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Introduction
The inception of the Halal food industry has become one of the largest global food markets currently (Talib et al., 2016). Several factors were found to have contributed to the demand for Halal food. Firstly, according to the PewResearch Center (2015), the increase of the Muslim population worldwide is in the momentum of 35%, which is estimated to reach 2.76 billion people in 2050. Secondly, the global Muslim community has a significant growth in the income level, resulting in greater purchasing power by this community specifically, Halal products (Eum, 2009). Thirdly, Halal-oriented marketing has lately expanded tremendously due to the growing concerns and awareness of Halal products within the Muslim community (Zailani et al., 2015). Apart from the contribution of the imminent purchasing power amongst the Muslim population, recent empirical studies also noticed that the non-Muslim population is having an upward purchasing trend on Halal food products (Mathew et al., 2014; Wibowo and Ahmad, 2016; Haque et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2016).
Malaysia is a multicultural and multiethnic country, with a population of 32.66 million people (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2019a, 2019b). It is observed that 61.3% of the population are Muslims, while the remaining 38.7% of the population are non-Muslims (DOSM, 2019a, 2019b). One of the most significant differences between the Muslim and the non-Muslim populations is their food consumption behaviour. According to the Quran, Muslims must strictly adhere to the Quranic laws of food consumption and are only allowed to eat Halal food and food products. Unlike the Muslims, non-Muslims seldom have restrictions when it comes to food choices and is generally free to choose and to consume any food. The Halal industry in Malaysia has contributed approximately 7.5% to the total national GDP at US$314.5bn in 2017 (Zainuddin et al., 2019). Hence, the government of Malaysia is expected to develop the Halal economy globally, aiming to be the global leading Halal hub as targeted in the Third Industrial Master Plan, 2006–2020. The Halal hub serves as a core center in manufacturing, marketing and supply chain management of Halal products and services to Islamic countries across the world (Nik Muhamad et al., 2009).
Religion often influences food choices and consumption (Jusoh et al.