Halal Food Consumption in Thailand - Essay Example

 Halal Food Consumption in Thailand Abstract There is a strong belief that religion certainly affects the choice of food to eat. However, there is no clear evidence on what are some other factors affecting an individual’s choice of food consumption especially on those practiced by other religious group. The case of Halal food for instance is a growing industry and the interest now is to find out its penetration to non-Muslim people’s consumption. It is because of this that it is further of interest to predict the intention of consumers on the consumption of Halal food in Thailand. Thus, prior to this, it is very crucial to study customer behavior and models that can predict customer behavior so as to somehow test their validity while understanding the pattern of Halal food consumption particularly in Thailand. Thailand which is home to Buddhist people is of interest in this study considering that the country is a major exporter of Halal food across the world. Thus, it is of interest to study customer behavior and some factors that relates to the prediction of consumption of Halal food among the people in Thailand. 1. Introduction Religious influence is known to affect human behavior and studies focusing on its influence on consumer behavior have also been illustrated. It is noted that religion which is a subset component of culture, has direct and indirect influence on people’s consumption behavior. All world religions have rules governing food choices that are used in daily life including but not limited to special ceremonies, sacred rituals and cultural practices or traditions. It can be understood that people make decision on food choices (consumer behavior) according to the taboos and obligations of the society’s religion. In Muslim population for example, Halal (permitted) food products are widely accepted because they are considered to be nature, safer, and healthier since they have been prepared according to Islamic law and rites. Research studies indicate that consumer behavior can be understood by studying on consumer’s aspect that affects consumer choices. This has been found to be affected by factors such as cultural influence, psychological, physiological, and social and lifestyle factors. In other words, these factors can be significant predictors of Halal food consumption among Muslim people. However, it is also of great concern and interest to find out who are the significant other consumers of Halal food knowing that its industry is growing worldwide. This idea brings forward to investigating in general the intention of Halal food consumption among the people in Thailand, a country known to have dominant population for people with Buddhism as their major religion. Despite of this fact, Thailand is known as major exporter of Halal food. This means that the country becomes center of processing of Halal food despite the Muslim population is only minority somewhere in its southern provinces. Statement of the problem Knowing that Thailand is home to majority of non-Muslim people, Halal food may somehow experience challenges on how it can penetrate the country’s market. However, there are some important considerations of the products that may prove valuable to both Muslim and non-Muslim people in Thailand. With this, it is important to ask the general question to find out if there is indeed a significant level of Halal food consumption among consumers in Thailand using the models of theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior. Objective of the study It is of great interest and purpose of this study to investigate the level of influence the Muslim people have shared to non-Muslim people in Thailand with respect to Halal food consumption. This study will consider taking a look at the information to suggest if Halal foods have been choice between Muslim and non-Muslim people in Thailand. To gauge this, significant tools for studying consumer behavior will be applied. The concepts of theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior will be employed and their corresponding results will be compared. These two models can be both applied as marketing concepts and tools in predicting human actions and behavior. This is significant information supported by Singh et al (1995), Chang (1998), Lada et al (2009) and many other authors who have been fascinated to find out the validity of the models in predicting human behavior, actions and other related aspects. Research Question and Hypotheses What are the significant factors affecting the intention of Halal food consumption in Thailand? What are the significant components that will be employed to obtain better result in comparing the validity of theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior? These questions will be answered at the end of the study by following sufficient literature review and testing the following hypotheses: 1. Halal certification and the use of its logo play significant role in the consumption decision among people in Thailand. 2. There is no variation of perception on Halal food among consumers in Thailand. 3. Religion has significant impact to consumer’s decision of Halal food consumption. 4. The corresponding standards in Halal foods used by local, national and international corporations have significant influence among consumers in Thailand. 