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The concept of functional foods is not new to the Malaysian people. Functional foods as traditional medicine have made tremendous contributions over the past couple of centuries. The growth in the economy, coupled with a strong desire among the Malaysian consumers to maintain a healthy lifestyle has made functional foods an alternative medicine among the populace. Although the consumption of functional foods is increasing in Malaysia, relatively little is known about the factors which affect consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods. The purpose of this paper is to determine Malaysian consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods.

A survey was conducted in the country where 2,004 household were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) and health belief model were adopted and modified in this study. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the collected data.

The results have shown that the data set was normal, valid and reliable. Attitude has a partial mediating effect on perceived barriers, perceived susceptibility and perceived benefits which influence consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods. Nevertheless attitude had no mediation effect on subjective norms for consumers to form their intention to purchase natural functional foods. In other word, subjective norms had a direct influence on consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods.

The main concern of this paper is about the factors which affect consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods. However the results from this paper are limited in terms of determining consumer purchasing behavior for natural functional foods.

The paper expands on the TRA and health belief model to examine the factors which influence Malaysian consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Basic Student Entrepreneurial Programme (BSEP) among local university graduates who have undergone the training programme in entrepreneurship development.

In total, 410 respondents who had participated in BSEP were interviewed with a structural questionnaire to gather information on their social attitude towards the effectiveness of BSEP on their intention to become an agri‐entrepreneur. Chi‐square analysis was used to determine the relationship between demographic variables towards motivating agri‐entrepreneurship among the participants.

The results show that the participants agreed upon the effectiveness of BSEP in developing graduates’ intention towards becoming agri‐entrepreneurs. The results also show that there is a significant relationship between three variables which motivate participants to become agri‐entrepreneurs. These were the origin of the participant, the presence of family members already involved in entrepreneurial activities and educational background.

The paper is only concerned with students’ perceptions towards the effectiveness of BSEP in encouraging them to become agri‐entrepreneurs. The results from this paper are limited in terms of determining whether they really become an agri‐entrepreneur or not because this research only focuses on intention.

The paper provides an important exploratory analysis of the BSEP programme to enable further research to take place in the area of entrepreneurship education. The findings provide a valuable insight on effective teaching methodologies in the area of entrepreneurship education.

The paper expands on Ajzen's framework to provide a basis to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in Malaysia.

The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that most likely influence non‐Muslims' understanding of Halal principles in a country where almost 60 percent of the population is Muslim.

Cross‐sectional data were collected through a survey of 800 non‐Muslims in the Klang Valley, via structured questionnaires, to gather information on their understanding of Halal principles and food products. The logit model was applied to determine the extent to which socio environment factors influenced the respondents' understanding and familiarities with Halal principles and Halal food products.

The results of this study suggest that non‐Muslim consumers are aware of the existence of Halal food in Malaysia. In general, socio‐environmental factors such as mixing with Muslims socially and the presence of advertised Halal food significantly influence non‐Muslims' understanding of Halal principles. The findings also suggest that non‐Muslims understand that Halal principles are also concerned about food safety issues and environmentally friendly ways of doing things.

The research used a quantitative method to analyse 800 non‐Muslim respondents in the Klang Valley only.

The practical implications extend to food policy decision makers and food marketers who might pursue strategies in their distribution and communication efforts which target the growing Halal food market segment among non‐Muslims. Dissemination of information plays an important role in making non‐Muslims improve their understanding of Halal principles.

This study is one of the first to investigate the level of understanding of Halal principles among non‐Muslims in Malaysia.

The aim of this study is to examine the level service quality from the perspective of food manufacturers. Malaysia is gearing towards becoming a major player in the world Halal market. Its Halal certification is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM). The process of awarding Halal certificates involves not only an official site inspection of production plants but also the examination on the Halal status of raw materials. In 2007, JAKIM only approved 75 percent of the total number of applications for Halal certification.

