367 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC

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1 367 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC INVESTIGATING STUDENTS AWARENESS AND USAGE INTENTION TOWARDS HALAL LABELLED COSMETICS AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS IN MALAYSIA Phuah Kit Teng Graduate Research Fellow Department of Agribusiness and Information Systems, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wan Jamaliah Wan Jusoh Department of Business Administration Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia Abstract This paper focuses on the consumers awareness, usage and intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire was designed as an instrument to gather information on university students behaviour. A survey was conducted and 573 students responded to the questionnaire. Reliability test, descriptive statistic and chi-square analyses were used to analyze the data collected. The results indicate that most respondents were aware about the halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. The results also showed that there were significant differences among the respondents race and awareness towards halal cosmetics and personal care products. Furthermore, the students year of study and study in religious school is a strong indicator of consumers usage and intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products. This study will provide cosmetic industries with a greater understanding of the consumer behaviour relating to halal cosmetics and personal care products. This will help them to produce cosmetic products which can satisfy consumers needs and wants and at the same time increase their profit and corporate social responsibility. Keyword: awareness, halal labelled cosmetic, intention, personal care product, usage

2 368 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC INTRODUCTION Today, cosmetics and personal care products are an essential element of our everyday lives. According to a study by an Environmental Study Group in 2006, an average person would use up to 25 personal care products daily (Huff, 2009). These products may include bath products, oral care products, skin care products, personal hygiene products, perfumes, deodorants and makeup (Hunter, 2012). Cosmetics and personal care products must comply with government safety regulations. However, for the Muslims consumers, cosmetics and personal care products must also be halal. By halal, it means the products are lawful or permissible to consume or use. To be halal, products must not contain ingredients that are not permissible or questionable such as alcohol or toxic chemicals, fats, placenta or gelatine from swine or animals that were not slaughtered according to the Islamic rules. For Muslim consumers, most of the cosmetics and personal care products on the market at present do present some challenges because they contain ingredients that make them questionable or mashbooh (Khattak, 2009). It is a must for Muslims to consume halal products and services but according to a survey conducted by KasihDia Consulting, found that the level of awareness of halal cosmetics among the Muslims is still low (Kamaruzaman, 2008). Not all Muslims look for the halal certifications when they purchase products and according to Hunter (2012), majority of consumers will buy products without the halal certifications when there are no alternatives. Therefore, more research need to be conducted in this area to gain greater understanding on the awareness and purchase intention of Muslims consumers towards cosmetics and personal care products. Thus, the objective for this study is to investigate the awareness, usage and intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products among university students in Malaysia. LITERATURE REVIEW Cosmetics and personal care products are becoming more important not only to women but also to men. Nowadays, Muslims are becoming more conscious and concern over the presence of chemical and non-halal ingredients in their cosmetics and personal care products. Not only they are looking for halal certified products, the products must also be clean, wholesome and safe where all aspects of the production comply with the syariah or Islamic law. Based on the 1998/99 Household Expenditure Survey conducted by the Department of Statistics, the average Malaysian household spent RM23.25 on toiletries (Yusof & Duasa, 2010). Malaysian spending patterns are also different in terms of age, gender and ethnic group. The younger generation and those who live in the urban areas tend to spend more on outside food, clothing and personal care products. Indians compared to the Malays and Chinese have higher spending on personal care items. While men spend more on tobacco and alcohol (true for non-muslims as Muslims are prohibited from consuming alcohol), but interestingly, women total expenditure are higher than men (Yusof & Duasa, 2010). In buying cosmetics, the female Gen-Y, are concerned on factors such as product quality, brand image and product knowledge (Eze & Tan, 2012) but not price promotion. They are willing to pay more for higher quality products and not attracted by price promotion. Brand image is also important in their

3 369 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC purchase criteria as brand image also reflect better quality products. As consumers are becoming more educated, they tend to be more knowledgeable and well-informed about their choices. MATERIAL AND METHOD Conceptual Framework Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework developed for use in this study to investigate the factors that can influence the consumers awareness, usage and intention towards halal cosmetics and personal care products. External Variables - Gender - Race - Year of study - Study at an Islamic Religious school - Attend any formal religious study H1 H3 H2 Awareness of Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care products Usage of Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care products Intention to use Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care products Figure 1. Conceptual framework on Awareness and Usage Intention towards Halal Labelled Cosmetics and Personal Care Products in Malaysia In this study, awareness is used to measure how well the consumers know about the halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. Intention is an indicator of how hard consumer is willing to try or how much effort he or she is willing to put in order to use halal cosmetics and personal care products. Usage is used to measure the consumer action of using halal cosmetics and personal care products. Socio demographic profile seems to be one of the antecedent factors that affect a person awareness, usage and intention to perform a particular behaviour, in this case, using halal cosmetics and personal care products. Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) have discussed the effect of external variables such as sociodemographic variables which have effects on consumers behaviour and affecting directly on attitudes.

