PERCEPTIONS ON HALAL GOODS AND SERVICES AMONG MUSLIM CONSUMERS IN KOTA KINABALU, SABAH, MALAYSIA

The halal industries for goods and services has been growing and recently draws attention from global communities. The Malaysian government aim to position Malaysia as a halal hub in South East Asia. In order to support the govemment’s vision, this paper will serve as a preliminary study on perceptions of Muslim consumers on halal goods and services in Kota Kinabalu. The main objective of this paper is to investigate and identify the selection pattern on halal goods and services. The respondents comprise Muslim consumers from around Kota Kinabalu regardless of age. A questionnaire survey was administered for data collection. A total of 120 Muslim respondents were chosen using the probability sampling method. From the result, it is observed that consumers in Kota Kinabalu are very concerned about the ‘halal’ logo displayed on consumer products and services. The halal logo is very important as it increases consumers’ confidence on a particular product especially logo recognized by the Malaysian Islamic Department. This includes logo from neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore. One other important finding from this study is the role of information channel to increase the confidence level of Muslim consumers in Kota Kinabalu on such products. Information is usually obtained from internet, printed media, exhibition, seminar and talk. The findings of this study suggested that in order to further increase the awareness level of consumers, the knowledge on halal issues should be introduced at the primary school level. At the same time, relevant authorities must increase the efficiency of halal certification procedures and enforcement from time to time to increase the confidence of Muslim consumers on halal goods and services.