Awareness and Perception of Muslim Consumers in Brunei on the Halal Certification of Imported Korean Food Products

Abstract

Empowered by the growing popularity of Korean pop culture, Korean food products are rapidly gaining worldwide recognition and has successfully penetrated the global markets. This has led to the growing concern among Muslim consumers of the uncertainty of substances used in the imported Korean food products, thus it becomes vital for this research to investigate the level of awareness of Muslim consumers in Brunei on the halal certification of Imported Korean food products and to gather information related to the issues and challenges on the halal status of the imported Korean food products being sold in Brunei by focusing on consumers’ perspectives. The quantitative data was collected from a total of 150 respondents across the country through personally administered questionnaires. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26 was used as a measurement method to analyse the data collected in this study. The findings of this research revealed that the awareness on the Ḥalāl certification of imported Korean food products is still very low. It showed that majority of the respondents understand on the rulings of Ḥalāl and Ḥarām but there is still some negligence on their part concerning the halal status of the imported Korean food products, the fact that some consumers fail to take reasonable precautions to ensure halal assurance of the products they are purchasing. From the findings, it revealed that respondents are highly aware on issues and challenges pertaining to the halal status of the imported Korean food products. But their action seems to give the idea that they are not really concerned or interested to validate the integrity or the halal status of the product. Therefore, one of the strategies that can increase awareness of Muslims in Brunei on the Ḥalāl certification of imported Korean food products IS by introducing a well-established and strong coordination of standardized Halal assurance system.