4 370 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC Research hypotheses Usage patterns of halal cosmetics and personal care products are different from country to country. Based on the previous studies, three hypotheses referring to the awareness, usage and intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products were proposed (Figure 1 as on page 3). Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between the socio-demographic factors such as gender, race, year of study, study at an Islamic Religious school and attend any formal religious study with the university students awareness towards halal cosmetics and personal care products. Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between the socio-demographic factors such as gender, race, year of study, study at an Islamic Religious school and attend any formal religious study with the university students usage of halal cosmetics and personal care products. Hypothesis 3: There is no significant relationship between the socio-demographic factors such as gender, race, year of study, study at an Islamic Religious school and attend any formal religious study with the university students intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products. Sample and questionnaire Using a convenience sample of 578 university students, data were obtained via a self administed questionnaire to test their awareness and intention towards the usage of halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. The questionnaire was divided into three sections and contained straightforward questions. The questions were measure by using five point Likert scale (1 represent strongly disagree and 5 represent strongly agree). The first section of the questionnaire asked about the background information such as gender, age, religion, race, year of study, degree program, area of specialization, study at an Islamic Religious school and attend any formal religious study. Open-ended and close-ended (dichotomous) questions were use in this section. Second section asked about the information on halal labelled cosmetic and personal care products. Third section of the questionnaire was designed to find out students views on the factors or criteria that affect the purchase of halal cosmetics and personal care products. Method of analysis Data collected was analyzed using SPSS version To accomplish the objective of this study, reliability analysis (Cronbach s alpha), descriptive statistic and Chi-Square analysis were performed. Reliability

5 371 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC analysis was carried out to determine how accurate the measurement made on a certain variable according to Lay and Khoo (2009). Descriptive analysis was used to summarize the socio-demographic data into a simpler summary to make it easier to understand and interpret. Since the objective of the study is to investigate the Malaysia university students awareness, usage and intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products, Chi-square test of independence were used to examine the extent to which the selected socio-demographic characteristics created and influenced the university students awareness, usage and intention towards halal cosmetics and personal care products respectively. RESULTS The Cronbach s alpha value which was obtained from reliability analysis was and this showed that there were consistency among the conceptual framework items and therefore the model is fit for this study. Socio-demographic Information Table 1 shows the respondents socio-demographic profile. In this study, most of the respondents were females 463 (80.5 percent) as compared to male 112 (19.5 percent). The majority of the respondents were Malays (94.9 percent), followed by Indians (1.8 percent) and others (3.4 percent) such as Bajau, Indonesian, Yemen, Africa, Malabar, Arab, Sudanese, Kashmiri, Bangladeshi, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tanzanian and Cambodian. Majority were aged between years (40.3 percent) and only 9.2 percent of the respondents are above 25 years old. The year of study of the respondents was categorized into four categories. 7.5 percent of the respondents are in first year, 19.3 percent are in second year, 31.6 percent were in third year and 41.6 percent of the respondents are in fourth year. About 58.6 percent of the respondents have studied at religious school as compare to 41.4 percent have not study in religious school. As shown in Table 1, most of the respondents have not attend any formal religious school (62.1 percent) while only 37.9 percent have attend formal religious school. Table 1. Demographic Profile of Respondents (n=578) Characteristic Percentage Characteristic Percentage Gender Year of study Male 19.5 First year 7.5 Female 80.5 Second year 19.3 Third year 31.6 Race Fourth year 41.6 Malay 94.9 Indian 1.8 Study at religious school Others 3.4 Yes 58.6 No 41.4

6 372 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC Age Below Attend formal religious school Yes No 62.1 Above Dimensions of consumers awareness and usage of Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Table 2 shows five hundred and seven (507) respondents (89.1 percent) were aware about the Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care products while 62 respondents (10.9 percent) have never heard about this product. Friends were the most significant personal source of information as reported by 303 or 52.9 percent respondents. Followed by parents (223 or 38.6 percent respondents) and family (98 or 17 percent respondents) Other sources reported were doctors, government, teacher or lecturers and others such as cosmetic vendors, personal belief, religious, research, sibling and Jakim website (percentage of respondents were between 6.0 to 15.0 percent). For impersonal source of information, the most important one was internet which was reported by 251 respondents or 43.4 percent. This was followed by television (215 respondents or 37.2 percent) and advertisement or promotion (151 respondents or 26.1 percent). Other sources reported were store or supermarket display, newspaper, radio, facebook or twitter, magazine, government campaigns, halal food exhibitions and other such as books (percentage of respondents were between 1.0 to 25.0 percent). The result from this study also showed that 431 respondents or 74.6 percent were using halal cosmetics and personal care products and 108 respondents or 20.1 percent were not using halal cosmetics and personal care products. Table 2. Consumers Awareness and Usage towards Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care products (n=578) Statement Percentage (%) Yes No Do you know/aware about Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care products? Are you using Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care products?

7 373 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC Please indicate from which source, you get your information about Percentage (%) Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care products? Personal source of information Friends 52.9 Parents 38.6 Relatives 17.0 Teachers/Lecturers 14.9 Government 14.7 Doctors/Cosmetologist 9.4 Impersonal source of information Internet 43.4 Television 37.2 Advertisements/promotion 26.1 Facebook/Twitter 23.9 Magazine 23.7 Halal food exhibitions 19.8 Newspaper 19.2 Store/supermarket displays 16.6 Radio 9.5 Government campaigns 5.9 Chi-square analysis The results of Chi-square test indicate that some of the selected socio-demographic variables have significant relationship with consumers awareness, usage and intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. The socio-demographic variables chose in this study include gender, race, years of study, study in religious school and attend formal religious school. Table 3 shows the Chi-square test that was used to test whether there are significant differences between selected socio-demographic characteristic and consumers awareness towards halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. The results showed that only race have significant interaction with the awareness of halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. It shows that 94.9 percent of the Malay know and aware about the halal cosmetics and personal care products than other race (χ2= 5.179, p <0.10). Table 3. Chi-square value and Respondents awareness towards Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care Products in Malaysia Socio-demographic Variables Χ 2 Gender Race 5.179* Year of study 3.073

8 374 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC Study at religious school Attend formal religious school ***Statistically significant at the 0.01 level, **at the 0.05 level and *at the 0.10 level Table 4 summarizes the result of relationship between respondents demographic factors and their usage of halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. The results showed that year of study, study at religious school and attend formal religious school have significant differences with their usage of halal cosmetics and personal care products. The respondents year of study is a significant factor affecting the usage among the respondents. Respondents who have higher year of study (fourth year) were using the halal cosmetics and personal care more than other respondents (χ2= 6.340, p <0.10). Furthermore, respondents who have studied at religious school were using halal cosmetics and personal care products more than the respondents who do not study at religious school (χ2= , p <0.01). However, respondents who have not attended formal religious school were using halal cosmetics and personal care products more than respondents who had attended the formal religious school (χ2= 7.666, p <0.01). Table 4. Chi-square value and Respondents Usage of Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care Products in Malaysia Socio-demographic Variables Χ 2 Gender Race Year of study 6.340* Study at religious school *** Attend formal religious school 7.666*** ***Statistically significant at the 0.01 level, **at the 0.05 level and *at the 0.10 level Information presented in Table 5 showed the Chi-square test that was used to test the sociodemographic variables and consumers intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. The results showed that consumers who have studied at religious school are more likely to use halal cosmetics and personal care products than respondents who have not studied at religious school (χ2= 6.686, p <0.01). In term of race, 94.9 percent of the Malay have higher intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products than other races (χ2= , p <0.01). In addition, respondents who have higher year of study (forth year) have more intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products than the respondents who still in first, second and third year (χ2= , p <0.05). Table 5. Chi-square value and Respondents Intention to Use Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care Products in Malaysia Socio-demographic Variables Χ 2

9 375 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC Gender Race *** Year of study ** Study at religious school 6.686*** Attend formal religious school ***Statistically significant at the 0.01 level, **at the 0.05 level and *at the 0.10 level DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Consumer awareness and public concerns about halal labels have increased especially among the Malays. Therefore, it is important for the cosmetic industries to know about the consumers awareness, usage and intention towards halal cosmetics and personal care products so that they can produce cosmetic products which can satisfy consumers needs and wants and at the same time increase their profit and corporate social responsibility. The racial background of the respondents has made them more aware and conscious about halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. External variables such as the selected socio-demographic variables like respondents year of study and whether they have studied at religious school have strong relationship with consumers usage and intention to use halal cosmetics and personal care products in Malaysia. Although there is a growing concern among consumers towards the importance of halal labelled cosmetic and personal care products, the implementation of halal logo and marketing strategies are still not widely utilized in the Malaysian cosmetic industry. There are still incidences about usage of fake halal logo which will decrease consumers confidence towards the halal products. Therefore, more effort should be carried out to disseminate the halal concept to Malaysian industries in general. Therefore, cosmetic producers or marketers need to understand the consumers behaviour and how the Malaysian consumers purchasing behaviour is affect by their socio-demographic characteristics. Future study is needed to examine non-muslim consumers awareness, understanding and intention to purchase halal cosmetics and personal care products. Willingness to pay for the halal cosmetics and personal care products is needed to identify how much Malaysian are willing to pay for halal cosmetics and personal care products.

10 376 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC REFERENCES Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Eze, U. C., & Tan, C. (2012). Purchasing Cosmetic Products : A Preliminary Perspective of. Conntemporary Management Research, 8(1), Huff, E. (2009). Toxic Burden: Women Put 515 Chemicals on Their Faces Every Day. Retrieved from Hunter, M. (2012). The emerging Halal cosmetic and personal care market March 2012 P E R S O N A L C A R E, (March), Retrieved from Kamaruzaman, K. A. (2008). Halal Cosmetics: Between Real Concerns and Plain Ignorance. Halal Journal. Khattak, H. (n.d.). Halal Certified Cosmetics And Personal Care Products - Where Purity Comes First. Halal Digest. Retrieved from ff-b49c-2fe3adcb6390#06 Yusof, S. A., & Duasa, J. (2010). Consumption Patterns and Income Elasticities in Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies, 47(2),