THE EFFECT OF HALAL AWARENESS AND CONSUMER DEMOGRAPHICS ON INTENTION TO PURCHASE HALAL FOOD: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM AND UGANDA

Consumer demographics and their level of awareness are important factors as determinants towards the foods they consume. The study aimed at comparatively examining the effect of Halal awareness and consumer demographics on intention to purchase Halal food in Brunei Darussalam and Uganda. In execution, it used a correlational research design to ascertain whether research variables were related, the nature and strength of effects. The study’s discoveries led to conclusions that Halal awareness efforts like government support policies, certification, health expert approvals, and individual exposure alongside religiosity significantly boost one’s intention to purchase Halal food up to 25% in Brunei and up to 51.6% in Uganda, respectively. It is also concluded that the effect was greater in Uganda compared to Brunei. The study thus empirically recommended that the Ugandan government should support the Halal industry to boost consumers’ intention to purchase such products. The study further recommended that marketers and sales agents of Halal products should concentrate on Muslim-dominated regions to entice more public willingness to purchase. Religiosity was found to be a significant catalyst towards one’s intention to buy Halal products. For Uganda, the study also recommended that Halal food certification should be spearheaded by government other than private organizations so as to streamline such efforts, boost public trust, and fund the relevant processes to significantly impact on this particular sub-sector.