Awareness and Perception of Muslim Consumers on Non-Food Halal Product

Halal has become the lifestyle of Muslim consumers in the world. As the Muslim populations increasing throughout the world, the awareness on consuming Halal also goes in the same parallel trend. In Malaysia, Halal food certification and management are given a lot of attention by the consumers, producers and regulators. However, Halal is not only covering only food consumption but also for nonfood products such as cosmetics, toiletries, pharmaceuticals, leather products, perfume and fragrances, brushes and so on. The services such as banking, entertainment, tourism, and logistic also related to Halal requirements. Thus, this research paper aims to investigate the awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food Halal products and to identify the factors that influence the awareness and perception of consumers to the non-food Halal products. Moreover, this research also aims to confirm whether the identified variables have the strong influence to the level of awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food Halal product. The samples of the research consisted of 236 government servants in the state of Selangor. The data are collected through questionnaire and analysed using the descriptive statistics, factor analysis and multiple regression. The results of the study revealed that the factors derived from factor analysis are: Halal information (X1), Availability (X2), Halal on media (X3) and Halal programmes(X4). Based on correlation and regression analysis, it is predicted that all factors are significant except for Halal programmes (X4). This study implicates that Halal-related programmes by related organisations in Halal industry is still lacking in promoting the Halal awareness and perception on non-food products.


Introduction
Muslim population all over the world now are nearly 2 billion. Report by IrfanSungkar in Halal Journal (May & June, 2009) estimated the Muslims in the world now is 1.73 billion and it will be increased by 1.85 billion in 2010. Kettani (2010) in his proceeding paper "2010 World Muslim Population" estimated that Muslim population in 2010 is 1.65 billion. Source: Kettani (2010) From Table 1, it is estimated that Muslims in 222 countries are 1.65 billion with the largest Muslim population is in Asia continent which amounting 69 percent out of total Muslim in the world. It is followed by Africa continent which have 27 percent of Muslims. Table 1 also shows that the Muslim population in the world is getting bigger. Not to mention, the population growth of Muslims in the world is estimated to increase by 1.705% annually (Kettani, 2010). Thus, it creates more demand and larger consumption of Halal products, including food, non-food product and services. In addition, the Muslim nowadays has greater awareness in getting Halal food, products and services. It became a lifestyle and culture for a Muslim world where every single consumer product is needed to legally permit by Shari'ah for consumption such as meat, poultry, raw food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, insurance, finance, banking, tourism, supply chain and many more. The creation of high demand and larger

Continent Population
Muslim ( consumption of Muslim in the world is divided in two market segments which are the Muslim majority countries and Muslim minority countries. These market segments make up to 20% of the world population (Hunter, 2012). According to the estimates revealed by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2004, Muslims is the second largest community in the world after Christians (Hisyam, 2006).By 2010, as the global Muslim population increase by 2.5% annually ,the same goes to the expected demand of Halal food and non-food Halal products and it is expected to achieve USD 2.1trillion or RM36.2 trillion a year (Abdul Aziz et al., 2010 andNew Straits Times, May 13, 2008 In terms of investment, the statistics has shown that Halal industries have shown the growth in investment of the Halal food and non-food sectors. The approved investments for food and non-food industries (medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and toiletries) had doubled from RM 3billion to RM 7.2 billion from 1996 to 2005 (Talib, Zailani & Zainuddin, 2010). This is a proof that Halal market is not only concern on food but also non-food sectors. Referring to the perception of Muslim consumers today, the term Halal for them only applies to food. Abdul Aziz et al. (2010) said that Halal does not only applicable to food, but also to non-food product like clothing, business transaction, job, monetary, investment and also relationship between human. The same notion also argued by Shaari and MohdAriffin (2010) and Abdul Aziz and Vui (2012) by stating that most of the time, Halal management only associated with food, rather it also covers a lot of areas such as purchase intention, income source, attitude toward advertisement, product, word of mouth and religiosity. In fact, Halal matters covered all consumable products like toiletries, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and services (Hanzaee andRamezani, 2011 andAhmad et al., 2011). This result to the standard setters such as Malaysian Halal Standard (MHS), HACCP and GMP are becoming more stringent toward the food processing plants, hotel operations, pharmacies, cosmetics, and etc. (Abdul Aziz and Vui, 2012). The realms of Halal is becoming wider, with the attention and concentrations shift to the other consumption products and services as the new market to be captured by producers and industrial countries (Esfahani and Shahnazari, 2013). Due to the issues highlighted above, this study aims to investigate the awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food Halal products and to identify the factors that influence the awareness and perception of consumers to the non-food Halal products.