5. The theory of reasoned action is better than theory of planned behavior in predicting the intention of Halal food consumption in Thailand. Significance of the study Considering that Halal food with its industry is growing, the following will benefit the results of this study: 1. Product managers of Halal food 2. Individuals studying consumer behavior 3. Marketing people 4. Others Aside from the above-mentioned beneficiaries, this study is a contribution to the body of knowledge considering that very few studies are conducted related to the comparison of theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior. Chang (1998) was able to make a study and compared theory of reason action and theory of planned behavior. However, the study was applied in predicting unethical behavior among the chosen respondents. Bonne et al (2009) on the other hand was able to conduct a study on the impact of religion on Halal meat consumption decision making in Belgium but only the theory of planned behavior was employed in the study. On the other hand, Lada et al (2009) was able to predict intention of Halal foods consumption in Malaysia using only the theory of reasoned action. 2. Review of Literature This chapter includes the discussion of other related topics of Halal food, its consumption and strategic marketing activities particularly in Thailand. Thailand According to the UN report in 2009, there were 67.8 million people in the country of which the Muslim population comprises the minority somewhere in the southern provinces and majority are Buddhists considering that the major religion is Buddhism (BBC News, 2009). According to Disyabut (2009), the populations of Muslim people are wherever in the world, which is quarter of the world’s 6.4 billion population, that is, 1.8 billion. Disyabut (2009) added that the demographics and profile of Muslim consumers vary from one market to another. The number of those migrated in developing countries and increased their income is in upward spiral. Thailand is a major exporter of Halal food.(Disyabut, 2009). Halal food comprises all foods that are permitted for consumption under Islamic law. The global consumption of Halal food in 2007 in around 48 countries reached from 18 to 20 percent of the global food value of US$1.323 trillion. This is indeed a gigantic market. The food manufacturers in the world which include Thailand have significantly valued this fact. Marketing in Thailand Branding has been demonstrated as very important within the consumer markets where strong positive brands than are associated with characteristics and values that the consumers want are likely to enhance sales and have the potential to enhance financial performance as long as they are managed to retain value. This is an underlying reason that consumer choice has been reflected in a rise in international production of Halal products. When companies develop their marketing strategies, they often look at a variety of different methods to introduce their products into other countries. Many companies in Thailand have recognized some of the challenges in introducing new products in this country, including the social and cultural influences that impact marketing development. In Thailand, 96% of the population is literate, and the average age of the population is 30.5 year of age, creating a significantly older population than other countries in reference to the application of cultural elements (CIA 2004, p. 1). Though Thai is the primary language, many of the cultural elite speak English and marketing strategies sometimes include a combination of English and Thai information (CIA 2004, p.1). In Thailand, the top 10 percent of the population consumer more than 30 percent of consumer goods, suggesting that marketing strategies more often focus on the elite (CIA 2004, p. 1). While many of the nation’s poor are Buddhists, the Muslim community in Thailand tends to fall among the elite. This underscores the perception that participants in Muslim culture in this country are more apt to be a focus of consumer marketing than the members of the Buddhist community. Halal Foods Halal is an Arabic word which means ‘permitted’ and is used to refer to foods prepared according to Islamic dietary regulation. Halal products are considered to be natural, safer, healthier, cleaner and greener. This is because Islamic teaching value God’s creation and that Muslims should protect and conserve these creations. On the other hand, Muslims are forbidden from eating certain food (called Haram) products. Hence, Halal is widely accepted name of products that signify purity, health, health and wellness of foods (Cheng 2008; Abdul et al 2009b). According to Riaz (1999) for products to be called or certified as halal, they should have been sourced from permitted animals such as cattle, goat and sheep and slaughtered according to Islamic rites, the products should be free from extracts or ingredients from forbidden (haram) animals, a mentally sound Muslim should slaughter the animals, the utensils, equipments and machinery used for processing should be cleansed according to Islamic law and no cross contamination with Haram substances. Also, some of the forbidden ingredients include emulsifiers, gelatin, enzymes, glycerin, lecithin, alcohol and pork. The concept of halal indicates that the methods for creating the product were in adherence to principles in the Koran (Shafie & Othman 2006, p. 3). Halal