Halal, now moving beyond a mark of religious observance, represents a hallmark of reliability and food and product safety and hygiene. In the Muslim world, for the product to be considered healthy, safe, or hygienic, it has to go through the Halal process and is made with Halal ingredients in accordance with the Shariah principles. According to Global Halal Food Market Outlook in 2021, the rapidly growing global halal market, estimated at USD 1.2 trillion in 2020 and projected to rise by USD 3 trillion by 2026, signals a subsequent growing demand for halal food purchase. Halal food has a fast-growth stage among global food product categories and will become a major market force in the near future. As an answer to Muslims’ needs for Halal products, the Halal market appears as a promising global market. The prevailing uncertainty about the Halalness of food consumed even in Islamic countries calls for a growing need to investigate factors that influence buying behavior. Would knowledge, religiosity, awareness, and halal logistics influence purchase intention of halal food?

1.1 Knowledge

Knowledge has been defined as the information, which is known and potentially actionable that someone has received. This knowledge would constitute the understanding of halal and haram concepts in terms of halal. From the Islamic point of view, the ingredients of a product need to meet certain criteria set by Shariah law. Knowledge about the product ingredients is essential for the consumers since it will affect the purchasing intention of the said product.

1.2 Religiosity

Arguably, one of the most important social factors influencing a Muslim's life is religion, defined as a system of beliefs and practices regarding what is sacred, therefore playing a dominant role in shaping a person’s attitude and behavior towards goods and services. Religiosity is the intensity of a person’s religious belief. It is paramount to measure religiosity at an individual level because it plays a strong role in predicting a consumer’s intention to choose halal products. Some scholars have argued that the word Halal is linked with Muslims' religious fervor and beliefs, and Muslims always eat Halal food regardless of where they live. There has been an argument that religion, a part of the culture, is bound to shape individuals’ behavior, influence their actions and decisions, and moderate consumer attitude and purchase intention.

1.3 Awareness

Awareness, an essential first step of the purchasing process, is a concept where consumers who are not well versed with a product become familiar with it and will subsequently influence consumer’s purchase intention, especially when now, more than ever, consumers are being more aware of the importance of health in food consumption, which affects their behavior. Vice versa, when consumers are familiar with or have a suspicion that there are elements of prohibited (haram) services in the products, an increase in the subjects' level of religiosity brings about a decrease in the purchase intention.

1.4 Halal Logistics

“Halal logistics has been defined as the process of managing the procurement, movement, storage, and handling of materials, parts, livestock, semi-finished or finished inventory both food and non-food, and related information and documentation flows through the organization and the supply chain in compliance with the general principles of Shariah” (Tieman et al., 2012) and therefore is essentially the activities of halal food distribution along the halal supply chain. Recently, a growing number of research have started focusing on halal logistics due to worldwide demand for halal products and services where Muslims need to ensure that the preparation of their foods is according to the Islamic rules and principles. Halal practices can become a key to guaranteeing halal food quality, satisfying customers.

Findings in the literature indicate knowledge, awareness, religiosity, and halal logistics influence the purchase intention of halal foods among the consumers in Klang Valley. It was first posited that knowledge has a significant relationship with purchase intention of halal food and has been shown to influence consumers' purchase intention in this study. It may be due to a phenomenon where, as consumers receive more positive information about halal, they may have a positive perception, creating the belief that they should consume halal products. There is a need to disseminate halal knowledge to further attract a larger customer base for halal food. Awareness has been agreed to influence purchase intention as posited by previous studies, especially in terms of Halal certification where a clear halal logo should be attached to assure the Halal-ness of a product. Another explanation is that it could be due to consumers being more aware of their halal food consumption, inducing them to make rational decisions to purchasing halal food products.

Religiosity has been shown to influence purchase intention in line with the previous study where aspects of religiosity such as concern for others and interacting with religious community has a solid influence to purchase intent and that a particular brand can face ruins if it is perceived to be violating the religious obligations of Muslims Sharia Law putting forth the argument that buying decision can be strongly influenced by religious associations attached to halal foods consumption. Furthermore, for Muslims, consumption of Halal food is not just a dietary awareness but an obligation. The higher the religiosity of the consumer, the more he/she cares about his/her diet, and the higher the intention to purchase halal food. The ethos of religiosity could assist in attracting the consumer to the products with the need to focus on the larger acceptability and recognition of the religious values as religious associations linked to Halal foods consumption would presumably make buying decisions different and more important for Muslim consumers from regular non-Muslim consumption. Depending on the strength of their Islamic beliefs, individuals’ attitudes toward and purchase intentions will vary greatly. A rising trend by a society defines successful businesses as ones that touch upon the spiritual aspects of the shoppers.

A more interesting finding emerging is that halal logistics plays a powerful role in influencing consumers' intention to purchase halal food. It is essential for the Muslims that food is not prepared, processed or manufactured using equipment that has been contaminated with non-halal elements and that it is physically separated from non-halal products during its preparation, processing, packaging, storage, or transportation. Halal logistics is critical in ensuring the halal integrity for the Muslim consumer and a certain specified level of segregation is required throughout the supply chain. These discerning consumers may be willing to pay even more for Halal products, as long as the producers can properly ensure that the products are compliant with Halal Shariah principles. Scholars have also argued that implementing halal practices can create competitive advantage with the quality of halal logistics service, a key to ensuring halal food quality from the point of view of Islamic law, which will satisfy customers. There is, however, a need to provide maximum transparency about the product and processes as this may lead toward food safety and drive the customers’ attitude toward halal food purchase.

In conclusion, an important element of decision making in purchasing halal food, the influence of knowledge, awareness, religiosity, appears to be a key factor in buying behavior. In addition, the importance of halal logistics in its impact on purchase intention should not be ignored as it is gaining traction in influencing consumer’s purchasing behavior.u