Literature Review
For non-food product, the complications of the ingredients and derivatives become more complex due to modern technology and scarcity of the natural resources.  , Swidiet.al.,2010and TheStarOnline.com, 2010. Such studies are also limited due to interpretation of Halal to the non-food product itself that vary according to schools of thoughts (madzahib) across the regions, for example the use of alcohol (ethanol) as fragrance (Hunter, 2012). Hin Yuen Choy, managing director of Unza, a consumer product manufacturer has said, "A lot is about interpretation. Conservative Muslim may wish to avoid alcohol together." (halalfocus.net as cited by IHIA, 2010). In specific studies in non-food Halal product sector, it shows that consumer goodssuch as cosmetics, personal care (including perfume and toiletries) and pharmaceuticals (nutraceuticals included) are the areas of attention. This has been proven by the initiation of Malaysian Halal Standard in cosmetics, personal care and pharmaceuticals (HDC, 2011). The huge figure of sales and market estimation of these two sectors; a cosmetic cum personal care and pharmaceuticals in media is one of the proofs that Malaysia is now venturing and achieving success in these sectors with experts and specialist in the house.
According to a survey by KasehDia Consultation, there is a low of awareness on Halal cosmetics. However the awareness to get the Halal cosmetic is importantly increasing gradually and the consumer are ready to purchase the Halal cosmetics if they are available in the market. The survey found that approximately 57.6 per cent Muslims in Singapore and 37.7 per cent Muslims in Indonesia are aware on getting Halal cosmetics, and more than half are finding difficulties in searching for Halal cosmetics. The Head of KasehDia Consultation claimed that, "the current level of awareness on Halal cosmetics is still low, but it is definitely increasing." The main problem of low awareness on getting Halal cosmetics is due to the availability of Halal cosmetics in the market, contributed by the difficulties to get access to the raw materials and ingredients that are Halal certified to preserve the Halal integrity (Kamaruzaman, 2008, also cited by Teng &Wan Jusoh, 2013 andSwidi et al., 2010).
Halal Information: Teng & Wan Jusoh (2013) found that 89.1 per cent from 578 respondents are aware/know about Halal cosmetics and personal care, while 74.6 per cent of the same respondent is using the Halal cosmetics and personal care. For awareness and knowledge sources, matters like 'heard about that', 'used to heard', 'used to read', 'discuss and tell' comes from personal and impersonal source of information (Teng & Wan Jusoh, 2013). The updates from the Halal authorities also important so that consumers can check the Halal status every time the hesitancy of Halal status take place. 98 per cent of the 50 consumers in Klang Valley confirmed that it is very important of getting Halal updates from authorities on each Halal status of a manufacturer (Anir et al., 2008).

Availability:
The availability is always a concern on the non-food Halal product because it is a new emerging sector on the rise. The Muslim consumers are willing to purchase Halal cosmetics and personal care if the product is available (Kamaruzaman, 2008). The availability of Halal cosmetics in the market is a significant factor in the study of the perception of Halal cosmetics products by Abdul Aziz et al. (2010). The availability of Halal cosmetics in Malaysia has been pioneered by 30 years ago by Unza under brand name Safi (Swidi et al., 2010 andIHIA, 2010). Safi has produced a lot of personal care range like shower cream, fragrance, toothpaste, deodorants, and many more. To be certified Halal, the source materials or raw materials of the products also should be Halal-certified.
Halal on Media: Media coverage in this study comprises the matter of the source of information on Halal product which consist of all media available such as television, radio, internet, banner/billboard/outdoor display, magazines, posters, brochures, bulletin, newspaper, documentaries, articles, advertisement, sales promotion and so on (Che Omar, 2013;Rahim & Pawanteh, 2009;Ayanwale et al., 2005;TheStarBiz, 2012). MohdAmri Abdullah, Deputy Director of JAKIM Halal Hub said that the spreading information about Halal concepts and its significance should be circulated in Halal website, dialogues, seminars, foreign embassy, foreign Islamic organizations and dissemination in media (Hassan, 2010). Not only promulgate awareness on Halal product to consumer, promotion also has significant relationship with the awareness related to the intention to buy Halal product (Abdul Aziz and Vui, 2012).Consumers are practically influenced by what they saw in television and Internet that drive their purchasing decision (Swidi et al., 2010). Halal programmes for students (Ahmad et al., 2011;Hassan, 2011) There are also some government organization, non-government organization (NGO) and private companies that engage in promoting awareness of the consumers on Halal product through any means of promotional activities like Halal conference, Halal seminar, Halal auditor training, Halal forum and so on. However, from webpages of the institutions, companies and departments, those activities required tad expensive fees and limited at certain urban areas. All things considered, Figure 1 illustrates the theoretical framework of the study.

