UNAIR NEWS – As one of the countries with the most Muslim population, the halal label is not a new thing to society. In Islam, the concept of halal provides guidance on the standards of goods and services that are worthy of being selected and consumed by Muslims. Halal labels are displayed on various products and services, helping the community, especially Muslims.
However, the use of halal labels on various goods and services leaves many questions. No exception is Psychology researcher, who is interested in finding out certain features of a product, which makes the product more attractive to buy than others.
“The first question is whether the appearance of a halal label on the product may influence its perceptions among Muslim consumers. The second question refers to the role of an individual characteristic of a consumer: the centrality of religiosity, which may moderate the effect of exposure to a halal label on product perceptions? said Rizqy Amelia Zein, S.Psi., M.SC., lecturer in social psychology at UNAIR.
Rizqy revealed the research was conducted to answer these questions. Previous studies have shown that goods and services that meet halal standards will be seen as more attractive to Muslim consumers. Previous studies also mentioned the presence/absence of information about the halal of goods/services becomes a determining factor that influences the choices of Muslim consumers.
“In general, consumers depend on the information contained in a product to choose what goods or services they will buy. Generally, they use information directly related to the product, for example, taste, quality, price, name, even the country where the goods/services are produced, “said Rizqy.
“Halal label is information that does not directly refer to the product but gives instructions to consumers regarding whether or not the product can be used. Some studies even mention that the way halal labels work in influencing consumers’ assessment of a product works under consciousness, “he continued.
This study involved 187 respondents who were divided into two groups randomly. In the control group, product images were given without any halal labels. While for the experimental group, respondents were given a picture of a product with a halal label on the package. After that, respondents are asked to assess the product, such as estimates of taste, healthy or not, and the willingness of respondents to try and buy the product. Respondents were also asked to fill out a centrality of religion questionnaire which aimed to measure whether respondents felt religion was necessary for their daily lives.
“Before answering the main research question, we conducted a correlation analysis to find out whether there was a link between the presence/absence of halal labels, the assessment of products (bread and energy drinks), and religiosity. As a result, we do not have enough evidence to confirm the relationship between religiosity and respondents’ ratings of the two products, “Rizqy explained.
“However, we found evidence of a link between the presence/absence of the halal label with respondents’ ratings of the products presented, even though the strength tends to be weak,” he concluded (*).
Author: Sukma Cindra Pratiwi
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
Religiously permissible consumption: The influence of the halal label on product perceptions depending on the centrality of religiosity. 2019. Dominika Maison, Marta Marchlewska, Rizqy Amelia Zein, Dewi Syarifah, Herison Purba. Journal of Islamic Marketing
Link:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JIMA-07-2018-0119/full/html
