International Journal of Commerce and Management

Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in halal food purchasing

Syed Shah Alam Nazura Mohamed Sayuti
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Syed Shah Alam Nazura Mohamed Sayuti, (2011),"Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in halal
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IJCOMA
21,1 Applying the Theory of Planned
Behavior (TPB) in halal
food purchasing
8
Syed Shah Alam
School of Business Management, Faculty of Economics and Business,
National University of Malaysia, Darul Ehsan, Malaysia, and
Nazura Mohamed Sayuti
Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
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Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Abstract
Purpose – In this study, Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior is used as a theoretical framework with
the aim of extending prior research examining halal food purchasing behavior in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected through self-administered questionnaires.
This paper uses multiple regression analysis to identify the factors affecting halal food purchasing
behavior of Malaysian consumers.
Findings – The multiple regression analysis results indicate that all factors have positive and
significant influence on halal food purchasing intention.
Research limitations/implications – Like other empirical studies, this study is not without its
limitations. The sample size itself is relatively small. The study can be strengthened by increasing the
sample size and including participants in other geographical areas. This study also considered only
three antecedents of halal food purchasing among consumers in Malaysia. As Malaysia is actually
trying to play for a bigger role in the halal industry, more research is needed to identify and address
problematic aspects of consumption of halal food. Potential correlations between some of the
independent variables (e.g. trust, moral obligation, habit, and self-identity) need to be reported in a
future study.
Originality/value – This study contributes to and extends our understanding of the halal food
purchasing behavior, identifying the rationales for purchasing of halal foods. From a managerial
viewpoint, the findings provide support for investment decisions and for decisions relating to the
establishment of Malaysia as a halal hub that address and take the concerns and needs of businesses
and Malaysian Government agencies into consideration.
Keywords Buying behaviour, Consumer behaviour, Food products, Malaysia
Paper type Research paper

