Index

Abstract

Halal tourism has a significant current market share. The increasing number of tourists from Muslim countries is a consideration for many areas to change their marketing strategies. In various works of literature, religiosity plays a role in consumer behavior. In this study, religiosity becomes a mediating variable from the subjective norm, attitude, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) to the intention to visit a halal tourism area. This study modifies the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), intending to understand how intense religiosity affects tourists’ decisions to visit a halal tourism area. The number of respondents in this study amounted to 590 people. Questionnaires were distributed via Google forms to tourists in Indonesia and analyzed through Moderated Regression Analysis to test the moderating effect of the religiosity variable. This research shows new information related to the religiosity variable. TPB can predict the intention to visit a halal tourism area. Subjective norms and attitudes have a positive and significant impact, while PBC has a positive but insignificant impact on intention. Still, religiosity does not play a role in strengthening the three exogenous variables that can affect the intention to visit a halal tourism area. The insignificant impact of religiosity in moderating the three independent variables may be because, in Muslim-majority countries, domestic tourists do not have to consider the halal aspect of a halal tourism area. Halal restaurants and places of worship are relatively easy to find, especially in provinces that are known for having a religious presence.

Keywords: Attitude, Halal tourism, Perceived behavioral control, Religiosity, Subjective norm, Theory of planned behavior.

Received: 2 July 2021 / Revised: 6 August 2021 / Accepted: 30 August 2021/ Published: 15 September 2021

Contribution/ Originality

This study contributes to the development of the TPB model by adding the religiosity variable as a moderator to measure the intention to visit a halal tourism area. Currently, the trend towards halal tourism is being promoted, so this study provides a view from the viewpoint of community religiosity


1. INTRODUCTION

Indonesia has a huge market for halal products with a population that is more than 80% Muslim. Currently, halal awareness for daily consumption is not only limited to food and beverages but has also penetrated halal tourism. The tourism industry has also adopted the revival of the religious side of society to give rise to the concept of halal tourism. Haq and Wong (2010) stated that halal travel had become a promising segment in the tourism industry. Muslim spend on travel was valued at US$177 billion in 2017 and is forecast to grow to US$274 billion by 2023. Based on data from the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2019-2020, Indonesia ranks fourth in the Muslim-friendly travel category. This shows that Indonesia is also a potential market for the halal tourism industry. Support for the development of this industry is very high. The Indonesian government has designated several provinces as halal destination areas. To identify consumer intention to visit a halal destination area, this study uses a modified TPB by adding a variable of religiosity as the moderator.

This variable is added while considering that Muslims have rules in behavior and consumption patterns that are in accordance with the teachings of their religion. Therefore, religiosity is determined to either strengthen or weaken people’s intentions to travel. The use of religiosity as a moderating variable has been widely used. Abror, Patrisia, Trinanda, Omar, and Wardi (2020) and Abror, Wardi, Trinanda, and Patrisia (2019) used religiosity as a moderator between halal tourism and customer engagement on tourism satisfaction. Abror et al. (2019) also tested religiosity as a moderator between service quality and satisfaction. Syahirah and Mohammed (2016) built a conceptual model that uses religiosity as a moderator between halal awareness, brand image, norms, attitude, and price towards purchase intention. However, the use of religiosity as a moderating variable in the context of the intention to visit halal tourism areas in Indonesia has not been carried out, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1. Intention

Intention is a condition in which a person is willing to perform a certain behavior, or it can be considered as an antecedent of behavior (Ajzen, 1985). According to Islamic teachings, intention plays a very important role, as stated in the hadith; in fact, charity depends on intention. In 1991, Ajzen explained further about intention, namely intention to identify motivational factors that can influence behavior. Intention is an indication of a person’s willingness to try and their planned attempts at certain behaviors. Spears and Singh (2004) define purchase intention as a tendency for personal action that refers to a particular brand. Furthermore, they also suggested that intention is different from behavior since new intention is limited to individual motivation to do something, while behavior is an act of evaluating a product. Rezvani et al. (2012) stated that purchase intention describes the feeling or possibility of purchasing the advertised product. Regarding the topic of halal tourism, (Han, Al-ansi, Olya, & Kim, 2019) defines intention as a future plan for a Muslim to revisit and even recommend halal tourism areas to others.

