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The influence of attitude functions
on Muslim consumer attitude
towards social media advertising:
a case of bubble tea
Shaizatulaqma Kamalul Ariffin and Nur Qistina Ihsannuddin
Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, and
Ainul Mohsein Abdul Mohsin
School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between attitude functions and attitude
towards social media advertising. Additionally, this study also examines the relationship between attitude
towards social media advertising and purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach –The data was collected via an online survey among Malaysian
Muslim participants. Quantitative analysis was used to test the hypothesis. A total of 280 respondents
participated in the online survey but only 264 responses fit theanalysis. The data was analysed via SPSS and
partial least squares structural equation modelling.
Findings –The findings of this paper show that attitude functions, namely, utilitarian, value-expressive,
ego-defensive and religiosity have a significant positive influence on attitude towards social media
advertising, whilst knowledge function was found to be insignificant. Attitude towards social media
advertising was also found to have a significant positive influence on purchase intention.
Practical implications –Advertisers should also consider the religious aspects of Muslim consumers
and their level of sensitivity as Muslims nowadays are well-informed. This is to avoid controversies and have
a better understanding of their consumer needs.
Originality/value –This is one of the few studies examining the influence of religiosity in the social media
advertising of controversial products such as bubble tea.
Keywords Religiosity, Purchase intention, Social media advertising, Attitude functions, Bubble tea,
Advertising
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Over the past decades, Malaysia has seen numerous viral food and beverage trends emerging
online, with bubble tea not being an exception to this (Kaur, 2019;Wong, 2019). As revealed by
Merriam-Webster (2021), bubble tea is defined as “a sweet drink of Taiwanese origin that in its basic
form consists of tea mixed typically with milk or fruit syrup and small balls of tapioca”Bubble tea is
also most commonly known as boba tea, pearl tea or tapioca tea (Willard, 2013). Today, bubble tea
shops are seen popping up in nearly every corner of Taiwan’s streets, gaining traction and
expanding to neighbouring East and Southeast Asia countries and has spread to regions around the
world (Chang, 2017). However, they are still thinking about how to effectively reachtheir customers.
The research for this paper was financially supported by Universiti Sains Malaysia, Grant No. 6315458.
Influence of
attitude
functions
Received 13 January2021
Revised 22 February2021
11 April 2021
Accepted 19 April2021
Journal of Islamic Marketing
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1759-0833
DOI 10.1108/JIMA-01-2021-0015
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1759-0833.htm
In 2018, it was reported that there are an estimated 24.6 million social networking users.
According to the survey conducted by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia
Commission in 2018, there are over 28.7 million internet users in Malaysia where 85.6% of
online activities comprise visiting social media platforms. Bubble tea companies saw an
opportunity to leverage social media advertising to reach the most people at the shortest
possible time (by being viral) in line with the rise of internet users in Malaysia (Alias, 2018;Yap,
2020). Examples of companies using social media as their platform for advertising includes
Xing Fu Tang, Tealive and Chatime (Xing Fu Tang Malaysia, 2021;TealiveAsia, 2021;
Chatime Malaysia, 2021). By leveraging on social media, these companies are able to inject their
brand personality, help people connect with them via visually appealing content and increase
their reach and engagement through elements of pop culture and trends (Emerge, 2021).
Before proceeding any further, it is vital to understand the impact of Islamic marketing in
today’sconsumers’opportunistic-centric businesses. The increasing presence of Islam can be
seen and felt globally in this current era, especially within the business and consumerism scene
(Wilson, 2014). In view of the fact that the Muslim population encompasses a quarter of the
global population where 52% of Muslims currently are below the age of 24 years old, they
represent a large potential of imminent purchasers. Additionally, Wilson and Liu (2011) stated
that the number of Muslims is expected to increase by over 35% in the next two decades. Indeed,
this percentage of the population is a goldmine waiting to be exploited. Furthermore, Muslims
are the third one billion, following the Indian and Chinese billions (Hussain and Dernaika, 2010).
Islamic marketing and branding are exclusive and exceptional because Muslim
consumer behaviour is essentially a cultural construct and continue to evolve (Wilson and
Liu, 2011). Therefore, researchers and marketers need to scrutinize through the various
lenses of the Muslim consumers to get a better insight into what really matters to them
(Wilson and Liu, 2011;Wilson et al.,2013). These halal-conscious consumers are risk-averse
and have to discriminate and high-involvement behavioural traits according to Wilson and
Liu (2011). It should also be noted that halal is not utterly for Muslims but indirectly has a
wider spectrum inclusive of consumers that comply with Kosher obligations and those who
are conscious of their dietary needs (Wilson and Liu, 2010;Wilson and Liu, 2011;Wilson
et al., 2013). Interestingly, Alserhan (2010) explains Islamic branding relies on three
constructs, namely, country of origin, target audience and halal status. Therefore, halal
status plays an imperative role in Islamic marketing.
Finally, however, there has been an issue among Muslim consumers regarding the halal
status of bubble tea in Malaysia. A popular bubble tea brand recently was faced with a
controversy where JAKIM made a statement that the outlet has yet to be halal certified
(Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM), 2019). These companies claimed
that all their ingredients are pork and lard-free and that they also bear halal certification
from Majelis Ulama Indonesia despite concerns that this certificate might not be recognized
in Malaysia (Bahari, 2019;Fun, 2019). Food premises using raw materials or ingredients that
are halal cannot be described as halal-certified in Malaysia unless otherwise authorized by
the JAKIM or the State Islamic Religious Department (JAIN) (13 states in Malaysia have
their own state Islamic religious council) as the authority in the Malaysian Halal
Certification (Bahari, 2019;Zulkipli, 2019). The term halal, which is derived from the Arabic
phrase can be defined as “allowed or permitted by Islamic Law”and is used to describe
something to be lawful, legitimate and legal (Ab Talib et al.,2016). Consumption of halal
food is compulsory among Muslims and plays a pivotal role in their preferences and attitude
towards halal food (Arsil et al., 2018).