A total of 547 small and medium‐sized enterprise manufacturers in Malaysia represented the population for this study. SERVQUAL gap analysis was used to measure the gap between clients' expectations and their perceptions of JAKIM's services.

The results of the analysis indicate that the biggest gap was in the empathy dimension, followed by responsiveness, reliability, assurance and tangibles. The results show that JAKIM had not met food manufacturers' expectations in all five service quality dimensions, especially the empathy dimension.

Practical implications extend to food policy decision makers involved in JAKIM to develop and formulate appropriate strategies to meet the needs of its clients more effectively.

JAKIM could design training programs by emphasizing on the issues of human factors in service delivery, in particular the requirements of customer care, work ethics and human relations skills. Training in customer relationships is important and this applies to employees at all levels.

The present paper attempts to investigate the awareness of coastal community towards climate change in Malaysia and to explore the factors associated with their awareness toward the climate change.

This is a quantitative study where a set of questionnaires was developed based on reviews of literature and series of instrument development meeting. Through a multi-stage cluster sampling, a total of 210 respondents from three coastal villages in Peninsular Malaysia were selected.

The coastal community are shown to record a high mean score on their awareness toward changes relating to the sea, temperatures and the coast. Surprisingly, fishermen are found to be less aware toward climate change compared to other groups, such as housewives/retirees and students. Further analysis confirms that there are significant differences regarding coastal community awareness to changes relating to the sea, temperatures and the coast.

This study represented the answers of 210 respondents who were randomly selected from three coastal villages in Peninsular Malaysia, and the results might be enriched if the number of respondents is increased and respondents from other villages are included. A future study should be conducted to gather information on the possible effects, rather than focusing on the respondents’ awareness. Additionally, because of the nature of the topic, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and officers from environment-related agencies should cooperate during the research.

It is recommended that information management activities with regard to the climate change should be actively conducted by NGOs, universities and related parties.

Most of the related studies are scientific in nature, leading to a gap relating to the social aspects of climate change, particularly in terms of communities’ awareness toward the climate change. Moreover, a number of local studies have produced inconsistencies in term of their results regarding the awareness of the climate change among the community. In response to this, the current study aims to fill this gap.

The purpose of this paper is to study the correlational and effect relationship between Halal standards and the performance of Halal-certified Palestinian Food Companies.

Quantitative method was used, using a questionnaire survey of 40 Halal-certified Palestinian organizations out of a total of 47 certified organizations, the analysis was done using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and the literature review was conducted using a well-known systematic literature review methodology.

Halal implementation and certification had a positive impact on performance (operational, financial and marketing). The depth/intensity of implementation fully mediates operational performance and partially mediates marketing and financial performance.

As the sample size is small, it is recommended to conduct the study using a larger sample size, once the number of Palestinian Halal-certified organizations increases. A longitudinal or panel study is recommended to capture data that are more accurate and avoid objectivity and bias issues using a cross-sectional research design method. Finally, the study recommends to conduct additional research in the field of Halal awareness for customers to gage their intention and welling to buy Halal products within the Middle East region.

The importance of this study exists in the lack of previous Halal-related studies in the Palestinian context and the previously described gap in the literature. Nevertheless, the quality management drivers and impact are limited in the Palestinian context compared with other contexts; the results of the previously published studies revealed mixed results such as the drivers of quality management are based on the type of business. Finally, this research gives small insights and directions toward conducting additional studies concerning customer awareness about Halal products.

This study aims to explore non-Muslim tourists’ general halal food preferences, motivations for tasting halal food during their recent trips, positive and negative emotions and memorable dimensions associated with their recent halal food experiences after returning from holiday.

Data were collected using the authors’ personal networks and Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) using a questionnaire. An email containing a link to the questionnaire was sent to the authors’ personal networks and posted on MTurk in January 2021.

Of the 311 non-Muslim respondents, more than half considered themselves as food neophiliacs and considered halal food experiences as imperative whilst travelling. However, tasting halal food was not a major travel motivation. Novelty and taste were the two main motivations for tasting halal food whilst at a tourism destination. Emotions elicited by halal food experiences focussed on “joy” and “love”. The proposed conceptual framework for memorable halal food experiences comprises several dimensions: taste, spending time with family and friends, novelty, quality and safety, hospitality, ambience (setting/servicescape) and experiencing others’ culture through food.