Applying TPB to predict intention has been widely practiced. Some specialize in halal products and food. Lada, Tanakinjal, and Amin (2009) examined the effect of attitude and subjective norm on intention to choose a halal product. Alam and Sayuti (2011) examined the same variable and added perceived behavioral control to test its effect on halal food purchase intention. In contrast to their research, Mukhtar and Butt (2012) added intra-personal religiosity. Rahman, Asrarhaghighi, and Rahman (2015) also used the religiosity variable in their research, but they added another variable, namely knowledge. Similar to Rahman et al. (2015), Maichum, Parichatnon, and Peng (2017) and Pratiwi (2018) also use the knowledge variable. Furthermore, Khalek and Ismail (2015) examined TPB variables but using a Y generation sample. Based on previous research, this study attempts to examine the effect of subjective norm, attitude, and PBC on intention to visit halal tourist destinations and adds religiosity as a moderator variable, among others.

2.2. Subjective norm

When someone decides to do a certain behavior, they are usually influenced by other people’s actions. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) define this behavior in terms of subjective norms. Their subjective norm is defined as a person’s perception of the approval or disapproval of their behavior by others whom they deem important. Their research results found a positive relationship between subjective norm and intention. Several studies, such as those conducted by Utami (2017); Ham, Jeger, and Ivković (2015), also found subjective norms had an effect on intention. In fact, the results of Elseidi (2018) study found subjective norms are the most influential determinants of their intention to purchase halal-labeled food products. Therefore, based on a review of the literature, it is hypothesized that:
H1: Subjective norms have a positive and significant effect on an intention to visit a halal tourist area.

2.3. Attitude

Attitude is one of the variables in the TPB, which is defined as the degree to which a person has an evaluation or assessment of intended behavior. Individual attitudes include a person’s decision to do or not do something and whether it is a good or bad thing to carry out the behavior (Suki & Salleh, 2018). Spears and Singh (2004) state that attitudes are different from intentions, where attitudes emphasize one’s actions in evaluating products. Attitudes can change due to social influences or other factors. In the context of halal business, attitude affects the intention to buy halal food (Elseidi, 2018; Maichum et al., 2017; Pratiwi, 2018) as well as halal products (Lada et al., 2009; Mukhtar & Butt, 2012; Rahman et al., 2015) . Based on previous research, the second hypothesis in this study is:
H2: Attitude has a positive and significant effect on the intention to visit a halal tourist area.

2.4. Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC)

Among the various beliefs that ultimately determine intentions and actions, according to TPB, there are a series of controls related to the presence or absence of the necessary resources and opportunities. This control of trust may be based, in part, on past experiences with the behavior but will usually also be influenced by information from others about the behavior, by experiences from acquaintances and friends, and from other factors that increase or reduce a perceived difficulty in applying the behavior. Various studies have confirmed that there is a significant relationship between PBC and an intention to purchase counterfeit products (Kim & Karpova, 2010), green food (Ham et al., 2015), intention to use urban green spaces in Hong Kong (Wan, Shen, & Choi, 2018), and halal products (Pratiwi, 2018). Therefore, the third hypothesis in this study is:
H3: PBC has a positive and significant effect on an intention to visit a halal tourist area.

2.5. Religiosity

The terms spirituality and religiosity are sometimes used interchangeably. Reutter and Bigatti (2014) distinguish these two terms. Spirituality is defined as ordinary everyday spiritual experiences that transcend a particular religious tradition, orientation, or denomination. This is measured by the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale. Meanwhile, religiosity is defined as the level at which a person adheres to religious values, beliefs, and practices. This construct is measured by the Religious Commitment Inventory. Applying these definitions, spirituality is conceptualized as an internal, personal, subjective, and personal experience that can be present at all levels of religiosity, while religiosity is conceptualized in terms of collective, institutional, visible, and public factors. In this way, not all religious individuals are spiritual. Syahirah and Mohammed (2016) attempted to build a research model based on suggestions raised by earlier researchers regarding possible variables that can moderate purchase intention (Awan, Siddiquei, & Haider, 2015) and Haque, Sarwar, Yasmin, Tarofder, and Hossain (2015). They built a conceptual model with the variable of religiosity as the moderating variable. Next, Elseidi (2018), in his research, also makes religiosity, especially Islamic religiosity, a moderator of the relationship between TPB and an intention to buy halal food. It is crucial to consider religiosity as a moderating variable because consumer choices for halal products and services must be related to religion. Based on this discussion, the following hypothesis is drawn:
H4: religiosity is a variable that moderates the effect of subjective norms on the intention to visit a halal tourist area.
H5: religiosity is a variable that moderates the effect of attitude on the intention to visit a halal tourist area.
H6: religiosity is a variable that moderates the effect of perceived behavioral control on the intention to visit a halal tourist area.
Based on the discussion, the conceptual model in this study can be seen below in Figure 1.

