144 American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) ISSN (Print) 2313-4410, ISSN (Online) 2313-4402 © Global Society of Scientific Research and Researchers http://asrjetsjournal.org/ The Factors That Influence Trust and Confidence in the Halal Food Information Sources and Institutions in Malaysia Hasnat Md. Abua*, Talukder Kamrul Islamb, Shuvo Shahriar Hasanc, Mubasshira Tasnimd aDepartment of Finance, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuala Lumpur, 53100, Malaysia b,cDepartment of Marketing, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuala Lumpur, 53100,Malaysia dBachelor of Business Administration, United International University (UIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh aEmail: abuhasnat400@gmail.com bEmail: kamrulislam1290@gmail.com cEmail: shahriarshuvo613@gmail.com dEmail: taskam9096@gmail.com Abstract This paper explored the factors that influence trust and confidence in the halal food information sources and institutions in Malaysia. A survey involving 151 participants was used. A Kruskal–Wallis test indicated that there was a significant difference in trust in information sources for halal food, between the information sources groups. Mann–Whitney U-tests indicated that IIUM respondents trusted Independent information sources more than media and commercials sources. Muslims are more trusted over media and commercial sources. However, there was no significant difference between commercial and media and commercial sources, Independent information sources and Muslim sources. But, there was a significant difference between Independent information sources and commercial sources, Muslim and commercial sources. These results suggest that Students of the respondents have a high degree of trust in the information sources regarding halal food in Malaysia. They really have confidence in the local institutions regulating and related to halal food industries and a moderate confidence in foreign institutions. Keywords: Trust; Confidence; Halal Food; Malaysia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Corresponding author. http://asrjetsjournal.org/ American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 145 1. Background of the Study Dietary regimens in most religions are quite strict but most incumbents of their respective religions do stick to it. According to a study done by [12] that the most migrant Muslims in the US still eat Halal. This couldn’t be truer for Muslim migrants as well as Malaysian Muslims themselves living in Malaysia. It must be admitted that there is a possibility that things can go wrong in a country where the Halal business is quite mature. The aspect that is going to be looked into is the integrity of the local players and stakeholders of the Halal food value chain within Malaysia. Malaysia is a case in point. Even though Islam is the state religion the non-Muslim minority is quite sizeable. Thus often there are scandals concerning the integrity of the Halal value chain mostly due to negligence on the part of the players involved. These things are unheard of in countries who, either have a very negligible non-Muslim minority or not at all like Pakistan. The reason being, that there is no existence of non- Halal foods in Pakistan. In Malaysia, for instance, a high-profile bread manufacturer High 5 had a non-Halal oil sourcing scare, believed to be imported from Israel or Germany and its Halal credence was jeopardized (The Malay Mail, 14th September 2006). What is needed is to have a system to measure the integrity of the value chain in the country overall and keep monitoring it to have a bird’s eye view by measuring the perceptions of the Muslim consumer because they are the first to know. This is important because even though there are scandals now and then but the Malaysian Halal brand is quite strong and lucrative. If a measure of the Muslim consumer's trust and confidence could be made in Malaysia it would lead to a beginning of a branding goodwill that would be a safety net for this very viable industry. It would also be interesting to note as to which stakeholders deserve the lion’s share of the branding integrity so to speak in the Halal food value chain so that mistakes can be rectified in a proactive manner. Otherwise, even if the scare is a hoax, companies like Cadbury which recently went through such an issue, could dent not only the financial aspects and confidence in the brand image of the company but also being substantial in size can affect the Halal industry and the economy [14]. 2. Research Objectives 2.1 General objectives To research the Muslim perception of the integrity of Halal food in a multi-racial and multi-religious Muslim dominant country such as Malaysia using methods used in Belgium (multi-religious Muslim minority country) by [6] to see whether there are similar patterns or are their differences. Also to see whether their research methods can be used the cross country to come up with a method which can be used universally to analyze the Muslim perceptions of the credence of Halal food in their country of residence. 2.2 Specific Objectives 1. To examine the degree of trust that students of International Islamic University Malaysia have in the information sources concerning Halal food. 2.To find the degree of confidence that students of international Islamic University Malaysia have in the local Muslim institutions involved in the supply chain of Halal food in Malaysia. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 146 3.To find the degree of confidence that students of international Islamic University Malaysia have in the foreign Muslim/Non-Muslim institutions involved in the supply chain of Halal food in Malaysia. 4. To validate the instrument that [6] in their research in the context of International Islamic University Malaysia. 