Methodology
Data for this study is collected through questionnaire. The sampling for this study is 236 government servants in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The response of the questionnaire was measured by Likerttype Scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The data collected then was analysed by the means of Cronbach reliability analysis, factor analysis, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis via Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 16 computer programme. For factor analysis, KMO and Bartlett test are used to measure the adequacy of the data. As suggested by Kaiser, KMO-Bartlett test that yields value over 0.5 is acceptable (Ridwan Shah et al., 2008). Cronbach reliability analysis is performed from the data of factor analysis component. The value according to Nunnally (1978) should equal or exceed 0.70. To perform multiple regression analysis, Pearson correlation are to measure the correlation among the factors, the value is ranging from -1 to 1, with positive value shows the positive linear correlation while negative value shows the negative linear correlation (Fah & Hoon, 2009). Furthermore, multicollinearity test and Shapiro-Wilk normality test will be performed to ensure the multicollinearity and normality of the data. For multicollinearity test, if the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) value is not exceeding 10 and Tolerance (TOL) value exceeding 1, it shows no multicollinearity. For Shapiro-Wilk normality test, if the p-value is larger than p=0.05, it indicate the normality distribution of the data. Multiple regression analysis is the measurement on calculating the contribution of every independent variable to the dependent variables simultaneously. Its common application is to measure the degree of correlation among variables (Galloway, 2004). Least square method is used to estimate the slope and the intercept of y-axis of the regression line while the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) is used to examine the contribution of the independent variable to variance of dependent variable (Fah & Hoon, 2009).

Result and Analysis
Profile . The analysis also demonstrates that most of the respondents earn RM 2100 -RM 2800 per month (28.4%) and RM 2801 -RM 3500 per month (22.5%). The government servants in this study consisted from Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) as the majority group which is 21.6%, followed by 11.4% respondents from Jabatan Kehakimandan Syariah Selangor (JAKESS) and 8.9% respondents from Jabatan Pembangunan dan Perusahaan Negeri Selangor (JPPS). Table 2 the value of KMO test is 0.598. The value has exceeds the required value for factor analysis which is 0.5. This means that the data can be used factor analysis for data reduction. From the Bartlett's Test of Sphericity, the observed value is 0.000, which is less than significance value 0.05. This indicates that the data can be preceded for factor analysis. .000 Table 3 shows the rotated component matrix of the awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food Halal product. There are four factors that explained the factors of the awareness and perception on non-food Halal product with 27.85 total variations. The value of factor loading of 0.5 or more is kept as specified by Ridwan Shah et al. (2008) and Shaari and MohdAriffin (2010). Halal information (X1) explain 13.06%, Availability (X2) explain 5.743%, while Halal on Media (X3) and Halal Programmes (X4) explain 5.13% and 3.92% respectively. To interpret the independent component based on the varimax rotated matrix as given in Table 3, it shows that the Factor X1 (Halal Information) delineates a cluster of relationship among the following attributes are 'I always bought Halal product'(HI 1), 'I know and familiar with Halal product' (HI 2), 'I used to read about Halal product' (HI 3), 'I satisfied when buying Halal product' ( HI 4), 'I used to heard about Halal product'(HI 5), 'Halal issues is interesting to me' (HI 6), 'I believe Malaysia is able to become Global Halal Hub' (HI 7), 'Halal product is safe and have a good quality' (HI 8), 'Halal product make feel secure and confidence when performing my prayer or performing Hajj' (HI 9), 'Halal product is allowed by Shariah for consumption' (HI 10), and 'I know about Halal product' (HI 11). The highly loaded variable in this factor suggests that it can be named 'Halal information'. This "Halal information" factor contributes around 13.06 per cent of the awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food Halal product. Because factor X1 (Halal Information) has the highest eigenvalues and variance, (eigenvalue = 11.361, variance = 13.058%) it is necessary to be considered as the major factor that influence the awareness and perception of non-food product.

