Author(s): Qaisar Ali, Asma Salman, Hakimah Yaacob, Shazia Parveen
The demand for Halal cosmetic products has gained substantial momentum in the modern millennium. The tipping points for the rise in demand are increasing Muslim population and consumers’ demand for safe, hygienic and friendly to human body cosmetic products. However, the Halal cosmetics industry so far is unable to cater to the needs of its customers due to several factors. This is one of the reasons that Halal cosmetics are not fully penetrated among Malaysian consumers. The current study focusses to analyse the adoption of Halal cosmetics in Malaysia and the factors influence its adoption. The data was collected from 275 cosmetics consumers through a self-administrated questionnaire. The content of the questionnaire was designed using Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation theory (DOI). The collected data was analysed using partial leased square analysis. The findings indicate that awareness and understanding level, perceived attributes of innovation and social influence have a significant positive impact whereas, financial cost has a significant negative impact on the adoption of Halal cosmetics. Findings further depict that religiosity mediates the awareness and understanding, perceived attributes of innovation, financial cost and social influence to impact on the adoption. The sample size and adopted framework are not ideal to generalize the findings to the entire population of Halal cosmetics consumers. This study offers various practical and social implications for regulators, manufacturers and users of Halal cosmetics. This study is a potential contribution in the literature through the successful extension of DOI theory to establish the basis to analyse the adoption of Halal cosmetics consumers in Malaysia.