3. Literature Review 3.1 Religion as an Influence on Dietary Regimens Ample evidence has been provided that religion can influence consumer attitudes and behaviors in general [18], and food purchasing decisions and eating habits in particular [3]. In many societies, religion plays one of the most influential roles in shaping food choice [10]. Many definitions of religion exist. In this anthropological view, religion is an institution consisting of culturally patterned interaction with culturally postulated superhuman beings [23]. This viewpoint on religion explains the influences of culture on religious expression. Although religion has been a significant force in the lives of many individuals, its exact role in consumer food choice is rather unclear [8]. Compared with their regular diet, during the fasting periods, the absence of meats, dairy, and eggs in the diet was compensated by a fourfold increase in the intake of legumes and moderate increases of fruits and vegetables, potatoes, and cereals. In addition, the intakes of pastries and alcohol decreased. The direction of all these changes in food intake is in accordance with current dietary guidelines for chronic disease prevention [15,17]. The wide range of dietary habits coupled with no use of tobacco or alcohol makes Adventists and Muslims very attractive populations study [24]. Early studies of Adventists in several countries documented the distinct diets of this religious group and the differences in disease rates compared with the general population of the respective countries [11,20]. In general, overall mortality, CVD (Cardiovascular disease) and cancer rates were substantially lower among Adventists, which may be because of their diet or other lifestyle factors. Consequent studies have exposed that vegetarian Adventists have inferior rates of heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes and some cancers, and have superior permanence than non-vegetarian Adventists [11,22]. 3.2 Muslims and Halal Food Although religions may impose strict dietary laws, a number of people following them may vary considerably. Reference [12] states that 75 percent of Muslims in the US follow these above-mentioned dietary rules in contrast with only 16 percent of Jews. Factors explaining differences in adherence to religious dietary prescriptions pertain among others to social structures, e.g. origin, immigration, and generation differences [4]. Broadly speaking, religious food practices vary widely, even within a particular faith or in a specific community of a nation where the population is multiracial and multicultural. At a closer look, eating in Islam is a matter of faith where Muslims eat only halal food for good health and overindulgence is discouraged. Fasting is required during the month of Ramadhan and feast days include Eid-il-Fitr, Eid-il-Adha and Maulud Nabi [12]. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 147 The lives of Muslims are guided by the Islamic or Shariah Law. The Shariah Law is based on the Quran (the Holy Book of Islam), AI-Hadith and AI-Sunnah actions, habits and approval of Prophet Muhammad, Ijma' (consensus Ulama) and Qiyas (deduction or analogy) according to various Islamic Schools of Thought (Mazhab) or fatwa approved by the relevant Islamic Authority [7]. 3.3 Pure and Nutritious Food Islam is a religion concerned with cleanliness, in both the physical and spiritual aspects. What is haram is unclean In the Quran, Allah almighty commands those who are accustomed to cleanliness: “Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean”. (AI Baqarah: 22) The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also stressed the importance of cleanliness. This can be seen in some of his sayings: “Cleanse yourself, for Islam, is cleanliness” and “Cleanliness invites towards faith and faith leads its possessor to the Gardens (Heaven)”. From the hadiths [sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)] narrated by Muslim and At Tirmidzi, “The Holy Prophet once related a story of a man, who having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty and who spreads out his hands to the sky (saying) a Lord - while his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothing unlawful and he is nourished unlawfully, so how can he be answered.” 3.4 Halal Food as a Way of Life Islam is a practical religion with rules and principles governing every aspect of the life of an individual Muslim. This code of conduct, however, is not to be viewed as restrictions per se nor a matter of mere social courtesy. Rather, it is derived from the broad objectives of the religion and hence is a reflection of its ideas and values. Here, we examine the relationship between the food that we consume and our physical as well as spiritual health. A Muslim eats to maintain a strong and healthy body and mind in order to be able to perform acts of worship (ibadah), but also to contribute his knowledge and efforts for the welfare of society. In the Islamic context, therefore, it is important to understand and appreciate the concepts of halal and haram. Halal food and drink are that which is permitted for Muslims. For instance, in the Quran, on each occasion when the word halal is mentioned with food, the word Thoyyiban is also mentioned: "O ye people halal Eat of what is on earth, lawful and good" (AI Baqarah: 168). Allah commands the believers with what he has commanded the Messengers. He has said:" O you Messengers, eat of the good things and act righteously" (AIMu'minun: 51). He has also said: "O you who believe, eat of the good things which we have provided for you" (AI Baqarah: 168). 3.5 Contemporary Dietary Habits From the above verses in the Quran, we can see clearly that Muslims should give due regard to the food that they consume which would later be part of the body and soul. In this context, Muslims should also pay attention to the pureness (Thoyyiban) of the food. The sad and grim conditions in which farm animals are raised are against the teaching of Islam. For example in the Quran, Allah said: "There is not an animal on earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings, but they are communities like you ..."