Driving customer loyalty in the Malaysian fast food industry: The role of halal logo, trust and perceived reputation

Abstract

Purpose: Although the importance of halal logo in determining purchase intention has been recognized in the marketing literature, there is a dearth of study that has examined the impact of halal logo toward customer loyalty. To fulfill this gap, this study aims to shed some light on the impact of halal logo toward achieving customer loyalty in the context of fast food industry in Malaysia. More specifically, the objectives of this study are: to examine the direct and indirect effect of halal logo on customer loyalty; to examine the effect of halal logo on trust and perceived reputation; to examine the effect of halal logo and perceived reputation on customer loyalty; and to examine the mediating effect of trust and perceived reputation in the relationship between halal logo and customer loyalty among the fast food industry consumers in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: This study used stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory as the theoretical basis. The data were collected via self-administered survey questionnaire consisting 117 Muslim fast food consumers. Partial least square (SmartPLS, version 3) was used to test the study hypotheses. Findings: Results of this study revealed that halal logo, directly and indirectly affect customer loyalty. Moreover, perceived reputation and trust also found to be positively related to customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications: The data were collected from Malaysian Muslim consumers. Future studies can consider non-Muslim consumers to compare the loyalty pattern among Muslim and non-Muslim consumers. Practical implications: The findings from this study will benefit fast food industry marketers who are targeting Muslim consumer segment and also those marketers who are operating their franchise business in Muslim majority countries. The findings suggest that halal logo helps service providers to create positive perceived reputation and to build trust among consumers, which eventually lead customer loyalty. It is expected that the findings of this study will assist the halal fast food industry marketers to better strategize their marketing efforts in retaining the Muslim customer base. Originality/value: Using S-O-R theory, this study examines halal logo as the key driver of customer loyalty, which is comparatively a new link. Moreover, this study examines the mediating effects of perceived reputation and trust in the relationship between halal logo and customer loyalty, which are not tested in previous literature in the field.