As bubble tea outlets in Malaysia are mostly run by Malaysian Chinese and that most of
the popular Taiwanese franchised brands (The Alley, Daboba, The Black Whale and Xing
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Fu Tang) originated from Taiwan and had sourced their ingredients from there (Jenius,
2019;Foong, 2019;Zulkipli, 2019), these operators may not have a thorough understanding
of Muslim Shariah law and the halal concept. This can be supported by a study from Rezai
et al. (2012) that posits only 40% of the non-Muslim respondents in Malaysia really
understand the halal principle concept despite being aware of it. Therefore, this could be the
reason why one of the popular bubble tea brands was hit with the controversial issue
surrounding their halal status (Zainal, 2019).
Despite the doubtful statuses of these bubble tea beverages being portrayed in the media
and causing confusion among Muslim consumers (Zulkipli, 2019;Murni, 2019), Muslim
bubble tea consumption in Malaysia has gain traction over social media with Muslim
influencers and celebrities partaking in “Bubble Tea Taste Challenges”and taste reviews to
compare the different brands and versions of the beverage, thus influencing the
consumption of bubble tea among their viewers (Yusof, 2019;Ainaa, 2019). The trend of
bubble tea consumption being portrayed in social media by Muslims has consequently
piqued the curiosity of Muslim consumers to purchase and consume this beverage. This can
be seen from an interview by Ili and Loh (2019) on a Muslim consumer, senior digital
marketing executive Azleen Asyiqin Arifin who is now hooked on purchasing bubble tea
after seeing that many were into the craze.
However, according to The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS, only three
bubble tea brands were certified halal which are Tealive, CoolBlog and Chatime whilst other
brands had yet to apply for it (Zulkipli, 2019). Although halal statuses for these outlets are
deemed to be non-compulsory, bubble tea outlets could leverage on adopting Muslim
friendly marketing strategy in a bid to extend their core competencies in the Muslim
dominated market which is expected to reach RM3.06tn by 2025 (McIntyre, 2019). According
to Najmaei et al. (2017), the most significant argument linked to Muslim consumer
marketing strategies is the need to disclose the truth and avoid concealing the facts about
their products. Therefore, bubble tea operators should avoid putting false and ambiguous
claims of their halal status to gain consumer trust. In line with this study, Muslim consumer
attitudes towards social media advertising will be studied.
Muslim’s consumer’s attitude towards advertisement has been an interesting field of
research to be studied despite the increasing buying power of Muslim consumers and the
growth of the halal food industry (Parvin Hosseini et al., 2019). The study of Muslim
consumer attitudes towards advertising is crucial to research because advertising has the
ability to positively influence consumer purchase intention (Khan et al.,2017). There are
many previous studies that have touched on Muslim consumer attitudes towards
advertising. Shafiqet al. (2017) studied the context of word association for generating beliefs
regarding Islamic advertising to Muslim consumers, whilst Ariffinet al. (2016a,2016b)
studied Muslim’s attitude towards advertisements of non-certified coffee shops within the
context of attitude function. However, the context of past studies is only limited to food
items and there is a scarcity in the study of beverages especially bubble tea (Samidi et al.,
2017;Azam, 2016;Awan et al.,2015;Ali et al.,2017). Henceforth, this study intends to
examine the influence of attitude functions, namely, utilitarian, value-expressive, ego-
defensive, knowledge and religiosity functions on Muslim consumer attitude towards social
media advertising.
The organizational structure of this article is as follows: Section 2 is a literature review,
which discusses the theory and the development of the hypothesis, Section 3 is a
methodology which explains the process of data collection and sampling procedures, Section
4 is results which showcases the findings of the study, Section 5 is discussion and
implications which examines the findings of the study and its theoretical and practical
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implications, Section 6 is limitations which discuss the constraints of the study, Section 7 is
recommendations for future studies which proposes new areas of study for future
researchers and finally, Section 8 is the conclusion of the study.
2. Literature review
There are large studies that explicitly cover the research on consumers’attitudes towards
advertising. Several authors such as Khan et al. (2017),Shafiqet al. (2017) and Ariffin
et al. (2016a,2016b), have thoroughly focused on Muslim consumers’attitudes towards
advertising. Most of the previous studies is focusing on Muslim consumer’s attitudes
towards halal food items, with a limited theoretical understanding of Muslim
consumer’s attitudes towards beverages. Previous studies on Muslim consumers
attitudes towards beverages has been focusing on Muslims attitude towards soft drink
whereby the findings found that brand name, quality and peer pressure has a positive
relationship with Muslim consumer’s attitude towards soft drink, the findings suggest
that quality plays the dominant role in influencing consumer’s attitude towards “Islamic
brands”soft drinks products (Samidi et al., 2017). However, a limited theoretical
understanding was found in this area, especially from the perspective of consumer
psychological factors as determinants of consumers’attitudes towards beverages and
social media advertising. Therefore, this study is focusing on Muslim consumer’s
attitudes towards beverages and social media advertising, specifically in the bubble tea
context. In this section, an in-depth review of the literature with a specific focus on the linkage
of attitude functions, namely, utilitarian, value-expressive, ego-defensive, knowledge and
religiosity functions on Muslim consumer attitudes towards social media advertising was
discussed. The variables were based on the functional theory of attitudes.