certification means that a product is halal and shariah-compliant and that the product has been approved either internationally or nationally through a certification process in the country in which it was manufactured or produced (Shafie & Othman 2006, p. 3). Halal principles are used in a variety of different areas of production, from sanitation and hygiene to the way in which animals are slaughtered and prepared. While halal is often used to describe principles in food production, it can also be a part of non-food production as well, as has been identified in relation to the simplification of manufacturing methods. In Muslim communities, halal is considered an absolute essential key to determining consumer consumption (Shafie & Othman 2006, p. 5). Generally speaking, manufacturers use the halal certification and logo as a means of informing Muslim consumers about the nature of their product and to target their products to this specific population. The study of Abdul et al (2009) reported that there is a need for assurance among people in Malaysia that the purchased food is halal. This implies that uncertainty and risks when deciding to purchase halal foods existed. Research indicates that consumer purchase goods or services that resemble their image/self concept. It is theorized that buyers would prefer to purchase of products that project their self concept. Symbols and logos are used to communicate such meaning, personality, image and identity of the individual (Grubb& Grathwohl 1967; Cheng 2008). Hence, advertises and marketers create products and services that project self concept of the buyer and the buyer would want to maintain and enhance that self concept. In addition, significant others have strong influence of perpetuating such consumer behavior (Grubb & Stern 1971; White & Kokotsaki 2004; Hogg & Michell 1996). Moreover, foods are known to be powerful symbols that project identity, values and practices of a group of people as expressed in eating habits, food choices and eating experiences (Food & Culture Encyclopedia 2003). In this regard, Halal is used both as a symbol, logo and brand to project the Islamic faith and practices (Cheng, 2008). The role of food and religious food consumption Food refers to anything that is eaten to satisfy hunger that is mainly made from plant and animal material. According to Fonseca (2008), food is a symbolic way of understanding the dominant ways of a given society. Food consumption depicts a cultural act that brings forth the meaning and practices of that society. Researchers analyze the society’s food habits and consumption practices in order to derive meaning and understanding of the society identity. Also, the act of eating food establishes the identity of individuals and defines the social grouping, class and personality through their food mannerisms, styles and feeding ways. In addition, food is used to build social ties especially during special occasions, ceremonies and rituals. In this regard, it can be used as a language to communicate social and cultural orientations of that particular society. The world largest religions have rules and practices associated with food choices as Sack (2000) mentioned that religious food is a significant part of religious traditions. It is an integral element in human life that represents human dependence on divine nature. For instance, in Judaism, permitted food is called Kosher and Islam it is called Halal. These ‘permitted’ foods have both similarities and differences in many respects based on their sources, preparation, transportation and storage (Riaz, 1999). Religion is the system of beliefs and practices to which groups of people interpret and respond to supernatural and sacred things. Studies indicate that religiosity has direct influence on individual either cognitively or behaviorally. Thus, the highly religious a person is, the more likely the person would behave according to the norms of that religion (Weaver & Agle, 2002). It is noted that highly religious people tend to have closed minded or dogmatic views which may predispose them to varied array of consumption behavior. For instance, level of religiosity has been found to be positively related to age and affects quality of product, social life, purchasing patterns and purchasing behavior. However, the impact of religiosity differs from one group to the other (Mokhlis 2006;Borynski 2003) as having a strong influence on person’s life, moral life and ethical behavior. This cannotes an indirect effect on consumption behavior and other variable (Vitell & Paolillo 2003; Rindfleisch 2006). Religious decision making to purchase Although research on how religion influences purchasing decision is inconclusive, there is a general agreement that religion is a fundamental element in terms of cultural context of a particular group of people whose attitudes and behaviors are shaped by it. Its influence is advanced through the religion’s taboos and obligations on individual daily activities, rituals, parental attachment, eating and drinking habits, social, political and sexual perception (Mokhlis 2006; Food & Culture Encyclopedia 2003). The effect of religion on individual’s behavior can be both positive and negative (Lord & Putrevu 2005; Dash & Sarangi 2005). These influences are exhibited through specific dogma that can be doctrinal, personal devotion, value, social or aesthetic. Also, religion