Investigation of Halal Awareness and Consciousness Level in Food and Beverage Consumption: The Case of Bingöl Province

Abstract

A face-to-face survey was conducted with 374 people using the random sampling method in order to determine the level of knowledge and awareness of consumers in Bingöl province about halal food and drinks. Descriptive statistical methods, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests were used in the analysis of the data. According to the research results; it has been determined that the product group that consumers have the most doubts about the halalness of when purchasing is meat and meat products. In addition, it has been determined that 61.2%of the consumers do not trust the markets declaring that they sell halal food, and 81.3%of them have doubts about the halalness of the packaged products. Consumers consider Halal foods with 80.7%as having good quality and with 77.0%as healthy products. Religious sensitivity, family habits and the belief that halal foods are healthier were found to be the most important three factors in the tendency of consumers to purchase halal products. It has been determined that consumers give importance to the price, reliability, quality and halalness of the product, respectively, while purchasing a product. It has been determined that female consumers are more sensitive about halal foods and drinks. It has been determined that when purchasing halal food, consumers pay most attention to whether the product is halal certified. According to this study, it has been determined that there are serious doubts about the halalness of the food products sold in the markets and that halal certified products should be sold in order to increase the confidence of Muslim consumers. The implementation of a general halal standard in determining and certifying the halalness of foods in Turkey will increase consumers’ trust in halal certified foods and reduce the doubts.