The functional theory of attitudes by Katz (1960) has been studied by past research
studies as it holds the ability to explain the reason behind consumer behaviours (Schade
et al.,2016;Ariffinet al., 2016a,2016b). The functional theory of attitudes consists of four
psychological components of functions, namely, utilitarian, value expressive, ego-defensive
and knowledge functions (Ariffinet al., 2016a,2016b). It can explain why consumers hold
some attitudes as they do. According to Smith (1947), the functional theory of attitudes can
explain how attitude serves the person’s personality and howattitude expresses the value of
an individual. Ajzen (2015) stated that the formation of attitude by consumers is influenced
by the levels of satisfaction that fulfils their psychological needs (functions). This fulfilment
of needs is what drives a consumer’s behaviour (Katz, 1960). Prior findings have stated that
value-expressive and utilitarian functions have significantly influence consumers’attitudes
towards the advertisement of non-certified coffee shops (Ariffinet al., 2016a,2016b). The
study found that an advertisement that uses the value expressive approach will greatly
influence consumer attitude, that is the consumers form an attitude not because of the
product benefits, but because of what the product tells about him/her as a person.
Meanwhile, the utilitarian function is one of the most common approaches used in
advertising appeals, referred to as “informational advertising”. Therefore, this study will
extend the application of the functional theory of attitudes in the social media advertising
context. In line with this study, the functional theory of attitudes was extended by including
religiosity as a determinant of consumer attitude towards social media advertising. By
applying this theory in the context of attitude towards social media advertising of bubble
tea. It is predicted that utilitarian, value-expressive, ego-defensive, knowledge functions and
religiosity of Muslim consumers influence their attitude towards social media advertising
and purchase intention of bubble tea.
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2.1 Linkage between utilitarian and attitude towards social media advertising
The first component of the functional theory of attitude is known as the adjustment function
or utilitarian. According to Katz (1960), the utilitarian concept of maximizing reward and
minimizing punishment directs people towards pleasurable or rewarding objects and away
from unpleasant, undesirable ones. Meanwhile, according to Batra and Ahtola (1991),
utilitarian attributes are defined as the attributes that deal with the consumers’perception of
the utility and functionality of an object. In the context of advertising, forming advertising
that is based on the motive of achieving a desirable goal or avoiding undesirable goals
would culminate positive attitudes (Murphy and Narkiewicz, 2010). Shao et al. (2015) posit
that advertising appeals are more effective when they are congruent with a consumer
processing style. The study states that utilitarian function is often shown by individuals
who seek out information in rational advertising and rational advertising appeals would
provide a better fit with prevention consumer’s undesirable goals. Roose et al. (2018) posit
that utilitarian aspects of food advertisements are relevant when the food product serves a
functional need of its consumers (e.g. energy drink provides carbohydrate). The findings
indicate that healthy food advertisements in Belgium are mainly informational. Therefore,
an advertisement that portrays information or subject that fulfils the needs of consumers
will be favourable. On the other hand, Khan et al. (2017) found that Muslim consumers
derive utilitarian values from the functions performed by a subject that fulfils functional
needs. This study which took place in Pakistan, a developing Islamic country suggests that
with utilitarian products, consumers do not appear to favour a particular packaging type,
they are evaluated more on functional attributes such as performance, hygiene and quality.
There is no significant difference between the use of foreign cues and local cues on the
product’s packaging.
According to Moon et al. (2017), the result of a website appeal study found out that the
utilitarian aspect positively influences attitude towards the website appeal. The study
showed that consumers’perception of utilitarian attributes is a significant and positive
predictor of consumer attitudes. By incorporating utilitarianism and attitude into the
framework model, the study helps to better understand consumer’s rational and emotional
evaluations of online purchase intention. The study found that utilitarian attributes (product
information, monetary savings, convenience and perceived ease of use) are significant
towards consumers’attitudes which, in turn, predict their purchase intention. It was further
concluded that online retailers should put a heavy emphasis on utilitarian attributes in
formulating an online retail strategy. In relation to this study, consumers may form positive
attitudes towards the advertisement of bubble tea that has been instrumental in achieving
desired goals or avoiding undesirable goals or form negative attitudes towards social media
advertising of bubble tea that prevent goal attainment or punish the consumers. Hence, the
study hypothesizes the relationship as follows:
H1. There is a positive and significant relationship between the utilitarian function of
consumers and consumer attitudes towards social media advertising.
2.2 Linkage between value-expressive and attitude towards social media advertising
Value-expressive function in advertising represents a type of advertising that aims to create
an image of the user of a product or brand that is congruent with the “totality of the
individual’s thoughts and feelings having reference to themself as an object”(Rosenberg,
1979,p.7).Aguirre-Rodriguez et al. (2012) found that advertisements that have a congruent
user image matching their self-concept will fulfil their need for self-congruity. As the need
for self-congruity is met, the consumer will exhibit positive attitudes towards the tangible
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and intangible properties of the product or brand (Kressmann et al.,2006). This can be seen
from a study by Kergoat et al. (2017) in a picture versus verbal claim effect, verbal claim that
holds value-expressive appeal in the advertisement portraying the smile-picture was
assessed more positively than the one with the product-picture or the one without any
picture.
A study by Salem et al. (2019) posits that Muslim Palestinian women prefer
advertisement that is congruent to their background. The study found that the cultural
differences between Palestine and other foreign countries have a significant impact on their
perception of the advertised products. The impact of sexualized female portrayal in the
advertisement was found to be negatively correlated with female Palestinian consumers’
purchase decisions. The findings of the study reveal that advertising appeals should be
linked to the culture or value of the audiences. The respondents prefer advertising that
aligns with their customs, traditions, social and cultural background. The advertisement
role will be negative if it is seen as contradicting community values which, in turn, will
influence consumer purchase intention ineffectively.
In a similar view, Ariffinet al. (2016a,2016b) indicate that consumers will form an
attitude if the product matches their self-concepts. The value-expressive function helps
Muslim consumers to express their central values and self-concept when evaluating the
advertisement of non-certified coffee shops. The study found that among four attitude
functions, value expressive function statistically has the strongest effect on Muslim
consumers’attitude towards the advertising. It shows that Muslim consumers form an
attitude not because of the product’s benefits but because of what the product portrays them
as a person. In value expressive function, consumers act to maintain and enhance their self-
identity and image (Choi and Reid, 2016). In relation to this study, the value-expressive
attitudes help consumers to express their central values and self-concept when evaluating
the advertisement of bubble tea beverage. Therefore, the paper presents the following
hypothesis:
H2. There is a positive and significant relationship between the value-expressive
function of consumers and consumer attitudes towards social media advertising.