This is one of the first studies to explore non-Muslim tourists’ motives, emotions and memorable dimensions of halal food experiences.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the awareness level of non-Muslim consumers to purchasing halal food products. Research on the non-Muslim consumers’ awareness towards purchasing halal food products is poorly understood so far in South Africa.

An exploratory case study was adopted to explore new points of views about a particular issue, which is unknown, or not much known about it, to formulate ideas or propositions. Semi-structured interviews were the major primary data collection method. Four non-Muslim consumers from different settings purposively were selected. Thematic data analysis procedures were used.

The study found that non-Muslim consumers in Cape Town have a positive awareness of halal food, including its benefits and the production processes involved in producing it. The study also concluded that halal is not merely a commercial name using as a trademark in the global market. However, halal has several dimensions; primarily, for non-Muslim consumers, it is a mark of health and hygiene. With regard to psychological aspect, halal is considered as a sign of trust, comfortable and safe. It gives consumers a peace of mind when they consume food products that carry the halal label.

Limitations in the study should be acknowledged. The main limitation of the study is that a small sample size was selected for this study. Another limitation is that the study was only conducted in the city of Cape Town.

This is the first qualitative study of its kind that presents an empirical evidence about the awareness of the non-Muslim consumers towards purchasing halal food products in South Africa, in general, and in Cape Town, in particular.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the halal certification–logistics performance relationship by means of developing a theoretical model and to suggest areas for future research undertakings. The relationship between various forms of certification and logistics performance has been reported in many logistics literature. However, there is paucity in research concerning the relationship between halal certification and logistics performance.

The literature representing the concept of halal, halal logistics, institutional support and logistics performance are synthesised to develop a framework. Two distinguished management theories, namely, the resource-based view (RBV) and institutional theory, set the foundation of the proposed theoretical framework.

The paper suggests that proper application of resources, in this case halal certification, could positively influence logistics performance. The paper asserts that governmental factors act as the moderator between the halal certification–logistics performance relationship, or could directly influence logistics performance.

The paper presents a synthesis of previously unconnected variables of halal certification and logistics performance, and integrates the RBV and institutional theories as the basis for a theoretical framework. However, the proposed theoretical framework requires further validation through the supports of additional empirical research.

Apart from implementing halal certification as a tool to gain business legitimacy, the paper offers insights to logistics service provider as to how halal certification can be used as a mechanism to improve organisational performance, particularly logistics performance.

This paper is one of the first to establish the relation between halal certification and logistics performance and highlights the prominent role of government support as an independent and moderating factor. It constitutes a preliminary argument that entices research within the halal certification and halal logistics spectrum.

This study aims to examine attitude, perceived behavioral and religiosity that influence Muslim consumers’ intention in patronizing at food premises with halal logo.

The data were collected from 450 respondents on random sampling basis. Quantitative analysis was conducted using SEM SMARTPLS version 3.3.

Based on the findings gathered using PLS analysis with n = 450, it was indicated that attitude, perceived behavioral control and religiosity significantly influence Muslim consumers’ intention on patronizing at food premise with halal logo.

The data collection for the present study was limited to the respondents in Kuala Lumpur among Muslim consumers, and limited to 450 sample sizes.

The presence of halal logo should be crucial in attracting consumers due to the comprehensive meaning it brings.

In the context of food premises, the results of the research suggest that the halal logo shown by the food premise seems to operate significantly in attracting Muslim consumers toward the food premises. Muslim consumers need to be nourished by proper Islamic teachings and have a good understanding of halal principle.

The halal logo of food premise concerns the Muslims. Muslim consumers are relying on surrogates in selecting the alternatives for packaged goods in Islamic marketing literature. However, it is little known how Muslims use indicators to select food premises when there is no halal logo.