Tabung Haji's global standards for hajj management

This case is about Lembaga Tabung Haji Malaysia (TH) and its uniqueness as the first and only model of a dedicated institution in the world to systematically manage the Hajj pilgrimage. Since performing Hajj is one of the pillars in Islam, there is an increasing number of Muslims who want and are able to perform Hajj, hence the need for a systematic method of managing the whole journey. TH was established to do just that; and the institution has managed to perform effectively and efficiently throughout the years. This case study highlights among others, the role of Tabung Haji Act, TH investment and savings plans for pilgrims-to-be, and TH Staff to be among the many unique characteristics that have given the institution global recognition for hajj management

Influence of Policy Strategies, Instruments, and Malaysians’ Attitude on Sustainable Edu-tourist Industry in Malaysia

This paper proposes a theoretical model that explains predictive influence of edu-tourist policy strategies, and instruments, including, attitude of Malaysians towards international edu-tourists on sustainable edu-tourist industry in Malaysia. The design / methodology that was adopted in this article involves presentation of an hypothetical model which shows sustainable edu-tourist indusrty in Malaysia as a dependent variable been influenced by two (2) sets of  independent variables: policy strategies, and instruments, including, the mediating influence of attitude of Malaysian towards internaional edu-tourists between Malaysian edu-tourist policy strategies, and instruments, and sustainable edu-tourist industry in Malaysia. These variables, whether consciously or unconsciously influence the choice of Malaysia as a preferred edu-tourist destination country among international edu-tourists. The limitations of this study stem from the nature of the study itself.  The study integrate factors identified in existing literature that influence sustainable edu-tourist industry in other countries, hence, replicate same in the context of Malaysia.  Future research on the subject in Malaysia context will examine the existing relationships among the aforementioned variables. In particular, it will give and analyse the weight of each factor and the relative importance of each element for the factor it belongs. Therefore, determining the relative importance of each element and factors they belong would constitute an important source of information for future work on sustainable edu-tourist industry in Malaysia. Since, there are few studies which try to examine the influence of policy strategies,and instruments, including, the mediating effects of attitudes of Malaysian towards internaional edu-tourists between edu-tourist policy strategies, and instruments, and sustainable edu-tourist industry in Malaysia from an integrated point of view, this paper contributes to bridging the gap. Keywords: Policy Strategies, Policy Instruments,  Edu-tourism, Edu-tourist

Electronic word of mouth: exploring the consumer perspective

The aim of the paper is to review the phenomena of traditional word of mouth and electronic word of mouth based on consumer behaviour perspective. Customers are increasingly using social media in their purchase decisions. Scholars have shown that positive electronic word of mouth has a significantly positive effect on purchase intention, while negative electronic word of mouth has greater negative impact on purchase intention. This study seeks to examine relevant literature regarding the impact of electronic word of mouth on business and consumers’ behaviour. It is crucial to understand in depth on the impact of electronic word of mouth towards consumption patterns since technology has been widely used in disseminating information

Tabung Haji research and development (R&D): initiating best practices

This is a case study highlighting the best practices of Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH). Among the TH pioneer initiatives discussed include the recognition by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the creation of pilgrim medical treatment record book (Buku Rekod Rawatan Jemaah Haji – BRRJH), and the invention of the pilgrim tracking management system. Apart from that, TH had also implemented extensive trainings for pilgrims, trainers and hajj facilitators, applied computerized system on rooms/buses/tents allocation for pilgrims, and the creation of the online ibadah and online counselling. These research and development initiatives portrayed TH’s continuous efforts in improving their services in assisting pilgrims in their Hajj journey

Understanding women experiences and decision making in choosing birthplace

Understanding consumer behaviour pertaining to healthcare consumption is vital in assessing and improving the service quality. Maternity care is one the largest division that most of the healthcare provider holds within the community of healthcare market and childbirth is most common reported cases. Choosing the ideal birthplace is one of the pivotal decision in childbirth process and the decision made are influences by different attributes. Understanding women’s experiences during the childbirth process provide useful insights on how experiences influence the decision made. Intense competition and lucrative industry required healthcare provider to further understand the consumer need and demand as well focusing more towards customer-centred strategy.Purpose of this article is to discuss and review the relevant literature regarding the childbirth experiences and birthplace choice phenomenon from the lenses of consumer

Predicting muslim consumers’ purchase intention of previously retracted and recertified halal products / Nurul Syuhada Mohd Yunus, Raja Nerina Raja Yusof and Haslinda Hashim.