2.3 Linkage between ego defensive and attitude towards social media advertising
In the ego-defensive function, consumers protect themselves from either external threats or
internal conflicts (insecurity) (Locander and Spivey, 1978). According to Kardes (2002),
attitudes that stemmed from external influences (e.g. social trends) greatly affect the ego-
defensive function of an individual as they desire to portray a certain depiction of
themselves to the world. A study by Whelpley and McDaniel (2016) on addressing an
individual’s ego-defensive attitude relating to self-esteem and counter-productive work
behaviour demonstrated that individuals with higher self-esteem would less likely engage in
counter-productive work behaviours. This attitude function stems from the psychoanalytic
theory and views attitudes as often being subconscious and held to protect the consumer’s
ego (Katz, 1960;Murphy and Narkiewicz, 2010). Narayan (2010) claimed that consumers
form an ego-defensive attitude to decline one’s unclear aspects of themselves and others.
The ego-defensive mechanism is the process of masking perceived negative self-concepts of
developing positive self-concepts to make up for the perceived negative self-concepts.
The ego-defensive function is postulated to have a significant influence on consumer
attitude towards advertising (Shavitt et al.,1992). According to Ariffinet al. (2016a,2016b),
consumers are likely to have a favourable attitude towards popular brands or styles of
products. If individuals feel that they have low self-esteem and low self-enhancement, they
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will be agreeing with associating themselves with the modern and popular coffee shops that
would enhance their self-esteem and make them feel good about themselves. In other words,
there are relating themselves with a successful group (winning sports team) on the basis of
enhancing their self-esteem. However, the study found that high religiosity reduces the
negative effects of the ego-defensive function of Muslim consumers towards the
controversial advertisement of the non-certified popular brand. Religiosity is found to drive
the way of how a person makes a final decision. This is consistent with the findings by
Wilson (2011), that halal consciousness is a significant element to the Muslim consumers. In
the context of this study, consumers are likely to have favourable attitudes towards popular
and trendy brand advertising as they are able to relate themselves with the concept of
bubble tea beverage consumption, which represents an up-to-date lifestyle and self-image
when evaluating the advertisement despite the controversy that ensured. Therefore, this
paper posits that:
H3. There is a positive and significant relationship between the ego-defensive function
of consumers and consumer attitudes towards social media advertising.
2.4 Linkage between knowledge and attitude towards social media advertising
The final attitude function extrapolated from Katz (1960) would be the knowledge function.
Knowledge attitude functions are formed by consumers in need of an organized, structured
or meaningful categorization in their lives (Herek, 1987). According to Katz (1960), the need
comes into existence when a person comes across a new product or is involved in an
ambivalent situation. According to Locander and Spivey (1978) individuals with high
knowledge function on an object (or product) helps in achieving their primary goal (e.g.
purchase intention).
In a study by Bian and Moutinho (2011), it posits that consumer with various levels of
product knowledge differs in their perceptions of a product. A consumer with higher levels
of knowledge has a better cognitive capacity to evaluate comparative alternatives. A
consumer with higher levels of product knowledge becomes less favourable to counterfeit
branded products. The study found that respondents show less approval and show less
preference for counterfeit branded products. In a similar vein, Baghi et al. (2016) posit that
more knowledgeable consumers are more likely to have a less favourable attitude on
counterfeit branded products. Consumers with more knowledge about a product category
are likely to use well-defined criteria in their decision-making and judgements across diverse
contexts (Bettman et al., 1998). High-knowledge consumers are less likely to be affected by
context effects and more likely to make satisfying product choices.
Thus, in the context of advertising, the knowledge function gives the consumers a
categorization of advertisements and some indication of what their behaviour towards
advertising should be (Murphy and Narkiewicz, 2010). According to Yoon and Kim (2001),
the consumer’s perception towards low-involvement products such as toothpaste and
detergent was associated with knowledge function. Consumers would use the Internet for
their purchases of low-involvement products. Past studies have postulated that knowledge
function is generally serving attitude towards new products and not much else. In the study
of Ariffinet al. (2016a,2016b), knowledge function is found to be insignificant towards
consumer attitude towards the advertisement of a popular and well-known brand. Thus, the
attitude towards the advertising was already established. The advertising will not influence
the consumer decision-making process because the product is a well-known product. In the
context of this study, consumers are able to evaluate the advertisement of bubble tea
beverages to be put in their decision-making of purchasing because bubble tea consumption
Influence of
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can be considered as a new trend in Malaysia. Therefore, H4 below was proposed to cater to
the effect of knowledge function of consumer and consumer attitude towards social media
advertising:
H4. There is a positive and significant relationship between the knowledge function of
consumers and consumer attitude towards social media advertising.
2.5 Linkage between religiosity and attitude towards social media advertising
The study was extended by the addition of religiosity. The role of religiosity on consumer
behaviour and attitude in thecontext of Islam has been extensively studied by past research
studies with diverse contexts and results (Mohezar et al., 2016;Haque et al.,2018;Abd
Rahman et al., 2015;Abou-Youssef et al., 2015). Muslim consumers were found to be a
distinctive consumer segment due to the influence of Islamic values and religious
obligations on their daily practices, beliefs and behaviours and were found to have
enormous potential for businesses when their values are being understood
(PewResearchCenter, 2011;Hussain and Dernaika, 2010). Although religion and religiosity
are often discussed in terms of spiritual aspects (Worthington et al., 2003), religiosity in the
context of Islam is a profoundly complex construct to measure (Khraim, 2010). In the context
of religiosity in consumer attitude and behaviour, a study by Cyril De Run et al. (2010)
indicated that when presented with advertisements of controversial products, individuals
with high religiosity consider almost all products more controversial than the low religiosity
group. However, the study also highlighted that an element of ethnicity might be involved
when it comes to bias towards the advertising of racially extremist groups. Intriguingly,
Wilson (2013) posits that advertisers need to immerse themselves in the thought process of
the consumers to be able to seducethem instantly yet avoiding consumers’defiance.
