This study determines the effect of health knowledge on nutrition label use and attitude, and consequently on healthy food choice among Malaysian consumer. This study adopted the positivist, deductive and quantitative approach. A sample consisted of 420 Malaysian consumers, aged at least 15 years old, which selected using systematic street-intercept sampling method. Data, which collected using a self-administered questionnaire, were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings reveal the significant positive effect of health knowledge on attitude towards nutrition label and attitude towards nutrition label on healthy food choice. Though the findings add to the existing literature, provide useful information on how nutrition label could assist in guiding the consumer to make a healthier food choice and serve as a reference point that could stimulate and guide future researchers and other relevant parties, this study is still limited by several factors that require replication in future research.
Latiff, A. Z. A. B., Rezai, G., Mohamed, Z., & Ayob, A. M. (2016). Food labels’ impact assessment on consumer purchasing behavior in Malaysia. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 22(2), 137-146. doi: 10.1080/10454446.2013.856053
Acheampong, I., & Haldeman, L. (2013). Are nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs associated with obesity among low-income Hispanic and African American women caretakers? Journal of Obesity, 2013(1), 1-8. doi: 10.1155/2013/123901
Aertsens, J., Mondelaers, K., Verbeke, W., Buysse, J., & Van Huylenbroeck, G. (2011). The influence of subjective and objective knowledge on attitude, motivations and consumption of organic food. British Food Journal, 113(11), 1353-1378.
Aggrawal, A. (2014). International Conference on Management of Globalized Business: Emerging Perspectives. India: Lulu.com.
Allport, G. W. (1935). Attitudes: A Handbook of Social Psychology, Worcester, Mass. Clark University Press. Anderson, JC, & Gerbing, DW (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411.
Ambak, R., Naidu, B. M., Omar, M. A., Zaki, N. A. M., Sallehuddin, S. M., & Aris, T. (2014). Food label reading and understanding among obese adults: a population study in Malaysia. International Journal of Public Health Research, 4(2), 449-456.
Amsteus, M., Olsson, H., & Paulsson, R. (2015). The Scent of a Successful Venue:(In) Congruent Scent and Consumer Attitude towards a Café. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 6(5), 232-243.
Ares, G., Mawad, F., Giménez, A., & Maiche, A. (2014). Influence of rational and intuitive thinking styles on food choice: Preliminary evidence from an eye-tracking study with yogurt labels. Food Quality and Preference, 31(13), 28-37. doi: /10.1016/j.foodqual.2013.07.005
Aschemann-Witzel, J., Hooge, D. I., & Normann, A. (2016). Consumer-Related Food Waste: Role of Food Marketing and Retailers and Potential for Action. Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 28(3), 271-285.
Aygen, F. G. (2012). Turkish consumers' understanding and use of nutrition labels on packaged food products. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(6), 171-183.
Azani, M. S. (2017, 04 Febuari 2017). Produk tanpa label bahasa Melayu nafi hak pengguna, Utusan Online. Retrieved from
http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/nasional/produk-tanpa-label-bahasa-melayu-nafi-hak-pengguna-1.440178
Azman, N., & Sahak, S. Z. (2014). Nutritional Label and Consumer Buying Decision: A Preliminary Review. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 130, 490-498. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.057
Banaji, M. R., & Heiphetz, L. (2010). Attitudes. Hoboken: John Wiley.
Barlett, J. E., Kotrlik, J. W., & Higgins, C. C. (2001). Organizational research: Determining appropriate sample size in survey research. Information technology, learning, and performance journal, 19(1), 43.
Barreiro-Hurlé, J., Gracia, A., & De-Magistris, T. (2010). Does nutrition information on food products lead to healthier food choices? Food Policy, 35(3), 221-229.
Baser, F., Ture, H., Abubakirova, A., Sanlier, N., & Cil, B. (2016). Structural modeling of the relationship among food safety knowledge, attitude and behavior of hotel staff in Turkey. Food Control, 73(2016), 438-444. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.08.032
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social science research: principles, methods, and practices (2nd edition ed). Zurich, Switzerland: Creative Commons Attribution.
Bosman, M. J., Merwe, D. V. d., Ellis, S. M., Jerling, J. C., & Badham, J. (2014). South African adult metropolitan consumers' opinions and use of health information on food labels. British Food Journal, 116(1), 30-43.
Brownell, K. D., Kersh, R., Ludwig, D. S., Post, R. C., Puhl, R. M., Schwartz, M. B., & Willett, W. C. (2010). Personal responsibility and obesity: a constructive approach to a controversial issue. Health Affairs, 29(3), 379-387.
Burton, S., Howl
In-Text Citation: (Zainol, Yahaya, Osman, & Omar, 2019)
To Cite this Article: Zainol, Z., Yahaya, R., Osman, J., & Omar, N. A. (2019). The Effect of Health Knowledge, Nutrition Label Use and Attitude towards Nutrition Label on Healthy Food Choice among Malaysian Consumer. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(9), 1327–1352.
Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode