Halal Malaysia Brand Image: Analyzing the impact of negative publicities using implicit and explicit measure

Organizations often spend tremendous amounts of money to create a favourable brand image to overcome the competition and maintain the status quo in the market. This study investigates consumers’ valence towards the Halal Malaysia brand and whether consumers’ valence can quickly change after exposure to negative publicities. This study is exploratory, using a mixed method approach of qualitative and quasi-experimental design using an implicit association test (IAT). Findings from the interview showed that most informants are deeply affected by negative publicities due to the sensitive nature of Halal issues to Muslim consumers

TVET Graduates as a Feeder for Hospitality Workforce Bubble: A disruption in culinary workforce supply chain

Internships play a significant role in students' development as they help to prepare the student for real-life work experience. This research is carried out using a quantitative method, and data are collected from culinary art students before and after their internship, and the differences are recorded. A total of 70 students are involved in this study, and to ensure the validity of the findings, the same group of students is required to answer the survey. Findings indicate significant differences in students' intentions after the internship due to problems related to bullying, sexual harassment, long working hours, and hijab discrimination. Keywords: Internship; Students’ Career; Hospitality Industry, Culinary Arts eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER and cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v8iSI15.508

Understanding the Challenges Faced by Hospitality Managers during COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic severely hit the hospitality industry in Malaysia. The Malaysian government implemented restriction orders and preventative measures, which had impacted business operations. This study aims to explore the challenges faced by hospitality managers during the early phase of the COVID-19 in Malaysia. Using qualitative purposive sampling, researchers interviewed 12 managers from the hotel and restaurant sectors. Based on the content analysis, the respondents reported several challenges, including generating revenues, controlling costs, and managing the workforce. Findings contributed significantly to various stakeholders such as the Malaysian government and the hospitality providers. Limitations and future recommendations are discussed. Keywords: Hospitality; COVID-19; Malaysia; Pandemic eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i19.3213

Halal Malaysia Logo or Brand: The Hidden Gap

AbstractHalal logo is the most common graphic mark use for Halal Malaysia which is a symbol to indicate the product or business is certified Halal by JAKIM. This is also an indication that the product or business is Shariah compliance. The issue of whether Halal Malaysia is logo or brand has not yet being highlighted in any previous study. However, discussion on Halal logo is more predominant where Halal logo was found to have a significant impact on consumer's decision making but such findings merely scratch the surface on the importance issues of Halal branding. Using the qualitative in-depth interview, different findings have emerged pointing to the serious issues in relation to Halal Malaysia brand equity that need to be rectified immediately. Such a problem has never been discussed before because previous findings showed that consumers possess strong awareness toward Halal logo and Halal logo itself has become the main cue that determine consumers final decision making. This has lead to an illusion of strong brand equity which concealed the hidden problem and without proper acknowledgement such problem can lead to serious complication for instance equity dilution. Indeed, Halal Malaysia from logo point of view is very important in determining consumer's awareness and recognition but the issue is only focusing on the surface. On the other hand, brand offer wider perspectives which focus more on the underlying problem or opportunity because brand has value that require constant audit and maintenance in order to ensure its survival

Halal issues in pastry and bakery products: the halal gatekeepers of bakery ingredients / Wan Rusni Wan Ismail... [et al.]

The bakery and pastry industry is one of the fastest growing “cottage” industries in Malaysia. Being a Muslim-majority country, halal is a very important factor in securing the market share. Unlike other ready-to-eat products which ingredients come from raw materials, most ingredients and additives used in bakery and pastry industry are processed food components which raised the uncertainty on their halal status. Using qualitative semistructured interview, important findings have emerged pointing to somewhat serious issues pertaining to ambiguous ingredients in bakery and pastry application which requires immediate actions. A total of 12 pastry chefs were interviewed about their perception of the halal issue of baking ingredients. Results indicate strong awareness among the practitioners regarding the ambiguous ingredients in pastry and bakery products. However, the uncertainty and doubts of these ambiguous ingredients are often washed away by the trust they put in the ingredient’s suppliers, mentors and halal label on the packaging. Putting trust on other people in finding halal ingredients sounds positive and doubt-free. However, this might also lead us to becoming too complacent with what we use in pastry and bakery products without putting much effort to inspect the halal status of each ingredient we use. Recommendations to enlighten this matter require actions from all responsible parties including the chefs, suppliers, authority (JAKIM) as well as the end-user. This is also in accordance with the Islamic teaching which said that finding the halal food or things are the responsibilities of everyone

