Exploring the Role of Student Exchange Programs in Fostering Halal Understanding among South Korean Non-Muslims

One of the challenges in halal is the acceptance among non-Muslims of the values, due to their lack of appreciation in understanding its concept. Media bias, culture, personal beliefs, racism and Islamophobia are some of the common causes. Past studies concluded that the concept of misjudgment could be realigned to a positive attitude by providing the appropriate information and education. Therefore, the study was conducted with the aim, of assessing how the provision of halal knowledge through the concept of a student exchange program could change a group of non-Muslims’ attitude, acceptance and behavior towards halal. A research experiment was administered that involved a group of university students from a private university in South Korea, who voluntarily took part in a 7-day halal program in Malaysia. The study involved 1) a pre-test assessment, 2) participation in the student exchange heutagogy program and 3) a post-test assessment. Based on the paired sample test results, overall, there was a significant increase in the halal understanding among non-Muslims of South Koreans. The novelty of the study stems from the need to understand non-Muslims’ perception of halal, specifically from the learning and cultural perspectives

Applying Service Performance Guarantees to Reduce Risk Perception in the Purchase and Consumption of Higher Education

The intangible nature of education is one contributor to consumers’ perception of risk prior to their purchase and consumption. This risk includes: functional risk, financial risk, temporal risk, physical risk, psychological risk and social risk. The presence of these risks often makes consumer evaluation prior to purchase and consumption difficult. Invoking a service guarantee is a platform available to enable higher educational institutions to minimize such risk perception so as to induce purchase. Specifically, service guarantee for higher education entails the application of teaching performance guarantee. This form of guarantee focuses on two important customer groups of higher educational institutions namely, students and faculty members, and focuses only on a specific performance aspect such as instructor’s performance. Thus, if students are dissatisfied with an instructor’s performance they are entitled to receive their money back. The imposition of such a teaching performance guarantee would implicate instructor’s accountability for certain aspects of their performance. It also establishes a mechanism to solicit feedback to better understand why and how instructors fail. Consequently, service performance guarantee creates a high level of customer focus and signals instructors’ care towards student