(AiAn'aam: 38). Healthy nutrition means having a balanced diet, in order to maintain the balance that Allah has established in all matters, and to which reference is American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 148 made in the Quran: "And He enforced the balance. That you exceed not the bounds; but observe the balance strictly, and fall not short thereof"(Ar-Rahman: 7-9). A balanced diet should be balanced in terms of quantity. Eating too much is contrary to Islamic teachings. In the Quran, we read: "Eat and drink, but avoid excess. . . "(Taha: 81). Healthy nutrition also means a diet that is balanced in its contents. This means that it must have a mixture of the different types of food which Allah has graciously provided for His Creation, in the sense that it satisfies all the bodily needs in terms of proteins, fat, carbohydrates, salts and vitamins. Most of these are mentioned in the Quran. For example, Allah says: "He created cattle which give you warmth, benefits, and food to eat..." (An-Nahl: 5). He also says: "It is He who subdued the seas, from which you eat fresh fish..." (A Nihk 14). Referring to vegetarian food, Allah says: "It is He who sends down water from the sky with which He brings up corn, olives, dates and grapes and other fruit." (An-Nahl: 116). Milk and honey are also mentioned: "In cattle too you have a worthy lesson. We give you to drink of that which is in their bellies, between the chyle and the blood: pure milk, a pleasant beverage for those who drink it." (An Nahl: 66). Allah also says: "From within their (i.e. the bees) bellies come forth a fluid of many hues that provides people with a cure (of illnesses)." (An Nahl: 69). 3.6 Trust and Confidence Religion is one of the prospective distinct factors that will form consumption decisions, particularly among “the Muslims” [19]. Religion is a principal point in most societies’ intellectual, moving and conative discriminations in the due process of living one’s life [18] and this is very significant in feature of food consumption in such societies [2,3,15,22]. A good example relates to Hindus who are harshly vegetarian and traditional Jews who are very afraid of their lawful food [19]. 4. Methodology 4.1 Research Design This cross-sectional study is done to research the factors that influence trust and confidence in the halal food information sources and institutions in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study is that research conducted only once in a snapshot of one point in time. The respondent answered the questionnaires at one point in time and aims to describe the important factors that are concerned with the halal trust and confidence perception of different people and entities and as well as institutions respectively. 4.2 Research Framework The dependent variables are trust and confidence. Trust is the personal credibility of a source of information and confidence is the integrity – a concerned person believes in - which an entity embraces in the process of conducting something [6]. The trust aspect is going to be measured for four sources of information such as media and advertisement, independent expert sources, Muslim sources and Commercial (halal industry) sources, to see whether they are relevant to the Malaysian context especially in International Islamic International University Malaysia. Of interest is whether they represent the factors in Malaysia as they do in the Belgian context as done in [6] work cited before. On top of that, it would be interesting to know whether there any American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 149 significant differences in terms of trust between the four sources of information on halal food in International Islamic University Malaysia. Similarly, it would be interesting to note the two surrogate institutions in Malaysia, local Muslim institutions, and foreign Muslim/ non-Muslim institutions - for Muslim institutions and Belgian institutions respectively [5] - are adequately meeting the confidence expectations of the respondents in them. The significant difference in confidence between the two surrogate’s entities is also of interest. In the end, it is a replica of [6] work to find out the halal integrity of the halal food industry in Malaysia as perceived by the students of International Islamic University Malaysia by adapting [6] work to the context of Malaysia. 4.3 Instrumentation The questionnaire has two sections; section A for Demographics and section B asking opinions about variables - institutions and sources of information - that affect the dependent variables i.e. confidence and trust respectively, in the halal food context in Malaysia. They will be required to fill in a questionnaire (self- administered) that is adapted from [6] work “Muslim consumer trust in Halal meat status and control in Belgium”. This is a replication study to validate the itinerary that [6] developed to see whether it can be generalized to Malaysia especially International Islamic University Malaysia. For items measuring the latent constructs, the respondents had to agree or disagree (strongly disagree being measured on a Likert scale of 5 to 1 being strongly agree). The data was reverse coded in SPSS by transforming the data in order to get the correct analysis for the non-parametric tests mentioned below. For each group, a composite score was calculated (mean scores of the item for that group). 