International Journal of Commerce
and Management
Vol. 21 No. 1, 2011
pp. 8-20
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1056-9219
DOI 10.1108/10569211111111676
Introduction
halal ( , halāl, and halaal ) is a Quranic word meaning lawful or permitted, which is
the dietary standard prescribed in the Quran. In the Quran, it is mentioned that all
foods are halal except those that are specifically mentioned as Haram, which is
prohibited or unlawful. In the English language, it most frequently refers to food that is
permissible according to Islamic law. In the Arabic language, it refers to anything that
is permissible under Islam.
In the Muslim majority, the concept of halal is an absolute key to consumption.
Muslim consumers nowadays are faced with a broad selection of products and services.
Each product category offers many different brands either locally named or
 internationally recognized. Some of the local brands appear to capture their own niches by Applying TPB
projecting themselves as “Islamic” brands via their creative packaging and labeling.
This also indirectly signals to their primary target, which is the Muslim consumer,
the halal status of their products.
The Muslim population in and around us is large and Islam is the fastest growing
religion on earth, both by birth and adoption. With Muslims now making up one quarter of
the world’s population, the market opportunities are outstanding and the global halal 9
marketplace is too lucrative a market for food manufacturers to ignore. There are altogether
more than two billion Muslim populations in the world spreading over 112 countries, across
diverse regions such as Organisation of Islamic Conference Nations (1.4 billion), Asia
(805 million), Africa (300 million), Middle East (210 million), Europe (18 million), and
Malaysia (16 million) (www.mida.gov.my). With the global halal market estimated to be
worth US$580 billion a year and the halal food industry pegged to grow at a rate of 7 percent
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annually (Saad and Patrick, 2008). According to global group HighBeam Research, cited in
the Halal Journal (2008), the current estimated value of the total halal market is
US$150 billion, but this has the potential to rise to US$500 billion by 2010, driven by the
increasing value and diversity of the consumer market, combined with strong demographic
trends across the world (Anne-Birte, 2007). Extra levels of quality certification have
attracted an unprecedented demand for Muslim and non-Muslim consumers (Patton, 2008).
Commercially, the Islamic consumer market is the fastest growing in the world.
Owing to two reasons, the halal food market is the fastest growing in the world. First,
it can be linked to religious fervor and beliefs that it is cleaner, healthier, and tastier
(Burgmann, 2007), and second, for the tremendous acceptance of halal within the global
population through the process of assimilation. Foreign foods in some countries as in
Europe have become assimilated and local tastes are changing, encouraged by global
tourism and reverse colonization. It is recognition not only for the Muslim people but
also for the benchmark for safety and quality assurance.
The Canadian International Markets Bureau reports an international halal food trade
of $150 billion a year. A study by JWT (2007) in the USA reported that the total spending
power of Muslims in the USA was estimated at more than $170 billion, as Muslims
represent a major untapped niche market. The UK halal market alone is currently a
US$4 billion market, with strong demand for specialized and healthy halal food
(Islam 786 Forum, 2008).
For the halal food market, the demand is increasingly outpacing the food supply and
the two strongest markets for halal products are South-East Asia and the Middle East
with the Muslim consumer base estimated to be 1.9 billion, spreading over 112 countries.
On average, the world’s halal food trade is estimated US$150 million per year.
Manufacturers and marketers use the halal certification and logo as a way to inform
and to reassure their target consumers that their products are halal and Shariah
compliant. In general, the Muslim consumers in Malaysia look for the authentic halal
certification issued by Malaysia’s Department of Islamic Development ( JAKIM) which is
under the purview of the Ministry in the Prime Minister’s Department. This certification
granted the companies the use of the halal logo for printing on their products’ packaging
or for display at a company’s premises.
Malaysia is actually trying to play a bigger role in the halal industry in the world.
According to reports (22 January 2006) by Jumaatun Azmi, Managing Director of
KasehDia, organizer of World halal Forum:
 IJCOMA [. . .] the new agency may be set up by Malaysian trade to oversee halal food governance, as
the country seeks to play a greater part in the fast developing halal food sector. In order to
21,1 coordinate international standards and best practices, making it a complex area to regulate
Malaysia has already created a Steering Committee under the Ministry of International Trade
and Industry (MTTI).
Beside that, there are more than 20 different ministries and agencies that continue to
10 have input in halal regulation. Although, Malaysia is predominantly a Muslim country,
its participation in the halal industry is still insufficient when compared to Thailand,
which is fast emerging as a halal hub.
According to Malaysian International Trade and Industry, import of processed food
is valued at RM5.7 billion whilst export is RM4.7 billion. The production of halal food
was valued at RM9.6 billion between January 2003 and October 2003, quoting the figures
from the Statistic Department. It shows that the size of the halal food market is huge.
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The Malaysian Government has created a number of institutions to cater for the
halal food product, especially the JAKIM. JAKIM is the only important authority in
monitoring and implementing halal food products.

Problem statement and objective

Owing to the increasing demand for halal food in the world’s market, many Muslim
consumers are feeling doubtful and unconfident that the foods that are sold to the market
might encourage some countries to think about halal food processing. Much of the
research reports on halal food markets are predicted but there is dearth of theory-driven
research on halal food purchasing. In general terms, theory-driven research facilitates a
better understanding of the attitudinal and behavioral factors that influence a particular
behavior, allows researchers to propose and test causal models of the behavior, and
ultimately facilitates effective design and implementation of programs that aim to
promote the behavior. Thus, a further purpose of this study was to apply the Theory of
Planned Behavior (TPB) to the study of halal food purchasing of Malaysian consumers.
Looking at the current scenario, the purpose of this study is to examine the major
determinants of halal food purchasing intention in Malaysia. Malaysian Muslim
consumers generally look for the authentic halal ( ) certification or logo issued by the
JAKIM which is under the purview of the Ministry in the Prime Minister’s Department
(Shafie and Othman, 2009). Owing to the multicultural nature of Malaysia, not all local
companies place the “Islamic” feature on their packaging and labeling of the products.
But halal food is one of the most important issues for the Muslim community. In this
present business scenario in Malaysia, this study seeks to examine the consumers’
halal food purchasing behavior, as well. The broad research question is:
RQ1. What factors determine the likelihood of purchasing by Malaysian consumers?
The RQ1. is concerned with understanding the factors that encourage or discourage
halal food purchasing intention.
Purchasing behavior depends on specific social, cultural, economic, legal, and political
contexts, which may differ significantly between countries and even regional areas that
limit the generalization of research results from one country’s to another country’s contexts.
This justifies an empirical investigation of Malaysian consumers’ awareness, perception,
and their readiness or concerns about their current and potential purchasing behavior to
uncover the factors that encourage or deter halal food purchasing. Moreover, this will
 contribute to confirm past findings of limited research attempts in developed a country’s Applying TPB
contexts and possible generalization on halal food purchasing in Malaysia.
The main objective of this study is to examine the antecedents of halal food
purchasing intention using the TPB (Ajzen, 1985, 1991).

