The moderating effect of halal certification on the purchase intention of halal bakery products in Petaling district, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

The halal issue regarding these bakery products has raised concern among consumers especially related to the origin of the ingredients used in the bakery production. Hence, when doubt about the ingredients arises, the buying decision of the consumers are affected. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the moderating effect of Halal certification on the relationship between the attributes of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), including attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control and the purchase intention of consumers towards Halal bakery products in five areas of the Petaling District, Selangor from June to August 2018. This study is a quantitative, nonexperimental (correlational) survey employing the purposive sampling method. A whopping 500 questionnaires were collected back after a self-completion process by respondents and there was a total of 476 samples with valid responses after excluding twenty-four questionnaires with incomplete information. Data processing was then conducted by administering the IBM SPSS and PLS-SEM. The findings revealed that all TPB attributes, except attitudes, produced a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the purchase intention of consumers and actual purchase of Halal bakery products. Halal certification was also found to produce a negative effect on the relationship between the TPB attributes and purchase intention, and the results suggested that Halal certification could moderate the effects of TPB attributes and purchase intention on the actual behaviour of purchasing Halal bakery products by consumers (p < 0.01). Therefore, it is posited that the higher the awareness of Halal bakery products, the greater the relationship between consumers’ purchase intention and the actual behaviour of purchase. The results of this study also demonstrated the importance of the Halal certification implementation in increasing the levels of purchase intention and the actual behaviour of buying Halal bakery products amongst consumers.