On the other hand, Duman and Ozgen (2018) found that high religiosity individuals tend
to punish or reward brands that are, respectively, incongruent or congruent with their self-
identification. The study explores consumer insight behind punishing or rewarding brands
associated with a political ideology in Turkey. This study found that consumers punish the
brand they opposed politically, where there is no self-congruence and believe the brands
distract the well-being of the society. Moreover, the study found that consumers who attend
religious services are found to have a tendency to punish brands associated with a political
ideology. Consumers are willing to punish the brands when they consider punishing the
brand has significant consequences on personal or societal well-being.
According to Arifinet al. (2012), their study indicated that higher religiosity weakens the
relationship between American popular culture (imitation, knowledge, consumerism) and
Malaysian adolescent’behaviour. Although there is a significant relationship between
American popular culture (country of origin, media use, lifestyle, values, brand
personalities) and conspicuous consumption in the past. This study posits that consumer
religiosity weakens the relationship between American popular culture and conspicuous
consumption. In other words, consumers in Malaysia who have higher levels of religiosity
are unfavourable towards items that do not fit their self-congruency. This is also supported
by the findings from Ariffinet al. (2016a,2016b) where consumers with high levels of
religiosity will respond less favourably to advertising of non-certified coffee shops (for
having ambiguous halal status). Muslim consumers who reported a higher level of
religiosity would report unfavourable attitudes towards controversial advertising of non-
certified coffee shops. The study also concludes that the high religiosity group would be
more offended by the advertisement of controversial products such as alcohol and gambling
products. In the context of this study, consumers with a high level of religiosity are more
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likely to respond less favourably towards bubble tea social media advertising, whilst
consumers who have a low level of religiosity are more likely to respond more favourably
towards the advertisement. Therefore, this paper posits that:
H5. There is a negative and significant relationship between religiosity and consumer
attitude towards social media advertising.
2.6 Linkage between attitude towards social media advertising and purchase intention
Consumer attitude towards advertising can be defined through consumers’favourable or
unfavourable response to a particular advertisement (MacKenzie and Lutz, 1989). The more
positive attitudes they have toward the advertisement, the more likely they will purchase
the advertised products. Meanwhile, purchase intention can be defined as the probability of
a consumer choosing to buy a certain product in the future when they feel that there is a
need to be fulfiled (Bashir, 2019). According to Ajzen (1991), the more favourable the attitude
with respect to a behaviour, the stronger is the individual’s intention to perform the
behaviour under consideration. Therefore, it can be posited that positive attitudes will lead
to positive actions.
According to Khan et al. (2017), exposure to the advertisement will develop favourable
attitudes that will result in consumer purchase intention. This study extends the impact of
advertising on the purchase intention of the luxury product by Muslim consumers in
Malaysia and their commitment to purchase the products. The findings of this study show
that advertising exposure was found to strengthen the relationship between purchase
intention and commitment to purchase the products. It shows that advertisements enable
consumers to distinguish one brand from another, reduce consumer information search time
and help them recall the brand. The study concludes that informing luxury Muslim
consumers through good advertising can improve their purchase intention and their
commitment to purchase. A good advertisement is important for Muslim consumers to
ensure that the luxury products that they want to buy do not belong to the non-permissible
products.
Duffett (2015) on the other hand posits that positive experiences from the advertisement
will increase consumer purchase intention. The findings of the study confirm that
advertising on Facebook has a positive relationship with consumer purchase intention
among Millennials. This study also argues that social media has become an imperative
conduit for global marketing communication, especially to reach the younger generation.
The value of advertising on social media such as Facebook and YouTube are of great
interest to organization and academics. Similarly, Yang (2012) stated that advertising
message provided by Facebook enhances consumer attitudes towards brand and purchase
intention. Hence, Muslim consumers’that have a favourable attitude towards the social
media advertising of bubble tea beverage may likely make a purchase towards bubble tea.
Therefore, it is hypothesized that:
H6. There is a positive and significant relationship between consumer attitudes towards
social media advertising and consumer purchase intentions
Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework for consumer purchase intention among
Malaysian Muslim consumers. In this study, utilitarian, value-expressive, ego-defensive,
knowledge and religiosity to be tested as independent variables.
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3. Methodology
3.1 Data collection and sampling procedures
A quantitative approach using a questionnaire was used in this study to gather the data. Malaysian
Muslim consumers were used as a unit analysis for this study. The population of this study
consists of respondents from all 14 states in Malaysia. Data collection was done via the Google
Form survey tool using a convenient sampling method distributed to a total of 264 respondents of
Malaysian Muslim consumers. Hair et al. (2011) posits that the sample size should be greater than
10 times the maximum number of an inner or outer model linking the variables. We need at least 70
samples as there were seven variables in the framework model. Meanwhile, according to Roscoe
(1975),the“rule of thumb”fordeterminingthesamplesizeisthatithastobelargerthan30and
smaller than 500. Therefore, a total number of 264 respondents was suitable for this study and its in
line with past studies in a similar area (Ariffinet al., 2016a,2016b). Due to the Covid-19 situation, the
surveys were solely distributed online throughout social media platforms such as WhatsApp,
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter instead of also being distributed in bubble tea outlets.
