Siti Hasnah Hassan

Consumption of functional food model for Malay Muslims in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reveal and understand the consumption of functional food model for Malay Muslim consumers in Malaysia. The paper presents a new framework to understand how the majority of Malay Muslim consumers living in multicultural societies make their functional food choices in the modern world.Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected through a self‐administrated questionnaire survey that was distributed using convenience sampling. The items for the questionnaire were identified from a preliminary model derived from the qualitative analysis input using ethnoconsumerist and grounded theory methodologies. Structural equation modelling was used to develop the consumption of functional food model for Malay Muslims in Malaysia.Findings – These findings have practical implications for public policymakers (e.g. government and consumer educators), industrial food practitioners, market researchers and manufacturers who produce, sell or market functional foods in Malaysia....

Managing conflicting values in functional food consumption: the Malaysian experience

Purpose – Conflicting values are resolved through a process called value negotiation, but the nature of this process remains largely unexplored. This study aims to explore how consumers undergoing rapid socio‐economic transition manage their conflicting values in making choices concerning functional foods.Design/methodology/approach – Data for this study were collected qualitatively using ethnoconsumerist and grounded‐theory methodologies. In combination, these two approaches enabled the researcher to conduct research at the emic‐level (within culture).Findings – The exploratory model was developed to illustrate how the main three ethnic groups in Malaysia manage their values in terms of functional food consumption. The results showed that participants did not spend much time consciously considering their consumption choices or their values until they were faced with choices or personal values that were inconsistent with cultural, physical and product characteristics. Values are managed by prioritisation ...

The role of Islamic values on green purchase intention

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of religious values (RGV) on green purchase intention (GPI) among middle-class Muslims in Malaysia. The demand for environmentally green products is growing to facilitate the changing consumption pattern due to the substantial interest in ethical consumerism. Despite the potential impact of RGV on ethical consumption, it is difficult to find studies that embark on linking RGV towards this type of consumption, especially in a developing Muslim country such as Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire survey that was distributed using the purposive sampling method. The final useful sample consists of 140 middle-class Muslim participants. The partial least squares (PLS) structural equation was used to develop the model showing the relationship between RGV and intention to purchase green products for middle-class Muslims in Malaysia. Findings – The results suggest that there is an in...

Factors influencing fashion consciousness in hijab fashion consumption among hijabistas

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a method to understand the predictors of hijab fashion consciousness and consumption. Muslim women in developing countries have evolved from living a traditional to a modern lifestyle, as more women become more educated, work and earn their own money. As modern sophisticated Muslim women, they have transformed themselves in the way they dress and don their hijab while adhering to the Shariah-compliant dress code. As a result, hijab fashion among hijabistas “Muslim women who wear fashionable outfits with matching fashionable headscarves” is flourishing. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using questionnaires distributed to Muslim women who visited the Kuala Lumpur International Hijab Fashion Fair 2014 using the convenience sampling method. A total of 345 final useable data were used for data analysis using SmartPLS. Findings Results show that dressing style, fashion motivation, fashion uniqueness and sources of fashion knowledge positively influence fashion consciousness and indirectly influence hijab fashion consumption. Practical implications Results of this paper will provide insights to the people involved in the fashion industry, such as designers, retailers and marketers, to understand the hijabista market segment. Practitioners can design proper hijab fashion products that are Shariah-compliant to capture the segment of Muslim women with proper marketing strategies. Originality/value The fashion of Muslim women, particularly the hijab fashion, has received little attention in the fashion literature. This paper hopes to provide new insights to relevant researchers and industries.

Effects of Religious Behavior on Health-Related Lifestyles of Muslims in Malaysia.

Religion has become more prominent in shaping attitudes and behavior, but little empirical information is available on the impact of religious behavior in shaping individual Muslims’ health-related lifestyle behaviors in developing countries. The present study explores the relationship between religious behavior and the health-related practices of Malaysian Muslims. A convenience sample of 176 Malaysian Muslims was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to develop the model. Result shows that health-related actions are strongly influenced, both directly and indirectly, by the health-related lifestyle choices consumers engaging in on a daily basis in accordance with Islamic teachings.