affects many aspect of consumer behavior in terms of product’s functional attributes, brand loyalty, marketing and lifestyles. However, the extent of influence varies with levels of self esteem, age, education, lifestyles and religious commitment (Wilkes, Burnett & Howell 1986; Kuzma et al Undated; Ger 2005). The result of the study conducted by Abdul et al (2009) was shown to have a positive relationship between religion and halal ingredients and its logo. The General Model of Consumer Behavior Table 1. General Model of Consumer Behavior (Mullen and Johnson, 1990) The following are explanations of Mullen and Johnson (1990) of the above model. Stimulus situation – These are complex situations that act as stimuli to elicit responses from the consumer. Internal processes – These are changes that occur within the individual. Perception – This is the processes of information received by the senses psychologically and result to awareness of the products’ attributes. Cognition – This is about the processes of knowing which results to collection of beliefs or products’ evaluation. Memory – this pertains to information retention of past events or ideas and which results to product information’s acquisition, retention and remembering. Learning – This is about change that results to change in responses and further results to association of response and stimuli through experience. Emotion – This refers to the state of arousal which involves conscious experience and visceral changes which further results to feelings about the product. Motivation – This results to maintenance of certain behavior towards the desire or need for the product. Intention – This refers to a certain plan to perform specific behavior. Behavior – This is an act or response. Social context – The totality of social stimulation which includes family, friends or sales personnel. Cultural context – The totality of cultural stimulation that made influences on individual. This includes culture, subculture, social class and more. Other models of consumer behavior presented by Mullen and Johnson (1990) include the following: 1. The three I’s: Impact, Image, Involvement 2. AIDA: Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action 3. Attention, Understanding, Believability Theory of Reasoned Action Table 2. Theory of Reasoned Action Model (Fraser and Burchell, 2001) The model can be best explained this way. According to Fraser and Burchell (2001), the immediate determinant of action A is the intention to perform action A. If one wishes to predict whether or not action A will be performed, then the best way to do so is to ask people if they intend to do action A. On the other hand, if one wishes to understand why people intend and do the action A, then it is better to examine their attitudes and perception of nominative or social pressure. Support for the model of theory of reasoned action is extensive in social psychological and marketing literatures because it hypothesizes that behavior is best predicted by intention to behave in a specified way of which it has two antecedents (Oliver and Bearden, 1985). According to Oliver and Bearden (1985), the first antecedent to intention is a personal predisposition of which it can be affect or attitude toward a behavior. The second antecedent to intention is an internalized perception that the decision maker prefer to be engaged or not in a behavior. There is a wide applicability of theory of reasoned action in predicting consumer behavior over many years (Cavusgil, 2007). The theory of reasoned action is a marketing and consumer behavior concept of which it can be applied to effectively predict intentions (Singh et al, 1995). However this model does not only prove to be effective in predicting intentions in line with consumer behavior but in other aspects as well. The theory of reasoned action was found to be effective in general in predicting the intentions of voters in choosing candidates based on the empirical test in Singapore (Singh et al, 1995). The bottom line of this is that it shows that the model can be employed to many fields of studies since its main function is to predict intention of an individual that results to corresponding actions or moves such as voting the right candidates. Lada et al (2009) was able to predict intention to choose Halal products in Malaysia using theory of reasoned action. The findings suggested that theory of reasoned action is a valid model in the prediction of the intention to choose Halal products. The result can suggest that attitude and subjective norm were positively related to intention in which the latter is more influential predictor and vice versa. Theory of Planned Behavior According to Horowitz and Bordens (2002), this theory explains the relationship between attitude and behavior. Thus, it focuses on the strength between behavioral intentions and their performance. The model directly tells that behavioral intentions directly influence behavior. The important component in this model is the behavioral intention based on attitudes toward a behavior, subjective norms and behavioral control. Theory of planned behavior is a variant of theory of reasoned action to cover behaviors not under one’s volitional control (Cavusgil, 2009). Table 3. Theory of Planned Behavior (Horowitz and Bordens, 2002) Bonne et al (2009) conducted a study on the impact of religion on Halal meat consumption