Theoretical framework
Theory of Planned Behavior 11
There are some questions as to the applicability of TPB model in halal food purchasing.
Theoretically, this is difficult to answer. We see this issue as more of an empirical
question; do the testable implications hold up empirically?
An underlying premise of the current study is the beliefs about the halal food
purchasing. TPB (Ajzen, 1985, 1991) is an extension of the theory of reasoned action (TRA)
(Ajzen and Fishbein, 1985), made necessary by the latter model’s inability to deal with
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behaviors over which individuals have incomplete volitional control. Volitional control
represents the degree to which a behavior can be performed at will (Blackwell et al., 2006).
Behavior that is not consciously considered cannot be explained by this theory. The TPB
model explains if an individual’s performance of a certain behavior is determined by his or
her intent to perform that behavior. For TPB, attitude towards the target behavior and
subjective norms about engaging in the behavior are thought to influence intention halal
food purchasing behavior, and TPB includes perceived behavior control over engaging in
the behavior as a factor influencing intention and purchasing behavior. An attitude
towards a behavior is a positive or negative evaluation of performing that behavior
and perceived behavioral control is informed by beliefs about the individual’s possession
of the opportunities and resources needed to engage in the behavior (Ajzen, 1991).
The existence of uncontrollable factors would interfere in our ability to do what we
intend to do. When this disruption occurs, intention becomes a less accurate predictor of
behavior. Consequently, perceived behavioral control, representing a person’s belief
about how easy it is to perform the behavior, is important in predicting behavior. From
this point of view, one of the limitations of TRA is that it never takes perceived behavior
control into account.

Literature review
TPB has been supported by empirical studies on consumption and social
psychology-related studies (Ajzen, 1991; Taylor and Todd, 1997). A study of Thompson
et al. (1994), using meta-analysis technique indicates that measures of attitude, subjective
norm, and perceived behavioral control, explains 40-50 percent of the variance in
intentions and that behavioral intentions explain between 19 and 38 percent of the
variance in behavior.
TPB has also been the basis for several studies on consumer food choices (Sparks and
Shepherd, 1992; Conner and Sparks, 1996; Karijin et al., 2007). Armitage and Conner
(2001) used the TPB as the basis of their theoretical model where habit was another
independent predictor. Verbeke et al. (2004) and Honkanen et al. (2005) studies used TPB
and found important models to be used for other researches on food-related areas.
TPB was found to be an important model by other researches in food-related behavior
(Sparks et al., 1995; Cook et al., 2000). According to Casper (2007), 600 empirical studies
have provided conclusive evidence in line with the theoretical predication of the TPB
model and changes in the past 20 years. Food-related behavior has also successfully
 IJCOMA included self-identity as an additional predictor variable (Karijin et al., 2007). A study by
21,1 Karijin et al. (2007) on attitude towards halal meat purchasing in France found that
attitude, social norm, and perceived control had significance for intention to consume
halal meat.
Many other examples of TPB studies include the purchase of organic food (Sparks and
Shepherd, 1992; Maria et al., 2001; Anssi and Sanna, 2005), online purchasing behavior
12 (Joey, 2002, 2004; Battarcherjee, 2002; George, 2002; Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997; Pavlou,
2002; Suh and Han, 2003). TPB also has used many information systems research
(Mathieson, 1991; Taylor and Todd, 1997; Harrison et al., 1997) and expectations regarding
the acceptability of using genetic engineering in food production (Sparks et al., 1995).