Rotated Component Matrix:
The second factor delineates a cluster of relationship among 'I don't know any Halal cosmetics or Halal skincare' (AV 1), 'I don't know any Halal health product' (AV 2), and 'Halal skincare only available at small shops rather than major shopping complex' (AV 3). The nature of the second higher loaded variable on this factor suggests that it can be named as "Availability", which contributes about 5 per cent of the awareness and perception of Muslim consumers. It is the second higher eigenvalue and variance  Cronbach Reliability Analysis: The value shown through this data indicates the high reliability. The value of 0.761 is acceptable and exceeded the Nunnally's (1978) requirement which is 0.70.

Table 4: Cronbach Reliability Analysis
Pearson Correlation Analysis: Correlation analysis is to measure the degree of which the two variables are linearly correlated. Table 5 shows the correlation matrix between Awareness and Perception and the four factors; Halal information (X1), Availability (X2), Halal on Media (X3) and Halal Programme (X4). The value indicate that there is strong positive correlation between awareness and perception and Halal Information (X1) and Availability (X2) with value of 0.684 and 0.556 respectively (+0.50 < r < +1.00). It also demonstrate that there is weak positive correlation between awareness and perception and Halal on

Shapiro -Wilk Normality Test:
The Shapiro-Wilk normality test has proved the normality of the data distribution. According to Table 7 the p-value (sig = .085) is larger than p=0.05, thus it is interpreted that the data distribution is normal and can be proceeded for multiple regression analysis. Where β0 ,β1, β2, β3, β4 = Parameters Table 8 also shows that the Halal Information coefficient is 0.666. It means that a unit increase in seeking or getting the Halal information of the consumers on non-food product, the awareness and perception on non-food Halal product will increase 0.666 units, at p < 0.05 (sig = 0.000). This significant result suggests that the Halal information level of Muslim consumers on non-food product is significantly to the level of awareness and perception on non-food Halal product. The Availability coefficient is 0.558. It means that a unit increase in availability of non-food product, the awareness and perception on non-food Halal product will increase 0.558 units, at p < 0.05 (sig = 0.000). This significant result suggests that the availability of non-food product is significantly to the level of awareness and perception on non-food Halal product.
Besides, the result also shows that the Halal on Media coefficient is 0.248. It means that a unit increase in Halal non-food product in media, the awareness and perception on non-food Halal product will increase 0.248 units, at p < 0.05 (sig = 0.000). This significant result suggests that the media coverage of non-food product is significant to the level of awareness and perception on non-food Halal product. The table also demonstrated that the Halal programmes coefficient is 0.030. It means that a unit increase in Halal programmes, the awareness and perception on non-food Halal product will increase by 0.030 units. The p-value shows that the Halal programme is not significant to the level of awareness and perception on non-food Halal product (p > 0.05, sig = 0.305).  Table 9 shows the R 2 and Adjusted R 2 value of the regression model using the variables from factor analysis before. The R 2 is 0.834 and significant at p= 0.000. This means that the independent variables 83 per cent of the variation in the dependent variable. It is interpreted that 83 per cent of awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food Halal product has been significantly explained by the independent variables in the model. R 2 value is an indicator of how well the model fits the data. However, R 2 tends to somewhat over-estimate the success of the model when it is applied in the real world application, thus Adjusted R 2 is calculated, which take s into account the number of variables in the model and the number of observations (respondents). This Adjusted R 2 is valued at 0.831 hence we can say that 83 per cent of the variation of independent variables explains the awareness and perception of Muslim consumers for non-food Halal product as independent variable. This means that only the remaining 17 per cent of the awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food product is explained by other factors. Based on the result in table 8, the model can now expressed as follows: Y = β0 + β1X1 + β2X2 + β3X3 + β4X4 AWARENESS & PERCEPTION = 93.44 + 6.92HalalInformation + 5.66Availability + 2.52HalalonMedia + 0.31HalalProgramme Table 9: Model Summary for Each Predictor Using Enter Process

Conclusion and Recommendations
In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the factors of awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food Halal product. The paper is based on data collected from government servant in Selangor. The study found that there are four factors that influence the awareness and perception of Muslim consumers on non-food Halal product that are extracted from factor analysis. which has been measured via multiple regression analysis. The other factors such Halal information (X1), Availability (X2) and Halal on Media (X3) are statistically significant to contribute to the variation of the awareness and perception on Halal non-food products. This study implicates that regulators and stakeholders in the Halal industry are to take into considerations the measures that significantly contribute to the variation to the perception and awareness of the consumers. Players from Halal nonfood sector could initiate measures related to Halal information, Halal product availability and Halal information in media in order to build up awareness of consumers towards their products. This study can be considered as a first step to explore into more specific non-food products that include the other dimensions like purchasing intention, willingness to pay, consumer confidence, attitude, and many more.