decision making in Belgium using the theory of planned behavior as a conceptual framework. Using the theory of planned behavior, the study was able to obtain positive result by predicting the intention to consume Halal meat among Muslims. The theory also predicted the lack of safety measures or poor belief in the safety control as potential barriers that prevent Muslim customers from eating Halal meat. Theory of Reasoned Action versus Theory of Planned Behavior Chang (1998) was able to compare the validity of theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior applied to the area of moral behavior using structural equation modeling. The result suggested that the theory of planned behavior when it comes to predicting unethical behavior was found better than the theory of reasoned action. According to Chang (1998), the difference between theory of planned behavior and theory of reasoned action can be observed by the addition of the following on the former: perceived behavioral control as behavioral intention determinant and addition of control beliefs which affect the perceived behavioral control. Both theories assume that human beings are rational and make systematic decision making whenever information is available and the theory of reasoned action further assumes that the behavior under study is under performer’s volitional control (Chang, 1998). 4. Methodology In this chapter, the researcher presents the method to be used and other procedural aspects to initiate the study. Method to be used The researcher will make use of the descriptive method as a technique to collect information or data from the target respondents. The descriptive method will utilize the numerical data to be gathered from the results of a survey and controlled data to achieve levels of reliability. The survey questionnaire will allow the collection of data from large number of people and will make it possible to compare the respondents’ feedback by providing structured results through formulated appropriate questions which were qualified in accord with the level of information desired. Survey is so far one of the best ways to gather information on a specific subject matter. Random survey considering required number of samples is so far reliable and statistically significant in terms of giving results. In line with conducting the survey, various available related literatures will be reviewed as the basis of formulating some questions. After the survey questionnaire will be formulated and approved by the instructor, the actual random sampling will be initiated. Sources of Data There will be fifty (100) respondents needed in this study, of which Muslim consumers’ number equals the non-Muslims’. The age bracket of respondents will start from 18 years old to 30 years old or specifically those who or can buy Halal food at least thrice or more in a week. The primary data that will be used in this research comes from the response of the chosen respondents which will be given effort to relate them to existing ideas and strategies presented by various academic sources. In this case, the secondary data are those coming from various academic sources. The quantitative data are those coming from the actual survey and this can be given more emphasis through various ideas and concepts coming from various academic sources. The qualitative data are those coming from various academic sources and the proponent’s assessment and evaluation of the processed information. Data Gathering Instrument The data will be collected from the fifty (100) respondents through distribution of questionnaires. Each question in the questionnaire will be evaluated by the respondents with the following rating reference: always (5), often (4), sometimes (3), seldom (2) and never (1). Each hypothesis in this study will have corresponding set of questions which will quantify the level of Halal food consumption in Thailand. Statistical Treatment In the analysis of data, the researcher will use the following statistical tools: Mean. This will be used to determine marketing practices based on the 4Ps such as product, price, promotion and place. This will be computed by adding all the ratings (1 to 5) in each marketing practice, divided by the total number of respondents. z-Test. Comparison of sample mean will be initiated. The use of z-Test will be implemented to find out any significant difference at 95% level of confidence. All of the primary and most important information that will be gathered from this study will depend on the data available and will be gathered from the respondents. Any misunderstanding or misinterpretation on the part of the respondents on the questions in the survey is considered a limitation of this study. References Aaker, D. & Lane, K. 1990, Consumer evaluations of brand extensions, Journal of Marketing, 54, 27-42. Banerjee, S., 2008, Strategic brand-culture fit: a conceptual framework for brand Management, Journal of Brand Management, 15, 312-322. 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Retrieved December 19, 2009, from http://www.ctw-congress.de/ifsam/download/track_13/pap00226.pdf Disyabut 2009 http://www.asiafoodjournal.com/print.asp?id=5248 BBC News 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1237845.stm Cavusgil E (2007) http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.94.5144&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=105. Read More