3.2 Pretesting
The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage known as the pilot study was conducted to
validate the advertisement that represents four functions. A pilot survey was distributed among 31
respondents limited to PhD students and lecturers with business backgrounds. The survey consists
of two sections, where Section 1 shows the definitions of attitude functions, namely, utilitarian,
value-expressive, ego-defensive and knowledge whilst Section 2 is preceded with four
advertisement images of a bubble tea brand labelled as A, B, C and D. The advertisement image
with the highest vote would be selected to be used in the second stage of the study. The results
showed that the advertisement image labelled A got the highest vote of 48.4%. Therefore, the
advertisement image labelled A will be used in the second stage of the survey to gauge attitude
function towards social media advertising.
3.3 Survey instrument and data analysis
The survey had 34 items that were adapted and adopted for evaluating utilitarian “I have
personal interest towards the advertisement”(Ariffinet al., 2016a,2016b), value expressive
“The advertisement reflects much on me as a person”(Ariffinet al., 2016a,2016b), ego
Figure 1.
Conceptual
framework
JIMA
defensive “I believe in the advertisement because it is based on the idea that regular people
like me are important and competent; that makes me feel good about myself”(Ariffinet al.,
2016a,2016b), knowledge “I can learn more about things when I see the advertisement”
(Ariffinet al., 2016a,2016b), attitude “I like the idea of the advertisement”(Hazem et al.,
2019), religiosity “spiritual values are more important than material things “(Wilkes et al.,
1986) and purchase intention “I will buy bubble tea drinks that are advertised on social
media”(Alalwan, 2012). The questionnaires incorporated a five-point Likert scale ranging
from one to five, where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = slightly agree, 4 = agree and
5 = strongly agree. There are 10 sections included in this survey. Sections A is the filtering
section to filter Muslim and non-Muslim respondents. Sections B is to collect the socio-
demographic profiles of the respondent (gender, marital status, race, age, state of residence,
education, employment status and monthly income). Section C collects the data ofbubble tea
purchase frequency. Section D to J measures the variables of this study.
After completing the data collection process, the data collected was analysed by using
SPSS version 25 and Smart-partial least square (PLS). The collected data was then inputted
and analysed through various statistical techniques such as frequency, percentage, mean,
standard deviation and PLS-structural equation modelling (SEM). In addition, the
assessment through a structural model has been conducted via collinearity, R-square, F
square, VIF, path coefficient and predictive relevance.
4. Results
Of 264 returned questionnaires, all respondents are Muslims. Majority of them are female
(78.8%), single (76.9%) and possessed bachelor’s degrees (60.6%). Based on race, the
majority of them are Malay (92.8%) between 18 and 25 years old (44.7%) and are still
studying (36%). The majority of the respondents are the residence of Penang and Selangor
states representing 28.4% and 23.1%, possessed MYR 2,000–3,999 a month (33.7%). In total,
48.1% of respondents consumed bubble tea drinks once or twice a month. Out of 264, 30
respondents never buy bubble tea drinks. The PLS-SEM was used in this study as the data
analysis method for 264 sets of questionnaires. Before testing the hypothesis, the
measurement model wasexamined based on model validity andreliability. The validity and
reliability construct were reviewed based onconvergent and discriminant validities.
4.1 Convergent validity
Convergent validity is defined as the level of convergence of a given individual construct in
comparison to the measure of another construct (Urbach and Ahlemann, 2010). Factor
loading, Cronbach’s alpha (CA), composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted
(AVE) were used to ascertain the convergent validity (Hair et al.,2017,2014;Gefen et al.,
2000). The factor loadings and composite reliability should at least 0.70 (Henseler et al.,
2015), whilst at least 0.5 for AVE (Hair et al.,2017) as shown in Table 1. Furthermore, the
reliability of the constructs was examined by looking at the Cronbach’s alpha value as
illustrated in Table 1. As the results indicate that all the value of Cronbach’s alpha was
higher than 0.70, therefore, the reliability of the constructs was confirmed.
4.2 Discriminant validity
The discriminant validity is defined as the degree to which indicators differentiate across construct
or measure distinct concepts by examining the correlation between the measures of potentially
overlapping. In Smart PLS, the criteria used to examine discriminant validity are Fornell-Larcker
and cross-loading criteria. Fornell-Larcker measures the degree of distinction for the two
conceptually similar concepts (Fornell and Larker, 1981). This shows that the square root of AVE
Influence of
attitude
functions
along the diagonal has to be elevated or higher than the correlation of the off-diagonals variables
where the factor loadings and AVE should be greater than 0.5 (Fornell and Larker, 1981). Table 2
shows that the values of the square root of AVE along the diagonal are above the recommended
threshold of 0.5, thus discriminant validity has been attained.
4.3 Significance of structural model
The path coefficient is used to determine whether the conceptual model or theoretical
hypothesis was substantiated empirically. The arrows or paths represent the hypothesized
Table 1.
Convergent validity
analysis
Construct and items Number of items CA CR AVE
Factor
loadings
Utilitarian 4 0.947 0.962 0.863
UT1 0.96
UT2 0.95
UT3 0.88
UT4 0.92
Value expressive 8 0.98 0.983 0.879
VE1 0.94
VE2 0.94
VE3 0.93
VE4 0.95
VE5 0.93
VE6 0.95
VE7 0.93
VE8 0.94
Ego defensive 5 0.971 0.977 0.895
ED1 0.95
ED2 0.94
ED3 0.95
ED4 0.94
ED5 0.95
Knowledge 5 0.853 0.894 0.628
K1 0.80
K2 0.84
K3 0.79
K4 0.77
K5 0.77
Attitude towards advertising 4 0.953 0.966 0.876
A1 0.96
A2 0.95
A3 0.91
A4 0.93
Purchase intention 4 0.947 0.962 0.863
PI1 0.91
PI2 0.93
PI3 0.95
PI4 0.92
Religiosity 4 0.932 0.951 0.83
R1 0.92
R2 0.91
R3 0.91
R4 0.90
JIMA
relationships between the constructs (Hair et al.,2014). The results of the path coefficient
demonstrate that there is a significant relationship between utilitarianism and attitude (b =
0.081, t= 3.987, p<0.05); value expression and attitude (b = 0.470, t= 12.104, p<0.05); ego
defensive and attitude (b = 0.343, t=10.683, p<0.05) and religiosity and attitude (b =
0.050, t= 4.471, p<0.05). The positive sign indicates that an increase in these three
functional theories of attitudes and religion will increase attitude. In contrast, there is no
significant relationship between knowledge and attitude (b = 0.023, t= 1.051, p>0.05).
Moreover, there is a significant relationship between attitude and purchase intention (b =
0.553, t= 12.245, p<0.05). This means that the positive signs suggest that an increase in the
independent variable results in an increase in the dependent variable. Table 3 shows the
path coefficient and hypothesis summary, whereas Figure 2 illustrated the structural model
of consumer attitude towards social media advertising.
5. Discussion and conclusions
5.1 Discussion
The main objective of this research is to examine the relationship between (utilitarian, value-
expressive, ego-defensive, knowledge and religiosity) functions of Muslim consumers and
attitude towards social media advertising. On top of that, this study also aims to evaluate
the relationship between attitude towards social media advertising and purchase intention.
The findings of H1 coincides with the previous research by Bauer et al. (2018) and Liu et al.
(2017) stating that utilitarian functions have a positive and significant relationship with an
attitude towards advertisement which, in turn, will lead to purchase intention. Bauer et al.
(2018) stating that utilitarian functions have a positive and significant relationship with
attitude towards advertisement, which, in turn, will lead to purchase intention. In a similar
vein, Shao et al. (2015) posit that utilitarian functions are often shown by individuals who
seek out information in rational advertising. Thus, H1 is supported. Based on the study, a
possible explanation as to why respondents agree to this could be stemmed from their
personal desire to try bubble tea after seeing the advertisement depicting a unique method
of preparing the drink (the drink being torched). This coincides with the study from Liu et al.
(2017) where consumers who exhibit utilitarian functions towards advertising are those who
seek to achieve goals that provide self-functional needs.
Moreover, the relationship between value-expressive and attitude towards social
advertising is positive and significant, thus supporting H2. The finding of H2 is in line with
previous research such as Kergoat et al. (2017) and Johar and Sirgy (1991). Value-expressive
according to Katz (1960), showed that “Expressive attitudes are stimulated by cues
associated with the values of an individual and by the need to re-emphasize his self-image”.
Value-expressive functions allow the consumer to relate and express their identity through
their attitude towards the advertisement. The value-expressive approach in advertising is
Table 2.
Fornell-Larcker
criterion
Construct ED K PI R U VE A
Ego defensive (ED) 0.946
Knowledge (K) 0.428 0.792
Purchase intention (PI) 0.493 0.46 0.929
Religiosity (R) 0.713 0.487 0.498 0.911
Utilitarian (U) 0.457 0.473 0.542 0.469 0.929
Value expressive (VE) 0.805 0.477 0.476 0.808 0.513 0.938
Attitude towards ad (A) 0.877 0.507 0.553 0.826 0.561 0.921 0.936
Influence of
attitude
functions
the most common tool to influence consumer behaviour (Johar and Sirgy, 1991). A study by
Kergoat et al. (2017) indicated that when the verbal claim was value-expressive, the
advertisement with the smile-picture was more positively evaluated. Muslim consumers in
the findings identified their principles and self-image through how they perceive the
advertisement, where their attitude towards trendy bubble tea advertisement resonates with
their own self-image who likes popular and up-to-date things. Based on the study, it is
shown that the value-expressive function carries the highest weight of influence towards
attitude towards social media advertising. Hence, the value-expressive function affects
consumer’s attitudes towards social media advertising.
The finding of H3 aligns with previous research that stated ego-defensive has a positive
and significant relationship with an attitude towards social advertising (Ariffinet al., 2016a,
2016b). Hence, H3 is supported. Therefore, the ego-defensive function impacts consumer’s
attitudes towards the advertisement. Freud (1896) defines ego-defensive as concealing
perceived negative self-concepts. Consumer attitudes formed through this function can
explain the reason why Muslim consumers still consume bubble tea despite the controversy
surrounding the product as the trendy nature of the product masks the negative-self
concepts, thus protecting the ego and image of the consumer.
However, the findings of H4 are contrary to past research, which that expresses knowledge
function has a positive and significant relationship with an attitude towards social media
advertising (Stewart et al., 2019). Therefore, H4 is not supported. The findings of this study
reveal that knowledge function is not associated with an attitude towards social media
advertising. This could be due to the fact that the trending nature of bubble tea has made it well
known to a lot of people, hence the idea and concept of bubble tea have already been
established for quite some time. Therefore, consumers were not influenced by knowledge
function in their decision-making process. Katz (1960),defined knowledge function as the need
that comes into existence when a person comes across a new product, thus bubble tea
advertisement would not influence consumer’s attitude towards advertisement as bubble tea is
well known and not new. Hence, it can be concluded that the knowledge function does not
influence consumer attitude towards social media advertising.
H5 is hypothesized to have a negative and significant relationship with attitude towards
social media advertising. However, the result shows that religiosity has a positive and
significant relationship with social media advertising. Thus, H5 is not supported. The
Table 3.
Summary of
structural model and
hypotheses summary
Hypotheses Relationships Path coefficients t-value p-value Decision
H1 Utilitarian !attitude towards
advertisement
0.081*** t= 3.987 p= 0.0000 Supported
H2 Value expressive !attitude
towards advertisement
0.470*** t= 12.104 p= 0.0000 Supported
H3 Ego defensive !attitude
towards advertisement
0.343*** t= 10.683 p= 0.0000 Supported
H4 Knowledge !attitude towards
advertisement
0.023*** t= 1.051 p= 0.2935 Not
supported
H5 Religiosity!attitude towards
advertisement
0.152*** t= 4.471 p= 0.0000 Not
supported
H6 Attitude towards advertisement
!purchase intention
0.553*** t= 12.245 p= 0.0000 Supported
Notes: *p<0.1; **p<0.05; ***p<0.01 (one-tailed)
JIMA
Figure 2.