Employee’s green behavior for environmental sustainability: a case of banking sector in Pakistan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find out the relationship between Employee’s Green Behaviors (EGBs) and Environmental Sustainability (ES). Presently, many environmental sustainability issues have impact on organizations e.g., energy cost and climate change. In business world, there is a positive trend among organizations to start reporting over performance of environmental sustainability keeping their role as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) alive. Design/methodology/approach Self-administered questionnaires were floated to gather data from employees of manufacturing and service industry. In order to analyze the collected data, Regression Analysis and Correlation Coefficient were employed to check hypotheses. Statistical package of Social sciences (SPSS) has been used for data analysis. Findings Results reveal that there is direct positive relationship between employees’ green behavior and environment sustainability. Five dimensions working sustainability; conserving, avoiding harm, influenci...

Sustainability and Philanthropic Awareness in Clothing Disposal Behavior Among Young Malaysian Consumers

Young consumers are the stylish shoppers who have a strong tendency to follow the latest fashion. With the rapid changes in the fashion trends, the overconsumption of clothing has had a significant environmental impact on society. Hence, there is a need to understand how young fashionable consumers are disposing their unwanted clothes. The survey was conducted among 205 young respondents, and the results show that clothing disposal behavior is affected by philanthropic awareness and mediated by the attitude toward clothing disposal. Interestingly, environmental economic factors only influence clothing disposal behavior through the attitude toward the disposal of clothing. The findings provide a valuable insight into the government and related authorities or organizations in developing strategies to encourage young consumers to increase their clothing-recycling rate, and, thus, eliminate the environmental issues in near future.

Exploring human capital of Malaysian SMEs

Intangible resources has been considered to be one of an organizations most valuable assets. Human capital makes up a component of intangible asset. The objective of this study is to investigate the role of human capital in influencing the performance of Malaysian SMEs. 115 owner-managers of SMEs were surveyed. Results show that among different sizes of SMEs (micro, small and medium) there were no statistical significant differences in human capital and performance. Additionally, human capital impacts SME performance and is an important determinant of business performance.

The assessment of perceived information pollution in banking sector: A scale development and validation study

Infollution management is a substantial dilemma in this century. There is lacking empirical evidence about infollution management. Perceived infollution has been explored based on information quality. This study aims to identify the factors of perceived infollution (information pollution) and validate those factors using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Researchers have personally collected data from employees of the banking sector. Factor analysis was performed to explore the factors using Statistical Package for the Social Science, and CFA was conducted to check the reliability, validity, and the model fitness in SmartPLS. The scale developed in this study has exhibited high values of reliability and validity and ensured the presence of both discriminant validity and convergent validity. The newly developed scale of perceived infollution provides a basis for most of the academicians and researchers to empirically investigate the relationship of perceived infollution with individual’s performance and organizational effectiveness, which is considered an important area of interest among the academic researchers in recent years. Extent literature review suggests that it is the first study conducted to develop measurement scale of perceived infollution (information pollution).

A conceptual model of perceived value and consumer satisfaction: a survey of Muslim travellers' loyalty on Umrah tour packages

The global religious travels market is growing tremendously as travelling is now becoming easy and cheap. However, there has been scant literature studying travellers behaviour toward religious tourism, despite the fact that this sector is growing as the numbers of Muslim travellers are increasing each year. This paper is designed to analyse the impact of perceived value on satisfaction and loyalty toward Umrah tour package services. 190 samples were collected from Malaysian Muslim travellers visiting Mecca for Umrah and the data was analysed using the SmartPLS software. The results showed that the quality of package services and emotional values are significant predictors for the Muslim travellers satisfaction, and this satisfaction mediates the link between perceived value and loyalty.