Figure-1. The conceptual model

3. METHOD

Data were collected by using the online questionnaire survey method. The accidental and snowball sampling method was used to collect data from respondents. The questionnaire was divided into two sections to assess all the variables used in the study. Section A comprised of variables pertaining to personal information, while section B included all the variables in this study. From the extant literature, established and validated scales were used to measure attitude, subjective norm, PBC, religiosity, and purchase intention. The scales were adopted from various studies conducted in the area of halal tourism. All items were measured on a five-point Likert scale, where "1" denoted "strongly disagree" and "5" denoted "strongly agree." The data collected were tested for validity and reliability using Pearson correlation and Cronbachs’ Alpha. After passing the validity and reliability test, the data were analyzed using moderated regression analysis to determine whether religiosity moderated the effect of the independent variables on the dependent variable.

4. RESULT

As reflected in Table 1 below, of the total 590 respondents, 187 were male (32 percent), and 404 were female (68 percent). Respondents in the 20- to 30-year age group were found to be approximately 65 percent of the total respondents surveyed. People above 30 years represented just three percent of the total of respondents.

Table-1. Respondents’ socio-economic background.

Characteristic
Frequency
Percentage (%)
Gender
Male
187
32%
Female
403
68%
Age Group (Years)
Under 20
190
32%
20-30
384
65%
Above 30
16
3%
Home Town
Riau Archipelago
191
32%
West Sumatera
142
24%
West Java
94
16%
Riau 
24
4%
Banten
19
3%
Jakarta
19
3%
Central Java
15
3%
Yogyakarta
15
3%
Aceh
13
2%
South Sumatera
11
2%
East Java
10
2%
Others
37
6%

Table-2. Descriptive, validity, and reliability test.

Construct
Item
Mean
Standard Dev
Pearson Correlation
Cronbach’s Alpha
Purchase Intention
PI1
4.26
0.96
0.819
0.782
PI2
3.99
1.00
0.856
PI3
4.02
0.99
0.827
Subjective Norm
SN1
3.88
1.07
0.803
0.789
SN2
3.73
1.11
0.806
SN3
3.45
1.23
0.799
SN4
4.02
1.13
0.724
Attitude
AT1
4.12
1.05
0.894
0.908
AT2
4.32
0.94
0.941
AT3
4.33
0.92
0.929
Perceived Behavioral Control
PBC1
4.10
0.99
0.698
0.714
PBC2
3.42
1.17
0.867
PBC3
3.02
1.24
0.821
Religiosity
RG1
4.52
0.81
0.802
0.830
RG2
4.55
0.79
0.865
RG3
4.31
0.88
0.873
RG4
3.54
0.99
0.744

Table 2 above shows Cronbach’s Alpha values of all the constructs were between 0.714 and 0.908 within the acceptable range of 0.7 or above. The results of validity testing using Pearson correlation also show that all indicators in this research instrument are valid.

Table-3. Normality Test.

One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test
N
590
Normal Parametersa,b Mean
0.0000000
Std. Deviation
0.61958200
Most Extreme Differences Absolute
0.082
Positive
0.032
Negative
-0.082
Test Statistic
0.082
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
0.200c
a. Test distribution is Normal.

The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test results in Table 3 show that the z stat = 0.082 <1.96 and prob. value = 0.200> 0.05 so that the data is normally distributed. Multicollinearity testing is done by looking at the tolerance and VIF values. The data in Table 4 below find that the VIF value is <10 and tolerance> 0.1, so it can be said that the model is free of multicollinearity assumptions.

Table-4. Multicollinearity Testing.