Structural model of
consumer attitude
towards social media
advertising
Influence of
attitude
functions
finding contradicts previous research by Cyril De Run et al. (2010). The possible explanation
for this could result from the existence of a halal-certified popular bubble tea brand with a
strong presence in Malaysia such as Tealive and Chatime (Zulkipli, 2019). High religious
individuals who view the advertisement would recall the halal alternatives instead as these
brands have tried in portraying Muslim identity to their brand to attract the majority
Muslim populated country by using Muslim endorser (e.g. Engku Salwani) and using
Muslim staff in their outlets. According to Ibrahim (2019), Tealive hasover 2,000 staff where
the majority 85% of them are Muslims. Therefore, it can be discerned that religiosity can
have a positive and significant relationship with attitude towards social media advertising.
Finally, the finding of H6 is aligned with previous research that claimed attitude towards
social media advertising has a positive relationship with purchase intention (Khan et al.,
2017). Therefore, H6 is supported. According to Duffett (2015), favourable attitude towards
social media advertising would lead to consumers’intention-to-purchase. Hence, this is the
reason why advertisers invest significant amounts of money to develop advertising
campaigns that will be perceived as favourable to their intended audience, as it would lead
to sales. Henceforth, this study postulates that attitude towards social media advertising
influences purchase intention
5.2 Theoretical implications
From a theoretical perspective, it tests the impact of the functional theory of attitudes
towards Malaysian Muslims’attitudes towards social media advertising and consumers’
purchase intention. This study found that Muslims’value expressive, ego defensive and
utilitarianism have a positive and significant impact on their attitude towards bubble tea
social media advertising that will lead to positive consumer’s purchase intention. These
findings will contribute towards advertising research, especially on social media advertising
towards Muslim consumers. In addition, the findings of this study added to the literature
regarding the added role of religiosity along with attitude functions that were found to have
a positive and significant effect on Muslim consumer’s attitudes towards social media
advertising.
This study incorporates religiosity as the independent variable. This study has shown
that religiosity can positively influence attitude towards social media advertising especially
on trendy popular beverages such as bubble tea. Although the hypothesis was not
supported it will give some new perspective to the body of literature to further study these
findings. Previous studies on religiosity had only touched on controversial products such as
alcohol, female hygiene products, health and sexual products and cigarettes (Cyril De Run
et al.,2010). This study has shown that religiosity can positively influence attitude towards
social media advertising especially on trendy popular beverages such as bubble tea. Highly
religious individuals would also have the tendency to be well informed as they are more
sensitive towards halal status.
5.3 Practical implications
From a practical perspective, for future companies, the findings highlighted the importance
of Muslim consumer attitude towards the advertisement. As bubble tea is a controversial
product due to its ambiguity in ingredient source, methods of preparation and high sugar
content, operators and marketers should be conscious of how they are going to market the
product especiallytowards Muslim consumers who observe halal dietary needs. A marketer
can adapt the findings of this study in their marketing programs and tools. The bubble tea
market has the potential to bridge the halal industry relations with other Asian countries
like Taiwan, thus providing bigger opportunities in expanding the industry. Advertisers
JIMA
should also consider the religious aspects of Muslim consumers and their level of sensitivity
as Muslims nowadays are well informed and aware of food preparation practices and
regulations with the help of platforms (such as websites and mobile applications) provided
by the halal regulatory body, JAKIM, especially products from non-Muslim food operators.
Misinformation towards the public would result in controversies which can lead to distrust
among consumers towards the brand. In the context of Malaysia, communications failures
are quick to spread with the rise of internet users, thus marketers should be careful when
designing their campaigns as to not invoke ambiguous cues such as halal statuses and
ingredient listing. On top of that, advertisers could leverage the usage of social media for
advertising to educate and inform their consumers in a bid to be transparent and truthful in
their communications. Therefore, marketers and advertisers should design their campaigns
and be sensitive towards religiosity to fit the needs of the market.
5.4 Recommendation for future studies
Future researchers can consider expanding the proposed model towards study outside of
Malaysia particularly in higher Muslim population countries such as Indonesia. Moreover, a
more comprehensive questionnaire item to measure religiosity in terms of Islam must be
used. Finally, future researchers can focus on short video advertising formats or in
industries such as cosmetics, clothing and pharmaceutical goods instead of food and
beverage.
5.5 Conclusions
The findings from this study suggest consumers’attitude function when presented with an
advertisement for bubble tea. This study also presents the findings of attitude towards
social media advertising and purchase intention. There are several factors that the
respondents in this study agreed upon such as utilitarian function, value-expressive
function, and ego-defensive function being positively significant. Meanwhile, the knowledge
function was found to be insignificant. Among all these functions, value-expressive was
found to be the major function to influence attitude function towards social media
advertising. These findings would help marketers design their advertising campaigns
around this function.
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Further reading
Ariffin, Z.Z., Othman, M.N. and Karim, J.A. (2012), “Relationship between American popular culture
and conspicuous consumption: a moderating effect of religiosity”,African Journal of Business
Management, Vol. 6 No. 36, pp. 9969-9988, doi: 10.5897/AJBM11.1930.
JIMA
Khan, H., Lee, R. and Lockshin, L. (2015), “Localising the packaging of foreign food brands: a case of
Muslim consumers in Pakistan”,Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol. 24 No. 4,
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Review,doi:10.1108/EBR-08-2019-0165.
Wilson, J.A.J. (2020), “Understanding branding is demanding...”,Journal of Marketing Management,
Vol. 36 Nos 13/14, pp. 1178-1189.
Corresponding author
Shaizatulaqma Kamalul Ariffin can be contacted at: shaizatulaqma@usm.my
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Influence of
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