The Direct Effects of Halal Product Actual Purchase Antecedents among the International Muslim Consumers

Abstract

This study investigates the direct effects of purchase intention and consumer confidence towards halal product actual purchase based on Theory of Planned behavior (TPB). Four antecedents of actual purchase are identified: purchase intention (4 items), consumer confidence (7 items), perceived behavioral control (7 items), subjective norm (7 items) and actual purchase (8 items). Using primary data collection method, 200 questionnaires were distributed to target respondents comprising of international graduate students studying at five universities in Malaysia. The responses collected were 120 completed questionnaires representing 60% percent response rate. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Mod- eling (SEM) via AMOS 18. This study proposes four direct causal effects and two mediating effects in the structural model. The findings indicate that the TPB is a valid model in the prediction of actual purchase of halal products. Goodness of fit for the revised structural model shows adequate fit. Two of the hypotheses are substantiated: subjective norm is found to be positively related to confidence (β= 0.400, CR=2.302, P<0.021), and perceived behavioral control was also positively related to the intention (β= 0.831, CR=3.958, P<0.001). The paper extends the understanding of TPB to newly emerging contexts such as halal products usage intentions and confidence. Keywords