Consumer Purchase Intention toward Online Food Delivery Service: The Implication for Future Research

In Malaysia, online food delivery service provider has experienced steady growth in term of the increasing numbers of companies offering this service. This study aims to analyze consumer purchase intention towards online food delivery service based on factors of control, convenience, needs for interaction, technology anxiety, and consumer satisfaction. Additionally, this study highlighted which service delivery provider that are more preferred by consumers and help to identify the actual demographic profile and market segments for this service. This research was carried out using a quantitative approach and data was collected using a questionnaire and distributed through an online platform. Purposive sampling was used with screening questions. Sample size was determined using power analysis with total number of 147 respondents were identified as the appropriate minimum sample size for this study. The findings indicate intention of using an online food delivery provider is strongly influenced by independent variables tested in this study. However, findings from this study have shed some light concerning the demographic profile of consumers who use services from online service delivery. For instance, it is believed that this service is much more appealing to the younger generation due to their ability to adopt a new technology and the older generations are more resistant to changes. Thus, this study has proved that generation X are the heavy users of online food delivery service due to the advantages its offers in term of convenience and satisfaction. This indicates that these segments have less resistance to new technology and services

Local Malay snacks and desserts: the hidden gems of Terengganu / Amirul Hakim Zulkifli... [et al.]

With a unique culture and vibrant tourist attractions, Terengganu has become one of the leading tourism destinations in Malaysia. Apart of stunning sceneries, islands and beaches, Terengganu cuisine has also become a tourism product for both local and foreign tourists. Situated along South China Sea, Terengganu is blessed with abundance of fish, seafood and coconut tree which become the main ingredients for most of its cuisines. Resulting from the acculturation of its neighbouring cultures, the cuisine is the melting pot of flavour from Malay and Thai. Nasi Dagang, Nasi Kerabu, Keropok Lekor, Sata, Bekang, Bronok, Qasidah, and Asam Gumpal are the iconic foods that are widely highlighted by the tourism authority. Besides all the prominent local cuisines in Terengganu there are still local cuisines that are hidden from the eyes of the public. Therefore, this paper focuses to explore Terengganu traditional Malay foods that are not typically promoted as tourism product. The study is based on secondary data gathered from journals, articles and tourism manuals. It is found that, there are aplenty other unnoticed foods that are unique to the state. These signature foods are vastly potential as attractive tourism products. This conceptual paper provides scholars and practitioner a great potential of insight view towards food as a unique identity of Terengganu that can be utilized as tourism product. Subsequently, it will lead to a well-planned strategy in order to upsurge the locals’ income and boosting the state’s economy

Antecedents of halal Malaysia brand equity based on consumers’ explicit and implicit responses

Halal Malaysia brand does not represent a specific brand instead it can be found on various product packages due to its roles as the third party endorser. This has placed Halal Malaysia brand in the risk of equity dilution due to the sensitive nature of Halal issues to Muslim consumers and the volatility of manufacturers’ commitment towards maintaining Halal standard as required by JAKIM. However, the evidence on the effectiveness of Halal Malaysia is unclear as to date there are evidences that pointed out that this brand suffers from various setback including issues related to the negative publicities and brand recognition. For the purpose of this study evaluation of Halal Malaysia brand was carried out using customer based brand equity evaluation as it allows for the brand equity to be investigated from various perspectives. The current study was carried out using mixed method approach based on consumers explicit and implicit responses. Qualitative semi structured interview was carried out to determine consumer’s explicit response and quantitative research using implicit association test instrument was also carried out to determine Halal Malaysia equity based on consumer’s implicit association. Findings showed that consumers possessed fixed mindsets which influence how they evaluate Halal Malaysia brand. This has resulted that in certain products being perceived as low tolerance which makes Halal Malaysia cue on the products to be considered as negligible cues. Furthermore, these products also can potentially undermine the credibility of Halal Malaysia as consumers faced difficulties to associate these products with Halal, hence the presence of Halal Malaysia is viewed as either fake or JAKIM has involved in some sort of unlawful activity and awarded the endorsement illegally. Hence, it is crucial for Halal Malaysia brand proprietor to use a different approach in promoting this brand and the new direction should focuses on devising better strategies in the way information is disseminated which emphasizes more on educating consumers through brand knowledge

