Innovated Malay Traditional Food Products: Do Consumers Accept the Authentic Quality?

Abstract

Innovation in Malay traditional food is somehow inevitable for the society in this modern era with their hectic lifestyle and limited time to prepare food from scratch. However, the implementation of innovation in traditional food is highly challenging as traditional and innovation are two elements that are considered contradict as the innovation may possibly ruin the authenticity and traditional characteristics of the foods. Therefore, this study investigated the perceived authenticity quality of innovated traditional Malay food products among Malaysian consumers will lead to better understanding. This study employed quantitative research design. The information needed for this study was obtained through self-administered questionnaire with 215 Malaysian consumers who have consume innovated Malaysian traditional food products with the age range from 18 till 60 years old. This study confirmed that majority of the consumers were positive towards innovations in traditional Malay food products particularly pertaining to sensory quality properties and ingredients content and revealed that perceived authenticity quality had a relatively strong influence on consumer acceptance. Therefore, it is crucial for the food manufacturer to not only strategically develop their innovation plan of action to better organize the scope of innovation categorization, but also be able to understand the importance of preserving the authenticity of the traditional foods character simultaneously.