Buy Muslim-made first – does halal consciousness affect Muslims’ intention to purchase?

Abstract

Purpose Buy Muslim’s First campaign started with the primary aim of urging the Muslim community to be more vigilant about halal or Shariah-compliant products, leading to a number of halal-related issues, triggered by the exploitation or misuse of the halal logo in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the purchase intention for Muslim-made products by applying the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Halal consciousness was integrated as a moderating influence on the purchase intention of Muslim-made products. Design/methodology/approach Data collection was performed through a self-administered questionnaire which was distributed through convenience sampling method. Therefore, a useful sample comprising 152 Malay Muslim participants aged over 18 was collected. For hypothesis testing, hierarchical multiple regression analysis was implemented. Findings It was found that the participants’ attitudes towards the purchase of Muslim-made products and their perceived behavioural control significantly influenced their purchase intention, but the subjective norm did not impact this intention. Furthermore, halal consciousness moderated the relationships among all the independent and dependent variables. Halal consciousness moderated the relationship between participants’ attitudes towards Muslim-made products and their perceived behavioural control towards the purchase intention; however, this moderation did not occur through the subjective norm and the purchase intention. Research limitations/implications As the findings of this study were limited to the Muslim population in Malaysia, it might be difficult to generalize for other nations that have no similarities with the Malaysian Muslim culture. Practical implications The findings of this study may support Muslims to implement more effective marketing strategies that attract the target customers to purchase Muslim-made products. Effective promotion may attract potential customers as well. Originality/value The halal consciousness among Muslim consumers is important for the moderation and prediction of consumers’ intention to purchase Muslim-made products.