- HALAL PRODUCTS : UAE consumer concerns about halal products a general ..distrust of the system and a broad desire for assurance -Marketing Research

United Arabs Emirates /Emirat Arabes Unis :

UAE consumer concerns about halal products
Research paper - Journal of Islamic Marketing

Author(s):
John Ireland and Soha Abdollah Rajabzadeh
(Ajman University of Science and Technology United Arab Emirates)

Citation:
John Ireland, Soha Abdollah Rajabzadeh, (2011)
"UAE consumer concerns about halal products",
Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 2 Iss: 3, pp.274 - 283

Keywords:
Consumer behaviour, Halal market, Islamic marketing mix,
Islamic markets , Muslim consumers, United Arab Emirates

Article type:
Research paper

Publisher:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract:

Purpose
– Recent reports indicate that UAE Muslim consumers desire halal certification
because they are concerned about the halal status of their purchases.
However, to date, research on consumer worries has been anecdotal.
The purpose of this paper is to quantify consumer concerns to determine
which categories, if any, are problematic as well as the nature of consumer reservations.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors developed a list of categories and halal concerns with qualitative
methods then presented the resulting questionnaire to a non-probability sample
of 300 UAE Muslim consumers.

Findings
– In total, 86.5 percent of respondents felt “great concern” that at least one category
was not halal. On average, subjects felt “great concern” about 5.5 categories.

The categories that most distressed them were processed meat products.
Indeed, 44 percent of the sample felt “great concern” about hamburgers.
On average, women felt “great concern” about more categories (6.4)
than men (4.2) largely because they were more worried by toiletries.

Research limitations/implications
– Future research should generalize results through international samples.
Moreover, research should determine if concerns translate into behaviour
which would give a measure of the value of halal certification or brands.

Practical implications
– The finding that virtually all consumers are concerned about the halal
status of their products represents a great opportunity for trustworthy firms,
brands and institutions.

Originality/value
– This is the first refereed study of Islamic consumer halal concerns in
an Islamic country. The results are surprisingly similar to those to be expected
in a European country: a general distrust of the system and a broad desire for assurance

Source : Emerald Journal of Islamic Marketing UAE consumer concerns about