The purpose of this paper is to test the influence of attitude, subjective norms, brand image and halal knowledge on the purchase intention of previously retracted and recertified Halal products among Muslim consumers. This study used self-administered questionnaires that were distributed using convenience sampling. A total of 200 questionnaires were collected from respondents in Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak. The findings of the study revealed that attitude, subjective norms and brand image significantly predict Muslim consumers’ purchase intention of previously retracted and recertified Halal products. However, halal knowledge was found to be insignificant towards purchase intention. The findings are primarily beneficial for the marketers of halal products by offering an insight into the intention of consumers to purchase products that had previously been retracted off their Halal certification

Predicting muslim consumers’ purchase intention of previously retracted and recertified halal products

The purpose of this paper is to test the influence of attitude, subjective norms, brand image and halal knowledge on the purchase intention of previously retracted and recertified Halal products among Muslim consumers. This study used self-administered questionnaires that were distributed using convenience sampling. A total of 200 questionnaires were collected from respondents in Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak. The findings of the study revealed that attitude, subjective norms and brand image significantly predict Muslim consumers’ purchase intention of previously retracted and recertified Halal products. However, halal knowledge was found to be insignificant towards purchase intention. The findings are primarily beneficial for the marketers of halal products by offering an insight into the intention of consumers to purchase products that had previously been retracted off their Halal certification

Halal food supply chain knowledge and purchase intention

This study examines the influence of halal supply chain knowledge on Muslim and non-Muslim consumers’ intention to purchase halal food products. This includes knowledge of halal feed, the halal slaughtering process, halal handling and storage, halal packaging, halal logistics, and halal retail. Convenience sampling was used as the sampling method for the study. Targeted respondents were both Muslim and non-Muslim consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya (Klang Valley) in Malaysia. Based on the suggestion from Roscoe (1975), 360 respondents were targeted for this study. Out of 360 questionnaires distributed, 304 (84 percent) were usable and valid for further analysis. This study focused on knowledge supply chains and further identified that knowledge has a direct influence on consumers’ purchase intention for halal food. Knowledge of halal slaughtering, storage, and packaging, in particular, are among the best predictors of consumers’ purchase intention for halal food. Shaari and Arifin (2010) found that knowledge is a key influence in halal purchase intention. However, in terms of the supply chain, knowledge of the process tends to be focused around people in the industry and not general consumers. Hence, this study investigated how far consumers’ knowledge of halal supply chains affects their purchase intention

The effect of sociocultural identities on study destination choice

There are very few studies that consider the relationship between sociocultural identities and tourists’ destination choices, in which almost none focusing on the education tourism context. The objective of this research was to examine the effect of national identity, consumer cosmopolitanism and consumer ethnocentrism on international study destination choice. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were distributed to final year high school students, with a usable response rate of 75.83%. The data were analysed using partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The study found a significant positive effect of consumer cosmopolitanism on students’ intention to study in Australia based on their perceived image of the destination and institutions. Contrary to the proposed hypothesis, national identity had a significant positive effect on the destination image of Australia

Relationship between product factors, advertising, and purchase intention of halal cosmetic

More customers are aware of Halal products, especially among Muslim customers living in multi-religious societies such as Malaysia. The trend is customers are also becoming more conscious about the permissibility (Halal) of a wide range of products ranging from food, financial and non-financial products, to tourism and health products. This apparently has prompted marketers operating in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products to revise their strategies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between five product factors; namely, brand, price, quality, ingredients and labelling and purchase intention of Halal cosmetic and toiletry products. The study also examined the role of advertising in the relationship between product factors and purchase intention. For this purpose, a structured questionnaire was designed based on items adapted from previous studies. Data were collected from 200 adult Muslim respondents using a convenience sampling method. Pearson Correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to test the proposed model. The results indicated that all product factors are significantly correlated with purchase intention. The results further indicate that advertising is a mediator for price-purchase intention relationship, but not a mediator to other product factors-purchase intention relationships. This study provides insights into how consumers behave in purchasing Halal products, given five product factors of brand, price, quality, ingredients and labelling. It is argued in this research that the presence of advertising may not change the intention to purchase Halal products but price may influence purchase intention