Variable
Tolerance
VIF
Subjective Norms
0.448
2.232
Attitude
0.479
2.086
PERCEIVED BEHAVIORAL CONTROL
0.578
1.730
Subjective Norm*Religiosity
0.192
5.206
Attitude*Religiosity
0.178
5.632
PBC*Religiosity
0.300
3.337

Furthermore, to test the moderating effect of religiosity, a Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) or interaction test was used. MRA is a special application of multiple linear regression where the regression equation contains an element of interaction (multiplication of two or more independent variables).

Table-5. Hypotheses Testing.

Variable
B
Std. Error
T Stat
Sig. 1 tail
(Constant)
1.753
0.155
11.339
0.000
Subjective Norms
0.461
0.043
10.663
0.000
Attitude
0.094
0.042
2.269
0.012
PBC
0.064
0.037
1.743
0.041
Subjective Norm*Religiosity
0.001
0.042
0.014
0.495
Attitude*Religiosity
-0.064
0.036
-1.764
0.039
PBC*Religiosity
0.016
0.037
0.443
0.329

Based on data in Table 5 above, the subjective norm was found to have a positive and significant effect on the intention to visit a halal tourist area.

Therefore, H1 is supported. This study confirms the findings of Lada et al. (2009), Alam and Sayuti (2011), Mukhtar and Butt (2012), Khalek and Ismail (2015), and Elseidi (2018).

The research of Mukhtar and Butt (2012) found that subjective norms have the strongest influence on the other predictors for choosing halal products. This study also found that subjective norms have the strongest influence on the intention to visit a halal tourist area.

For the next variable, namely attitude, this study also found a positive and significant effect. Therefore H2 is supported.

This finding is supported by previous findings which also found a positive and significant correlation between attitude and intention (Ahmad, Abd Rahman, & Ab Rahman, 2015, Alam & Sayuti, 2011, Elseidi, 2018, Khalek & Ismail, 2015; Lada et al., 2009, Maichum et al., 2017, Mukhtar & Butt, 2012, and Pratiwi, 2018).

The last variable in this study is PBC which is based on the data in Table 4 above, which also shows a positive and significant effect.

Therefore H3 is supported. These findings confirm previous research, such as done by Alam and Sayuti (2011), Elseidi (2018), Khalek and Ismail (2015), and Pratiwi (2018). Furthermore, to test the moderation effect, based on the data in Table-5 above, it can be seen that religiosity only moderates the influence between attitudes towards intention to visit halal tourist destinations.

Religiosity has the same position as the three other variables in this study, namely as an independent variable and not as a moderating variable. This study places the religiosity variable as moderation which is expected to strengthen the subjective norm, attitude, and perceived behavioral control variables in traveling behavior.

The importance of this research will affect the marketing policy of tourist destinations for Muslim tourists. Although this study tries to confirm the previous research model, based on the results of the study, it fails to find a significant effect of the religiosity variable as a moderator between the subjective norm and PBC to the intention to visit a halal area.

This is possible in several ways, namely based on respondents who are domestic, so the decision to visit for domestic tourists does not require high involvement. In addition, the object of research in Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, means that there are more halal tourist destination choices than non-halal destination areas.

5. CONCLUSION

Based on the results of the research, TPB is proven to be a strong model for predicting an intention to visit a halal tourist area. Although in previous studies there were many doubts that intention would change into actual behavior, in the context of halal tourism, this trend seems to be increasing. The younger generation is now starting to turn to experiential marketing, so the possibility of their intention becoming an actual behavior will be very high. In addition, the development of information technology is increasingly making the intention to visit halal tourist areas easier and cheaper.

The next research should examine transportation costs incurred considering the current conditions in Indonesia, which is currently experiencing an increase in airplane fares for domestic travel. Meanwhile, in some cases, international travel is relatively cheaper. This will encourage the shift of tourists to visit tourist objects abroad so that the domestic economy from the tourism sector will lose the opportunity to maximize its income.

6. LIMITATION

This research is very limited by several things, namely (1) respondents who were sampled are only tourists who come from Indonesia / domestic tourists, (2) the research area was only conducted in tourist destinations in Indonesia. It is hoped that in the next research, foreign tourist respondents who come from other Muslim countries can be involved so that they can enrich the study of the intention to visit halal tourist destinations. This study will also have a broad perspective if it is carried out on tourist destinations in countries with a non-Muslim majority population.

Funding: This study received no specific financial support.  
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Acknowledgement: All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study.

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