4.4 Population and Sampling The population is International Islamic University Malaysia’s students. The reason it is going to be International Islamic University Malaysia is because this research has limitations considering the time limit constraints (it has to be done within a semester). The sample is going to be convenient sampling extracted by going around campus at random and asking respondents to fill in the questionnaire due to the time constraints and lack of resources to get the population frame. The items are going to be modified to suit the context of the International Islamic University Malaysia environment. Another implication of the limitations of this study is that the population of IIUM is not representative of Malaysia. This is an international university where mostly Muslim students from over 100 countries come to the Malaysian environment. It does give a richer perspective to the study as it brings different experiences, personalities, and culture to the context of the research. The sample is 151 respondents. 4.5 Data Analysis An exploratory factor analysis is conducted to see whether each item in the questionnaire adapted from [6] loads onto the factors as they do in their research. They do (more about this later) but the sample size is small and the assumption of normality of data is violated. The sample is around 151 respondents and according to [9] there, “results showed that when data are well-conditioned (i.e., high λ, low f, high p), EFA (exploratory factor analysis) can yield reliable results for N-well below 50, even in the presence of small distortions”. The exploratory factor analysis was done twice. In the literature, the trust and confidence measures are not the American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 150 same thing. Thus, the independent variables were divided into the ones which measured trust and the other that measured confidence when the exploratory factor analysis was run. After that Kruskal-Wallis test conducted between groups of entities such as media and commercial, independent, Muslim and commercial sources of information (latent constructs) that were extracted in the factor analysis as well as a Mann-Whitney U test done for confidence groups. The scores were reverse coded in SPSS order to make things simpler in interpreting the non-parametric tests’ output. Composite scores were calculated for each group by taking out the means of the items constructing each latent group for both dependent variables. These scores were used for the Kruskal-Wallis test and for subsequent Mann-Whitney U test. Further on Mann- Whitney U test were used to find the sources of differences. The reliability of the composite scores was tested and was promising. This is to see whether there are significant differences in trust in each of the information sources by the respondents. Similarly, the two institutions (latent constructs) in another subsection of the itinerary will be compared to see if there are significant differences between the confidence in those institutions of the respondents. Where applicable the source of the difference will be examined. It needs to be kept in mind that this research is done by convenience sampling and the sample frame is not taken from a population frame that is representative of Malaysia as given by reasons before. On the other hand, the diversity of the sample (IIUM student sample) will give more in terms of perspectives in the source of differences when the relevant Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U are conducted. 5. Findings 5.1 Descriptive Analysis Descriptive statistics include the mean, standard deviation range of score, and skewness. Descriptive statistics can be obtained in many ways, using frequencies, descriptive, or explore. In our findings we use frequency, and we separated our variables into categorical variables and a continuous variable for descriptive analysis. The categorical variables are gender, age, Income level, Education qualification, and nationality. From the Table 1, we can see that our total respondents were 151 from them male are 104 whereas the female is 47. The next categorical variable was nationality, from the total respondent 51 of them were Malay, 8 of them were Indian, 8 of them were Chinese and Others 84. From the total of 151 respondent 40% fall in 20-24 years group whereas 33% fall in 25-29, 17% in 30-35 and 9% 36 and above. As the age groups reflect that most of the respondent are young, therefore, 98% of the total respondent are Muslim and the remaining 2% are Non-Muslim. As our research took place in the university thus, most of the respondents are student and staff, 2 of the total 151 respondents were diploma and below. From remaining, 55 respondents were the degree holder and other 67 were having Masters and PHD holders are 24 respondents. Table 1: Descriptive statistics of repondents. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 151 Description Frequency Percentage Gender Male 104 70 Female 47 31 Ethnicity Malay 51 34 Indian 8 5 Chinese 8 5 Others 84 56 Age 20-24 60 40 25-29 49 33 30-35 26 17 36-Above 14 9 Education Diploma 2 1.3 Degree 55 36 Masters 67 44 PhD. 24 16 Religion Muslim 148 98 Non-Muslim 4 2 5.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis A questionnaire, using 26 questions to examine trust and confidence in the entities concerned with the halal food in Malaysia, was answered by 151 participants. The aim was to reduce those 26 questions into something more manageable - especially into factors found by [6] in a parallel study done by them. By using exploratory principal components analysis, with Varimax orthogonal rotation and an eigenvalue cut-off of 1.0, we were able to produce four factors for trust that explained more than 78% of the data: independent information sources (six items, with 50% of explained variance), commercial (five items, 13%), media and commercials (four items, 9%) and Muslims (four items, 6%). The outcome is given in Table 3. Our Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measures of sampling adequacy shows 0.892. This is a good result as it exceeds 0.5. Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity is 0.000, which shows that the correlation matrix is not an identity matrix. The result is in Table 2. This is for EFA done on trust. Table 4 shows all the factors extracted from the analysis along with the percent of variance attributable to each factor and the cumulative variance of the factor. From this table it indicates that the first factor accounts for 50% American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 152 of the variance, the second cumulative variance is 63%, the third is 72% and the fourth shows a cumulative variation of 78%. It is obvious that Factor 1 to 4 is significant where the four components account for 78% of the total variance. Table 2: KMO and Bartlett’stest for trust dependent variable group KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .892 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 2480.375 Df 171 Sig. .000 Table 3: Rotated Component Matrix for trust dependent variable group. Components 1 2 3 4 Independent Information Sources Q10 .809 Q5 .756 Q9 .755 Q8 .754 Q7 .751 Q6 .739 Commercial Q17 .869 Q18 .865 Q19 .808 Q16 .745 Q15 .602 Media and commercials Q2 .912 Q3 .899 Q1 .868 Q4 .834 Muslims Q11 .856 Q14 .715 Q13 .659 Q12 .589 By using exploratory principal components analysis, with Varimax orthogonal rotation and an eigenvalue cut- off of 1.0, we were able to produce two factors for confidence that explained more than 82% of the data: foreign American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 153 Muslim/Non-Muslim institutions (four items, with 60% of explained variance), local Muslim institutions (two items, 22%). The outcome is given in Table 6. Table 4: Total variance explained for trust dependent variable group. Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % 1 9.456 49.766 49.766 9.456 49.766 49.766 4.561 24.008 24.008 2 2.550 13.419 63.185 2.550 13.419 63.185 3.782 19.906 43.913 3 1.676 8.820 72.005 1.676 8.820 72.005 3.679 19.362 63.275 4 1.052 5.535 77.540 1.052 5.535 77.540 2.710 14.264 77.540 5 .654 3.441 80.981 6 .524 2.759 83.740 7 .498 2.621 86.361 8 .426 2.243 88.604 9 .366 1.926 90.530 10 .337 1.775 92.305 11 .256 1.350 93.654 12 .244 1.285 94.939 13 .208 1.097 96.036 14 .178 .939 96.975 15 .155 .814 97.789 16 .141 .742 98.531 17 .106 .560 99.091 18 .091 .481 99.572 19 .081 .428 100.000 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 154 Table 5: KMO and Bartlett's Test for confidence dependent variable group KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .845 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 761.496 Df 21 Sig. .000 Our Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measures of sampling adequacy shows 0.845. This is a good result as it exceeds 0.5. Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity is 0.000, which shows that the correlation matrix is not an identity matrix. This is for EFA done on confidence. Table 6: Rotated component matrix for confidence dependent variable group. Rotated Component Matrixa Component Foreign Local I am confident in foreign agencies regulating halal food in the halal industry globally and in Malaysia. .887 I am confident of foreign halal food providers in providing halal food in Malaysia. .885 I am confident of foreign halal logos .873 I am confident that foreign owned supermarkets sell halal food in Malaysia. .863 I am confident that JAKIM can regulate halal food in Malaysia. .904 I am confident that the local halal logo is trustworthy. .898 I am confident in Halal Development Corporation’s effort to build a credible halal industry in Malaysia. .863 American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 155 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. The table below shows all the factors extracted from the analysis along with the percent of variance attributable to each factor and the cumulative variance of the factor. From this table it indicates that the first factor accounts for 60% of the variance, the second cumulative variance is 82%. It is obvious that Factor 1 to 2 is significant where the 2 components account for 82% of the total variance. Table 7: Total variance explained for confidence dependent variable group Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % 1 4.192 59.884 59.884 4.192 59.884 59.884 3.202 45.749 45.749 2 1.567 22.389 82.273 1.567 22.389 82.273 2.557 36.523 82.273 3 .355 5.070 87.342 4 .321 4.582 91.924 5 .229 3.276 95.200 6 .171 2.448 97.648 7 .165 2.352 100.000 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Table 7: Confidence communalities. Communalities Initial Extraction Q20 1.000 .869 Q21 1.000 .855 Q22 1.000 .771 Q23 1.000 .773 Q24 1.000 .822 Q25 1.000 .844 Q26 1.000 .825 American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 156 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. The communalities for the confidence in institutions are all above .6 the threshold for Principal Components Analysis. This shows that the items adequately measure the variance in their latent constructs (Table 8). The communalities for the trust in halal information sources entities are all above .6 the threshold for Principal Components Analysis. This shows that the items adequately measure the variance in their latent constructs (Table 9). Table 8: Trust communalities. Communalities Initial Extraction Q1 1.000 .838 Q2 1.000 .904 Q3 1.000 .858 Q4 1.000 .761 Q5 1.000 .754 Q6 1.000 .745 Q7 1.000 .729 Q8 1.000 .726 Q9 1.000 .769 Q10 1.000 .798 Q11 1.000 .818 Q12 1.000 .570 Q13 1.000 .730 Q14 1.000 .804 Q15 1.000 .694 Q16 1.000 .787 Q17 1.000 .869 Q18 1.000 .822 Q19 1.000 .757 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Reliability Tests It is important to find the scales that we have used in the questionnaire are reliable. One of the main reasons to American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 157 do the reliability test is to check the consistency. That refers to the degree to which the items that make up the scale are consistent with each other which means all the measuring express the same underlying construct. Table 9: Overall reliability test for trust. Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items .941 .943 19 For this reliability statistics, we got the Cronbach's Alpha to be 0.941, which means that our measuring is very consistent for items measuring trust. Table 10: Overall reliability test for confidence. Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items .891 .890 7 For this reliability statistics, we got the Cronbach's Alpha to be 0.891, which means that our measuring is very consistent for items measuring confidence. Table 11: Instrument reliability across trust sources of information about halal food. Sources No of Items Cronbach’s Alpha Media and commercials 4 0.938 Independent information sources 6 0.927 Muslims 4 0.848 Commercial 5 0.926 Total items 19 0.941 For each latent construct measuring trust, the items measuring these latent constructs is very consistent. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 158 Table 12: Instrument reliability across confidence in different institutions. Sources No of Items Cronbach’s Alpha Local Muslim Institutions 3 0.901 Foreign Muslim/ Non-Muslim Institutions 4 0.927 Total items 7 0.891 For each latent construct measuring confidence, the items measuring these latent constructs is very consistent. The reliability test show that the composite scores for each latent construct for its respective dependent variable can be used for further analysis to find where the differences lie in the opinion of the respondents concerning the entities providing information about halal foods and regulating the halal industry in terms of their credibility. 5.3 Normality Tests To figure out whether the differences between the latent constructs of trust and also that of confidence are significant it will be meaningful to conduct normality tests. This will determine whether to use parametric ANOVA or its non-parametric equivalents to find the differences. Table 13: Normality test for trust. Tests of Normality Personal sources Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic Df Sig. Statistic Df Sig. Trust Media and commercials .171 151 .000 .941 151 .000 Independent information sources .202 151 .000 .931 151 .000 Muslims .138 151 .000 .925 151 .000 Commercial .099 151 .001 .971 151 .003 a. Lilliefors Significance Correction Based on the sample size normality was not established across the groups by using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. As all the p values are significant none of the groups showed normality for trust. The normality was tested for the composite scores for each group measuring trust. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 159 Table 14: Normality test for confidence. Tests of Normality Institutions/ organisations Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic df Sig. Statistic Df Sig. Confidence Local Muslim institutions .205 151 .000 .920 151 .000 Foreign Muslim/Non-Muslim institutions .157 149 .000 .946 149 .000 a. Lilliefors Significance Correction Based on the sample size normality was not established across the groups by using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. As all the p values are significant none of the groups showed normality for confidence. The normality was tested for the composite scores for each group measuring trust. Therefore to find if there are significant differences in the respondents’ opinions concerning each groups for trust and confidence we need to run Kruskal-Wallis test (equivalent of non-parametric ANOVA) and Mann Whitney U test (equivalent to a non-parametric independent t test) 5.4 Non-parametric Tests The statistical analysis is at 0.05 confidence level for the Kruskal-Wallis test done below. To find the sources for differences the cut off value was set at 0.008 to adjust for multiple comparisons (the predictions are non- specific). Before any of the tests were done it should be noted that the data was transformed (reverse coded) in SPSS to do away with inconsistencies in interpretation of the output. Table 15: Descriptive statistics for constructs measuring trust. Personal sources for trust Median Values 95% CI Media and commercial (N = 151) 4 3.48-3.76 Independent information sources (N = 151) 4 3.81-4.04 Muslims (N = 151) 4 3.84-4.09 Commercial (N = 151) 3.6 3.32-3.59 A Kruskal–Wallis test indicated that there was a significant difference in trust in information sources for halal food, between the information sources groups: H (3) = 45, p < 0.001). Subsequent Mann–Whitney U tests indicated that IIUM respondents trusted Independent information sources more than media and commercials sources (U = 8886.5; N1 = 151; N2 = 151; p= 0.001). Muslims are more trusted over media and commercial American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 160 sources (U = 8612.5; N1 = 151; N2 = 151; p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between commercial and media and commercial sources (U = 9915; N1 = 151; N2 = 151; p = 0.048). There was no significant difference between Independent information sources and Muslim sources (U = 10869.5; N1 = 151; N2 = 151; p = 0.48). There was significant difference between Independent information sources and commercial sources where the latter was trusted more (U = 7329.5; N1 = 151; N2 = 151; p < 0.001). There was significant difference between Muslim and commercial sources where the latter was trusted more (U = 7194.5; N1 = 151; N2 = 151; p < 0.001). The cut off significance value for Mann Whiney U test is 0.05 done below. Table 16: Descriptive statistics for constructs measuring confidence. Confidence in institutions Median Values 95% CI Local Muslim Institutions (N = 151) 4 3.78-4.05 Foreign Muslim/Non-Muslim Institutions (N=151) 3.25 3.24-3.50 Local Muslim institutions inspired more confidence than Foreign Muslim/Non-Muslim institutions. A Mann– Whitney U test indicated that this difference was significant: U=7069.0; N1= 151; N2 = 151; p < 0.001. Table 17: One Sample Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test for all six groupings. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 161 All the six latent constructs were significantly different from the neutral status. By looking at median scores in Tables 17 and 16 we can safely assume that significantly respondents tended to believe in the credibility of the halal institutional framework in Malaysia. 6. Conclusion 6.1 Limitation of the Study Halal transcends beyond technology, processes, marketing and regulations. Halal living which includes Halal food is the essence of life of a Muslim the dearth of which renders the rest of his Islamic responsibilities worthless. Thus, importance of Halal food is not in the monetary size of the industry but the worth in the eyes of Allah of a practicing Muslim’s conformance to consumption of Halal food. 6.2 Recommendation This study just exactly does that i.e. to have a monitoring instrument to monitor the Muslim communities perceptions on what they consume and thus in the end affect relevant government agencies’ policies in rectifying their mistakes. On top of that the contribution to the theory would be to primarily try to generalize an instrument - that measures integrity of the Halal food supply chain - between nations as a first step to come up with a universal instrument in the future. As a policy the management of IIUM would also be interested in this perception measurement of the credibility of food as being Halal in IIUM as it is an Islamic organization and as such has an Islamic brand image to take care of. 6.3 Summary Students of International Islamic University Malaysia have a high degree of trust in the information sources concerning halal food in Malaysia. They have confidence in the local institutions regulating and related to halal food industries and a moderate confidence in foreign institutions. The questionnaire adapted from the Belgian context from [6] research fits very well in the Malaysian context. For further research it would be interesting to note whether there would be the same results if the sample was representative of Malaysia or if another sample was taken from another country to see if the same conclusions can be applied elsewhere. References [1] A. Akanji, A. Mojiminiyi & N. Abdella. “Beneficial changes in serum apo A-1 and its ratio to apo B and HDL in stable hyperlipidemia subjects after Ramadan fasting in Kuwait”. European journal of clinical nutrition, 54(6), 508-513, 2000. [2] E. Asp. “Factors affecting food decisions made by individual consumers”. Food Policy, 24(2), 287-294, 1999. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 162 [3] R. Blackwell, P. Miniard, & J. Engel. “Consumer Behaviour Florida, Orlando: Hartcourt”, 1999. [4] F. Bergeaud-Blackler. “Halal food consumption in France”. Report published by R.D. Blackwell, P.W. Miniard, J.F. Engel, Consumer Behavior. Harcourt Inc., Orlando, FL, 2006. [5] K. Bonne, & W. Verbek. “Muslim consumer’s motivations towards meat consumption in Belgium: qualitative exploratory insights from means-end chain analysis”. Anthropology of food, (5), 2006. [6] K. Bonne, & W. Verbeke. “Muslim consumer trust in Halal meat status and control in Belgium”. Meat science, 79(1), 113-123, 2008. [7] Y. Che Man, and M. Abdul Latif. “Halal and cultural aspects of livestock production and marketing”. Proceeding of a workshop on research and development strategies for the livestock sector in South East Asia through national and international partnership, Bangkok. Edited by Frio and G.D. Gray, 215-220. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), 2002. [8] N. Delener. “Religious contrasts in consumer decision behaviour patterns: their dimensions and marketing implications”. European Journal of Marketing, 28(5), 36-53, 1994. [9] J. Winter, D. Dodou, & P. Wieringa. “Exploratory factor analysis with small sample sizes”. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 44(2), 147-181, 2009. [10] S. Dindyal. “How Personal Factors, Including Culture And Ethnicity, Affect The Choices And Selection Of Food We Make”. Internet Journal of Third World Medicine, 1(2), 27-33, 2003. [11] GE. Fraser. “Diet, Life Expectancy and Chronic Disease, Studies of Seventh-Day Adventists and Other Vegetarians”. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. [12] M. Hussaini. “Halal Haram lists. Why they do not work?” Accessed 23 August 2004:http://www.soundvision.com/info/Halalhealthy/Halal.list.asp. [13] Halal Malaysia Official Portal. Halal Definition. Retrieved 3 19, 2015, from Halal Malaysia Official Portal: http://www.halal.gov.my/v4/index.php/en/garis-panduan/takrifan-halal [14] Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia. News. Retrieved 3 19, 2015, from Halal Malaysia Official Portal: http://www.halal.gov.my/v4/index.php/en/news-archive/176-jakim-sahkan-cadbury-malaysia-adalah- halal [15] K. Mullen, R. Williams, & A. Hunt. “Irish descent, religion and food consumption in the west of Scotland”. Appetite, 34(1), 47-54, 2000. [16] Oil is Halal, says High 5. (2006, September 14). The Malay Mail. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 163 [17] JD. Potter. London: World Cancer Research Fund and Washington, DC: American Institute of Cancer Research, 1997. [18] C. Pettinger, M. Holdsworth, & M. Gerber. “Psycho-social influences on food choice in Southern France and Central England”. Appetite, 42(3), 307-316, 2004. [19] G. Rezai, Z. Mohamed, & M. Shamsudin. “Assessment of consumers’ confidence on Halal labelled manufactured food in Malaysia”. Pertanika Journal of Social Science & Humanity, 20(1), 33-42, 2012. [20] R. Phillips, L. Garfinkel, J. Kuzma, W. Beeson, T. Lotz, and B. Brin. “Mortality among California Seventh-Day Adventists for selected cancer sites”. Journal of National Cancer Institute, 65, 1097 – 1107, 1980. [21] J. Sabate. “Religion, diet and research”. British Journal of Nutrition, 92(02), 199-201, 2004. [22] B. Shatenstein, & P. Ghadirian. “Influences on diet, health behaviours and their outcome in select ethnocultural and religious groups”. Nutrition, 14(2), 223-230, 1998. [23] M. Spiro. Religion: Problems of definition and explanation .Anthropological approaches to the study of religion, 85, 96-126, 1973. [24] W. Willett. “Lessons from dietary studies in Adventists and questions for the future”. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 78, 539S – 543S, 2003. 7. Appendix Table19: Mann Whitney U test for media vs independent groupings. Ranks Personal sources N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Trust Media and commercials 151 134.85 20362.50 Independent information sources 151 168.15 25390.50 Total 302 Test Statistics Trust Mann-Whitney U 8886.500 Wilcoxon W 20362.500 Z -3.367 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .001 a. Grouping Variable: Personal sources American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 164 Table 20: Mann Whitney U test for media vs Muslim groupings. Ranks Personal sources N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Trust Media and commercials 151 133.04 20088.50 Muslims 151 169.96 25664.50 Total 302 Test Statistics Trust Mann-Whitney U 8612.500 Wilcoxon W 20088.500 Z -3.713 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .000 a. Grouping Variable: Personal sources Table 21: Mann Whitney U test for media vs commercial groupings. Ranks Personal sources N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Trust Media and commercials 151 161.34 24362.00 Commercial 151 141.66 21391.00 Total 302 Test Statistics Trust Mann-Whitney U 9915.000 Wilcoxon W 21391.000 Z -1.977 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .048 a. Grouping Variable: Personal sources Table 22: Mann Whitney U test for independent vs Muslim groupings. Ranks Personal sources N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Trust Independent information sources 151 147.98 22345.50 Muslims 151 155.02 23407.50 Total 302 American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 165 Test Statistics Trust Mann-Whitney U 10869.500 Wilcoxon W 22345.500 Z -.707 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .480 a. Grouping Variable: Personal sources Table 23: Mann Whitney U test for independent vs commercial groupings. Ranks Personal sources N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Trust Independent information sources 151 178.46 26947.50 Commercial 151 124.54 18805.50 Total 302 Test Statistics Trust Mann-Whitney U 7329.500 Wilcoxon W 18805.500 Z -5.415 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .000 a. Grouping Variable: Personal sources Table 24: Mann Whitney U test for Muslim vs Commercial groupings. Ranks Personal sources N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Trust Muslims 151 179.35 27082.50 Commercial 151 123.65 18670.50 Total 302 Test Statistics Trust Mann-Whitney U 7194.500 Wilcoxon W 18670.500 Z -5.572 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .000 American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 28, No 1, pp 144-166 166 a. Grouping Variable: Personal sources Table 25: Mann Whitney U test for local institutions vs foriegn institutions groupings (confidence). Ranks Institutions/ organizations N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Confidence Local Muslim institutions 151 178.19 26906.00 Foreign Muslim/Non-Muslim institutions 149 122.44 18244.00 Total 300 Test Statisticsa Confidence Mann-Whitney U 7069.000 Wilcoxon W 18244.000 Z -5.659 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .000 a. Grouping Variable: Institutions/ organizations Table 26: Income of respondents. Income Below 1000 77 51 1000-1500 40 27 2000-5000 19 13 Above 5000 5 3 The Factors That Influence Trust and Confidence in the Halal Food Information Sources and Institutions in Malaysia Abstract 1. Background of the Study Dietary regimens in most religions are quite strict but most incumbents of their respective religions do stick to it. According to a study done by [12] that the most migrant Muslims in the US still eat Halal. This couldn’t be truer for Muslim migrants... 2. Research Objectives 2.1 General objectives To research the Muslim perception of the integrity of Halal food in a multi-racial and multi-religious Muslim dominant country such as Malaysia using methods used in Belgium (multi-religious Muslim minority country) by [6] to see whether there are sim... 2.2 Specific Objectives 1. To examine the degree of trust that students of International Islamic University Malaysia have in the information sources concerning Halal food. 2.To find the degree of confidence that students of international Islamic University Malaysia have in the local Muslim institutions involved in the supply chain of Halal food in Malaysia. 3.To find the degree of confidence that students of international Islamic University Malaysia have in the foreign Muslim/Non-Muslim institutions involved in the supply chain of Halal food in Malaysia. 4. To validate the instrument that [6] in their research in the context of International Islamic University Malaysia. 3. Literature Review 3.1 Religion as an Influence on Dietary Regimens Ample evidence has been provided that religion can influence consumer attitudes and behaviors in general [18], and food purchasing decisions and eating habits in particular [3]. In many societies, religion plays one of the most influential roles in sh... Compared with their regular diet, during the fasting periods, the absence of meats, dairy, and eggs in the diet was compensated by a fourfold increase in the intake of legumes and moderate increases of fruits and vegetables, potatoes, and cereals. In ... The wide range of dietary habits coupled with no use of tobacco or alcohol makes Adventists and Muslims very attractive populations study [24]. Early studies of Adventists in several countries documented the distinct diets of this religious group and ... 3.2 Muslims and Halal Food 3.6 Trust and Confidence 4. Methodology 4.1 Research Design 5.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis Reliability Tests 5.3 Normality Tests 5.4 Non-parametric Tests 6. Conclusion References 7. Appendix