Research model and hypotheses

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The research model used in this study, shown in Figure 1, is based on TPB. The intention
of halal food purchasing preceded the process before actual purchase. Intention reflects
future behavior. Attitude is postulated to have a direct relationship with intention
behavior. The relationship between subjective norms and behavioral control is also
posited as a direct relationship here.
To examine the relationship between the independent variables (attitude, subjective
norm, and perceived behavior control) and the dependent variable (behavioral intention
in purchasing halal food product), three hypotheses were developed. The directionality
stated in each hypothesis is derived from the previous researches which were conducted
on the basis of TPB. Therefore, this study has to find out whether there is a direct
positive relationship between attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control,
and behavioral intention.
Attitude is the evaluation of performing a particular behavior involving the attitude
object, such as buying the product (Blackwell et al., 2006). Attitude refers to the degree to
which a person has favorable or unfavorable evaluation or appraisal of the behavior in
question. As a general rule, the more favorable the attitude and subjective with respect
to a behavior, and the greater the perceived behavioral control, the stronger should
be an individual’s intention to perform the behavior under consideration. The relative
importance of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control in the
prediction of intention is expected to vary across behaviors and situations (Ajzen, 1991).
According to the expectancy-value model, attitude toward a behavior is determined
by the total set of accessible behavioral beliefs linking the behavior to various outcomes
and other attributes. Therefore, attitude can be considered as an important part of

Attitude

halal food
Subjective norm
purchase intention

Figure 1.
A schematic diagram of Perceived
the conceptual framework behavioral control
 predicting and describing human behavior (Ajzen, 1988). Thus, the following hypothesis Applying TPB
needs to be substantiated:
H1. There is a significant and positive relationship between attitude and intention
to purchase halal food products.
The predictor social factor termed subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to
comply with expectations about engaging in the behavior which should influence the 13
individual’s intention to perform or not to the behavior. If social expectations are that
people should perform in the behavior in question, then the individual should be more
likely to do so. Conversely, if social expectations are that people should not perform in
the behavior, then the individual should be less likely to do so. In this case, if purchasing
of halal food is seen as socially desirable behavior, based on what important others think
about it, than the individual is more likely to make a halal food purchase. In this study,
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subjective norm is the perceived social pressure that influences consumers’ decisions
to purchase halal food. For this context, we propose:
H2. There is a significant and positive relationship between subjective norm and
intentions to purchase halal food products.
According to Ajzen (1991), perceived behavioral control is the extent to which a person
feels able to engage in the behavior. It has two aspects: how much a person has control
over behavior and how confident a person feels about being able to perform or not
perform the behavior. It is determined by the individual’s beliefs about the power of
both situational and internal factors to facilitate the performing of the behavior. The
more the control an individual feels about making halal food purchases, the more likely
he or she will be to do so. In this study, perceived behavioral control is the ability to
purchase halal food. Therefore, the hypothesis is:
H3. There is a significant and positive relationship between perceived behavior
control and intention to purchase halal food products.

Method
Sample and procedure
Data for this study were gathered by primary data collection method through personally
administered questionnaires. Students from marketing research classes in our university
collected the data as it was their group assignment. Students learned about the hurdles of
the data-collection process and reported their experiences in hard copy. There were
43 students in the class. Each student was asked to collect data from six adults’ age range
from 21 and above, who are consumers, irrespective of whether they have concerns or not
about the intention to purchase halal food products. Despite the fact that in Islamic thinking
the age of adulthood for both females and males is below the age of 21, studies found that
adult consumers who are older than 21 years do not display positive attitudes toward
healthy eating habits (Harker et al., 2010). The technique of sampling used in this study was
non-probability convenience sampling method because it was a viable alternative, due to
the constraint of time, speed, costs, and conveniences in order to obtain enough respondents.
A total of 258 respondents took part of this study. Although careful consideration
was given by the students to collect data, seven were discarded due to incomplete
responses; the final sample was 251 for an effective response rate of 97.29 percent.
 IJCOMA The majority of the respondents were male (74.5 percent), the Malay group was
21,1 the highest contributors of the total respondents (68.92 percent). Thus, the sample
contains a representation of whole population in Malaysia as its population consists
of 60 percent of Malays, 26 percent Chinese, 8 percent Indians and 6 percent other races
(Baradan, 2006). The highest respondents were from the age group of 21-30 years old.
The majority of the respondents were Muslim (64.94 percent). This is due to the fact that
14 most of the Malays in Malaysia are believed to be Muslims. Most of them were
undergraduates representing 75.1 percent of the total sample (Table I).

