perceived awareness, religious selfidentity, and moral obligations also play an important role in increasing the consumption level of a food product (Vanany et al, 2019).…”

“…To implement the sustainability of the halal food industry, it is necessary to pay attention to several halal food production strategies. The strategy that can be done is to improve the quality of halal food products, such as apple chips food products which are the result of the small and medium enterprise food industry in Malang, Indonesia (Novia et al, 2020) and chocolate in Malaysia (Wan Nawang et al, 2023). In addition, it can also provide a variety of flavors of halal food products to attract consumers to buy these products accompanied by an increase in the amount of halal food production (Novia et al, 2020).…”

“…In the process of packaging halal food products, it must also be ensured that the packaging used is made of environmentally friendly materials, using environmentally friendly packaging technology is an important indicator to support the entire sustainable supply chain process of the halal food industry (Azhar & Tu, 2021). In addition to using environmentally friendly packaging, it is also necessary to create a halal logo based on official certification by the governing regulator to increase purchase intention among the Muslim consumer market (Wan Nawang et al, 2023).…”

“…The development of halal food industry strategies that have been implemented such as halal food product certification that has been implemented in Indonesia (Prawiro & Fathudin, 2023) and Malaysia (Wan Draman et al, 2019), strategies by considering the behavior of Muslim consumers (Wan Nawang et al, 2023). Regulatory policies that support the halal food industry by establishing a number of laws related to the halal food industry (Waluyo, 2020), and development strategies through social media (Komariah et al, 2022) and other strategies that are implemented with the increasingly massive development of the halal industry around the world.…”