Influence of adolescents in family food decision making in Klang Valley, Malaysia

The importance of understanding target market is crucial for the survival of business. Marketers and retailers put a lot of effort to understand how family arrived at their purchase decision because decisions in a family are not solely made by parents. Certain decisions, especially food-related decision are highly influenced by children and surprisingly parents sometime do not even realize it. This notion is supported by previous studies which suggest that level of influence children have in family decision is product related, for instance children exert high influence in low involvement product, which is less expensive such as food. Interestingly, teenagers’involvement was also found in high involvement product such as mobile phone. With very little evidence available on children’s influence in Malaysia it is very difficult to determine the level of influence that Malaysian children have in their family decision making. In addition, there is no available data to ascertain teenagers’ specific characteristic such as age group or demographic background that proves to be more influential in family decision making. This study attempted to investigate teenagers influence on family food decision making based on their utilization of bilateral strategies. One of the unique characteristic of bilateral strategies is the need for both parents and teenagers cooperation to make it work. For instance, teenagers assist parents with consumer and tasks around the house hoping that parents will comply to their request for certain specific items they need or want. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed to teenager’s age between 13 to 17 years old in selected secondary schools in Klang Valley using simple random sampling technique. Data were then \analyzed using the SPSS version 20 software. Descriptive analysis gives a general description of the respondents while comparative analysis t-Test and One way ANOVA were performed to test the differences between relevant data. Apart from that, Pearson Correlation is used to establish relationship between teenagers’ demographic and their involvement in family food decision making. Multiple regression analysis is also performed to identify the best model for this study. Bilateral strategies tested in this study have yield positive and strong correlation between all consumer activities tested namely suggesting price, product and store with perception of reward. This result will provide important data for marketers and retailers because teenagers were reported to be highly involved with such activities while older teenagers reported less involvement in consumer activities. On the other hand, performing task does not resulted with increase in influence in family food decision making, thus suggest that involvement in such activities is highly particularistic, thus the reward in form of love is more important than material goods. Apart from that, this study also found coalition strategy to influence parents purchase. Initially it is thought that single child in the family is more influential. However teenagers with three or more siblings reported high influence in family decision which indicate coalition pattern in influence attempt. Besides that, this study also highlighted the differences in influence among the three races which are Malay, Chinese and Indian which is an indication that Malaysian has difference purchasing behaviour. The finding from this study will help marketers to identify the specific family members to target rather than just targeting family, this to ensure that promotional message will be delivered to specific target effectively. Besides that, the differences in purchasing behaviour among various races should also indicate the need for developing specific promotional strategy for difference races. Future researches should focus on the different type of consumer activities because this study shows that teenagers’ involvement in consumer activities such as suggesting price, product and store are part of their strategies to influence their parents’ final decision. Apart from that, future research should also look into actual income when investigating differences in family influence rather than dual income, as dual income does not lead to positive findings in this study. Finally future studies adolescents’ involvement in such activities is a good indication that these teenagers are around when the purchase is made. Interestingly younger also test teenagers’ influence from other parts of Malaysia, including the rural areas in order to generalize the findings to the whole nation

Adolescent’s strategies and reverse influence in family food decision making

The role of adolescents in family decision making related to food consumption in Malaysia has received comparatively little or no attention by researchers although there were evidences of differences in influences found in other countries. This study addressed the research gap by testing adolescents’ bilateral strategies in influencing their family decision using family power theory. A survey of 500 adolescents from urban area was conducted to investigate their influence based on their involvement in family consumer tasks. Key findings include strong relationship between perception of influence and rewards thus indicate the existence of strategies in adolescents influence attempt