Measures
All items intended to measure the variables in this study were adopted from previously
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validated instruments. The construct of subjective norm and behavioral intention was
measured with scales from Venkatesh and Davis (2000), modified so that the focus was
on the halal food purchase. Perceived behavioral control and attitude were assessed with
measures reported by Taylor and Todd (1995). Again, the items were modified for halal
food purchase. Measures of attitude (four items), subjective norms (two items),
perceived behavioral control (three items), and intention (five items) were measured.
All the questions used a six-point Likert scale in which 1 indicated “strongly disagree,”
2 indicated “disagree,” 3 indicated “somewhat disagree,” 4 indicated “somewhat agree,”
5 indicated “agree,” and 6 indicated “strongly agree.” Regression analysis was used to
analyze the data.

Frequency %

Gender
Male 64 25.5
Female 187 74.5
Race
Malay 151 60.16
Chinese 79 31.47
Indian 21 8.37
Others 0 0
Age group ( years)
21-30 years old 173 68.92
31-40 years old 57 22.71
41-50 years old 14 5.58
Above 50 years old 7 2.79
Religion
Muslim 163 64.94
Buddhism 52 20.72
Hinduism 16 6.37
Christianity 18 7.17
Others 02 0.80
Educational level
Table I. Primary level 02 0.80
Socio-economic Secondary/diploma level 30 11.95
background of the Undergraduate 165 65.74
respondents Postgraduate 54 21.51
 Reliability Applying TPB
The internal reliability of the items was verified by computing the Cronbach’s alpha
(Nunnally, 1978). Nunnally suggested that a minimum alpha of 0.6 sufficed for early
stages of research. The Cronbach’s alpha estimated for attitude was 0.731, subjective
norm was 0.758, perceived behavioral control was 0.876, and behavioral intention scale
was 0.757. As the Cronbach’s alpha in this study were all much higher than 0.6,
the constructs were therefore deemed to have adequate reliability. 15
Normality of data and multicollinearity
This study involves a relatively large sample (251 respondents) and therefore, the central
limit theorem could be applied and hence there is no question on normality of the data.
Two major methods were utilized in order to determine the presence of multicollinearity
among independent variables in this study. These methodologies involved calculation of
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both a tolerance test and variance inflation factor (VIF) (Kleinbaum et al., 1988). The results
of these analyzes are presented in Table II. As can be seen from these data:
.
none of the tolerance levels is # 0.01; and
.
all VIF values are well below 10.
Thus, the measures selected for assessing independent variables in this study do not
reach levels indicate of multicollinearity. The acceptable Durbin-Watson range is
between 1.5 and 2.5. In this analysis, Durbin-Watson value of 1.751, which is between the
acceptable ranges, show that there were no auto correlation problems in the data used
in this research. Thus, the measures selected for assessing independent variables in this
study do not reach levels indicate of multicollinearity (Table II).

Hypotheses testing
Table III presents results of a multiple regression analysis used to evaluate the
strength of the proposed relationship. Three hypotheses were formulated and all the
variables retain after testing the reliability. The individual hypotheses were tested

Variable Tolerance VIF

Attitude 0.702 1.424

Subjective norm 0.723 1.323 Table II.
Perceived behavioral control 0.780 1.283 Test of collinearity

Variables b t-value p-value

Constant 1.286 6.740 0.000 * *

Attitude 0.213 3.300 0.001 * *
Subjective norm 0.157 3.159 0.002 *
Perceived behavioral control 0.205 4.531 0.000 * *
Notes: Significance at: *p , 0.01 and * *p , 0.001; R 2 ¼ 0.291, adjusted R 2 ¼ 0.283; dependent Table III.
variable: halal food purchasing intention Regression results
 IJCOMA using a multiple regression prediction model following the guidelines established by
21,1 Hair et al. (1998) with halal food purchasing intention as the dependent variable. The
results obtained, as shown in Table III, revealed that H1-H3, were found to be
significant in the prediction model. The results provide support for hypotheses H1-H3,
that is, the relationship between attitude (b ¼ 0.213 and p , 0.001), subjective norm on
halal food purchasing intention (b ¼ 0.157 and p , 0.01), and perceived behavioral
16 control on halal food purchasing (b ¼ 0.205 and p , 0.001).

