The Impact of Traceability System Adoption and Environmental Factors on Consumer Trust in the Malaysian Halal Food Industry: The Mediating Role of Perceived Halal Integrity. A Conceptual Paper.

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates the effect of two elements; new technology (HTSA) and business environment (HIEF) on the trust of Malaysians towards the meat and frozen food that they purchase. The main interest is not the technology or the standards per se, but how they come together through what I call Perceived Halal Integrity (PHI). What I'm trying to say is that fancy technologies and government rules don't immediately build trust suddenly. “They work by creating the feeling that the product is really “halal” in the heart of the customer and that leads to real confidence in the entire supply chain.
Methodology: The research plan that deals with the collection and analysis of numbers to discover if the ideas’ function. Information will come directly from Malaysian shoppers in a survey with pre-tested and successfully utilized questions from other researchers. To understand all the data, study will utilize a method called Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). This tool is great for the project since it doesn’t simply look at simple links but allows the study to precisely assess how technology and the business environment interact through PHI to develop true trust.
Findings: The study shows that the presence of a Halal Traceability System or Environmental Factors will not immediately create trust in the product. Or rather, these things only function if they first make the buyer feel that the Halal Integrity is being safeguarded. “What I found is that basically shoppers don’t trust a brand because of the technology or the rules, they trust it because those things make them believe that the halal promise is kept throughout the supply chain.”
Originality: Research suggests that HTSA and HIEF do not by themselves create consumer trust. Their impact is quite mediated through PHI as one of the mediating mechanisms. The framework indicates that consumer trust is significantly improved only when the perception of uncompromised halal integrity across the entire supply chain is clear.