Nitty Hirawaty Kamarulzaman

SOURCES OF PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN RAINBOW TROUT AQUACULTURE IN IRAN: TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY CHANGE OR TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS?

This study investigates the sources of total factor productivity (TFP) growth in rainbow trout production in Iran using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The Malmquist index is then employed to decompose the TFP growth into technical efficiency change and technological progress. We utilized panel data of 207 trout farms in the country over a 5-year period from 2003 to 2007. The results of this study revealed that TFP growth of rainbow trout farming has an increasing trend over the period at an average annual rate of 3.7%. The trend of cumulative technological change is negative and tends to be contrary to cumulative technical efficiency change. Although there is no technological change or innovation on trout farming, the technical efficiency change was found to be the sole source for TFP change, whereas the mean of technical efficiency was estimated to be about 66%. Therefore, there is still a great relative potential for increasing trout production through improvement in managerial efficiency as well as technological progress. The study suggests that Iran also has considerable room to enhance trout aquacultures TFP growth by shifting the production frontier with adoption of new technologies and improving innovation.

Halal Malaysia Logo or Brand: The Hidden Gap☆

Halal logo is the most common graphic mark use for Halal Malaysia which is a symbol to indicate the product or business is certified Halal by JAKIM. This is also an indication that the product or business is Shariah compliance. The issue of whether Halal Malaysia is logo or brand has not yet being highlighted in any previous study. However, discussion on Halal logo is more predominant where Halal logo was found to have a significant impact on consumers decision making but such findings merely scratch the surface on the importance issues of Halal branding. Using the qualitative in-depth interview, different findings have emerged pointing to the serious issues in relation to Halal Malaysia brand equity that need to be rectified immediately. Such a problem has never been discussed before because previous findings showed that consumers possess strong awareness toward Halal logo and Halal logo itself has become the main cue that determine consumers final decision making. This has lead to an illusion of strong brand equity which concealed the hidden problem and without proper acknowledgement such problem can lead to serious complication for instance equity dilution. Indeed, Halal Malaysia from logo point of view is very important in determining consumers awareness and recognition but the issue is only focusing on the surface. On the other hand, brand offer wider perspectives which focus more on the underlying problem or opportunity because brand has value that require constant audit and maintenance in order to ensure its survival.

Enhancing Poultry Industry Competitiveness: Consumer Perspective on Chicken Meat Quality Based on Sensory Characteristics

The increasing demand for chicken meat has caused producers to increase their productivity through enhanced production techniques. Further increase in demand for quality meat products has been predicted in the country. This study seeks to investigate factors that influence consumer perception toward chicken meat quality. Face-to-face interviews were carried out with 569 consumers at selected shopping malls located in Klang Valley areas. The majority of the respondents perceived quality as an important criterion for buying decisions. The finding revealed that nine factors have influenced consumer perception on meat quality, namely color, size, springiness, chicken aroma, fatty/oily taste, sweetness, visible fat, tenderness, and fibrousness. Among these factors, tenderness was found to be the most important criterion that influenced consumer preference toward chicken meat quality during buying decisions. Good production practices and proper marketing strategies are among recommendations to poultry industry players toward fulfilling consumer demand for good quality chicken meat.

Will Consumers Purchase Stevia as a Sugar Substitute?: An Exploratory Study on Consumer Acceptance

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, commonly known as Stevia, is an ancient sweet herb native to Paraguay. The plant, especially the leaves, has a sweetening effect 300 times sweeter than saccharose. Malaysia has taken a particular interest in promotion of Stevia derivatives as a precautionary measure to combat chronic diseases. This study aims to investigate factors that influence the acceptance of Stevia-based products by consumers. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire with 900 consumers from Klang Valley areas. The results revealed that most of the respondents were willing to use Stevia-based products as a substitute for sugar. There was also a significant relationship between level of education and consumer’s willingness to change for Stevia-based products. Health benefits, promotion, availability, and price were found to be the most influential factors toward acceptance of Stevia-based products by consumers. An effective promotion is necessary to increase consumer’s awareness toward a more healthy diet.