Discussion
The main objective of this study is to explore how the TPB could facilitate in predicting the
intention to purchase halal food products in Malaysia. The study results show that the
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TPB model could explain 29.1 percent of the variance in the intentions to purchase halal
food products. The model was statistically significant and this study results
demonstrates, once again, the robustness of the TPB for helping to explain halal food
purchasing intention. Other studies have also successfully used the TPB as a theoretical
framework from which to examine the purchase intention (Bredahl et al., 1998).
The study depicted that attitude has a significant and positive effect on halal food
purchasing intention. Attitude is an important factor in influencing consumer intention
in purchasing halal food products because those with high positive attitudes appeared to
have greater intentions to intent to purchase halal food products. Social pressure may
compensate for high favorable attitudes in building intentions to purchase halal food in
such culture.
Consistent to the study of Karijin et al. (2007), the research found that subjective norm
was positively and significantly related to intention. This study also confirms other
studies like Kamariah and Muslim’s (2007) which found subjective norms to be
important. In more individualistic cultures like Western cultures, people perceived
themselves as autonomous and independent of the group and prioritized personal goals
over collective goals, which would lead to a higher use of personal attitude versus social
norms in behavioral decisions. On the other hand, in collectivistic cultures such as the
Muslim culture, people tend to perceive themselves as interdependent with their group
and tend to strive for in-group rather than personal goals (Karijin et al., 2007). This is
matched with the findings of this study that subjective norm is important in influencing
consumers’ purchase intention, especially in Malaysia, a collectivistic country.
Furthermore, based on the present findings, perceived behavioral control is not a
critical predictor on behavioral intention ( p . 0.05). However, this finding, contrary to
the findings by Bonne and Verbeke (2006), found that Muslims are more willing to put
considerable effort in obtaining halal food (Karijin et al., 2007), which means perceived
behavioral control is an important factor in influencing consumer to purchase halal food.
The study also confirmed that perceived behavioral control has a significant effect on
halal food purchasing intention. The relationship is a positive relationship which means
that the greater impact of control in explaining variability in behavior is not unusual.
Eagly and Chaiken (1993) and Bonne and Verbeke (2006) summary studies concerning
various behavioral criteria have reported similar findings. Ajzen (1991) suggested that
control could directly affect behavior by increasing effort to goal achievement.
 Implication of the findings Applying TPB
The TPB model appeared to effectively predict halal food purchase intention among
consumers in Malaysia. To encourage halal food purchasing from a behavioral
perspective, government authority and halal food manufacturing companies might
focus on creating social expectations regarding halal food purchasing and improving
consumers’ sense of their ability to buy halal food. Past research may provide guidance
in developing these perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. For example, Karijin et al. (2007) 17
reported that halal food assured the quality of the products.

Directions of future research

Research is needed on application of TPB in Western and Muslim countries.
Modification of the model may help to maximize their predictive efficacy (Moon and
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Kim, 2001). Analysis of non-halal food purchaser perceptions and attitudes should be
explored. Data from these individuals could provide insight concerning the factors
involved with trying halal food the first time. Learning the reasons for this group’s
non-halal food usage may help researchers to break down barriers to non-halal food
purchasers’ participation in the food buying learning. Further exploration of the studies
of the halal food purchaser behavior in Western countries may also be useful
applications in Malaysian companies those intent to export their halal food products in
that particular countries.
This study considered only three antecedents of halal food purchasing among
consumers in Malaysia. There may be well be others that should be considered in
future research, such as other aspects of trust, moral obligation, habit, and self-identity
(Karijin et al., 2007). Valid and reliable scales for these constructs need to be developed
in order to include them in future research (George, 2002).

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Ajzen, I. and Fishbein, M. (1985), “The prediction of behavior from attitudinal and normative
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Further reading
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foods”, Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 22, pp. 55-71.

Zahra, S.A. and George, G. (2002), “Absorptive capacity: a review, reconceptualization,
and extension”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 185-203.

Corresponding author
Syed Shah Alam can be contacted at: drsyed2005@gmail.com

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