Conflicting Semiotic and Halal Cue Signal for Halal Malaysia Brand Equity

Halal Malaysia brand (HMB) has become a symbol of trust and an importance cue for Halal purchase in Malaysia as it provides an indication that the product has not only met with a strict syariah regulation but the brand also helps to eliminate consumer’s doubt through its quality assurance system. However, it is still unclear to what extent consumers really rely on this cue during their purchase decision especially when the product itself is a familiar product or high tolerance product. On the other hand, it is also difficult to speculate on whether a product that carries ambiguous cue can be effectively marketed using HMB. This study will look into the impact of conflicting semiotic cues on whether the presences of HMB cue on these products are really matter. Hence, this research aims to facilitate our current understanding of HMB equity. This study is an exploratory in nature, thus a qualitative method was used to identify consumer’s reliance on HMB during their purchase. A total of 23 semi-structured interviews were carried out with Malay Muslim consumers. Visual aids consisting of various picture of products in the market that carry both familiar and ambiguous cues are chosen as a projective technique are used to aid the interview process. Findings from this study clearly showed that ambiguous semiotics cues emit a stronger signal than HMB cue and it also has a potential to overwrite HMB signal. Semiotic ambiguous cues also carry other negative association that caused for negative spillover that does not favoured towards HMB equity. Furthermore, brand equity evaluation using semiotics ambiguous cues also highlighted other underlying issues that have never been highlighted before and potentially jeopardize HMB equity in the future.

Consumers’ Preferences towards Meat and Meat Products with Traceability Systems in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Nowadays, consumers’ concerns towards food safety have significantly increasing and they tend to generally aware about their health. This concern has become particularly serious because of food scandal and countless cases that happened around the world. These scandals lead to negative effect and perception to consumers, food companies and also both supply and demand chain. There are a lot of strategies by agriculture food industries to increase food safety such as developed and implemented traceability systems among consumers. However, the awareness level towards traceability system among Malaysian consumers was low. The aim of this research is to determine consumers’ preferences towards meat and meat products with traceability systems in Klang Valley, Malaysia. This study was based on a quantitative approach and the primary data were collected using structured questionnaire via face to face interview with 503 respondents. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive analysis and chi square analysis. The results of the study indicated that majority of the consumers prefer to use traceability systems and they think traceability systems are important when buying meat and meat products. In addition, the results of chi-square analysis revealed that socio-demographics profile such as gender, race, marital status, educational level, income and household size has an association with respondent’s preferences towards meat and meat products with traceability systems. Traceability systems have the potential to be implemented if the government, meat producers, marketers, and retailers have a better understanding towards preference of consumers towards meat and meat products with traceability systems .It also allows them to start planning for the implementation of traceability system in near future as a strategy to improve their service which in line with the increasing of food safety awareness among consumers.

Factors Affecting the Development of Long-Term Relationships Among SME Entrepreneurs in the Malaysian Agro-Based Industry

A strategy based on long-term relationships is considered one of the most effective options, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to be competitive and sustainable in the market. There are many benefits that can be obtained from long-term relationships that include efficiency and effectiveness in operations, total cost reduction, better delivery performance, and higher profit. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine factors that influence the development of long-term relationships among SME entrepreneurs in the Malaysian agro-based industry. The data collected from 226 entrepreneurs has revealed 7 important factors that influence the development of long-term relationships of SME entrepreneurs with their preferred buyers. These factors were trust, reputation, quality, satisfaction, power/dependence, relationship specific investments and communication. This result provides a basis for managers to put more effort into developing business relationships in order to create high competitive advantage in the market.

Role of biopesticides in developing a sustainable vegetable industry in Malaysia

Agrochemical firms have been actively influencing farmers to continue using chemical pesticides and fertilisers. However, there are two major problems. Since fertilisers rely heavily on fossil fuels, which are non-renewable resources, their ability to produce food and fibre for the world populations in the long run is questionable. The use of chemical pesticides tends to cause serious environmental degradation and poses a threat to human health; hence it may not be sustainable. The objectives of this study are to investigate the level of awareness among vegetable farmers on the application of biopesticides and to examine factors that influence farmers to use biopesticides in vegetable production. The results revealed that a majority of the farmers were aware of biopesticides and have applied biopesticides on their farms. The factors that influenced farmers to apply biopesticides were their awareness as well as effectiveness, availability and also prices of the biopesticides.