Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
purchase intention
J. Nur-Syuhada
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
M.S. Fadzilah, M.A. Khairunnisa & M. Rosmaliza
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia
ABSTRACT: Malay as one of the major ethnic in Malaysia owns numerous of unique and delicious
traditional food. The main characteristics of Malay cuisine are strong, spicy and aromatic, combining
the rich taste of many herbs and spices. This authentic Malay cuisine not only prepared at home but also
available in variety types of restaurant businesses, ranging from hawker stall to upscale restaurant and also
being patronized not only by Malays but multicultural customer. However, the emergence of new types
of cuisines and menu choices have partly caused the changes in consumers' desires for new taste and eat-
ing habits. The growing numbers of other ethnic restaurants such as Thai, Korean, Japanese, Arab foods
have altered customer's food consumption. This phenomenon has slightly given impact towards Malay
food stalls and restaurants. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify whether the characteristics
of Malay foods itself such as appearance, taste, smell and texture, as well as cooking method influence
customer purchase intention. A quantitative approach was used and the results revealed that Malay food
characteristics had a significant impact on the customer purchase intention. Thus, it is important for the
Malay restaurateur and food handler to improve the quality food served to capture more customers.
Keywords
:
Malay, food characteristics, customer, purchase intention
1 INTRODUCTION
hawker stall to upscale restaurants and also being
patronized not only the Malays but also multicul-
tural customers (MBSA, 2006). However, the vari-
ous multinational restaurants expanding into new
geographical areas along with the emergence of
new types of cuisines and new menu choices have
partly caused the consumers desires for new alter-
natives and eating habits (Kaynak, Kucukemiroglu
and Aksoy, 2006). According to Appadurai (1996),
the growing numbers of other ethnic restaurant in
Malaysia such as Thai, Korean, Japanese, Arab
and
mamak
foods have altered the customers'
food consumption decision thus making restau-
rants businesses becoming increasingly competi-
tive. This phenomenon is slightly giving impact to
Malay restaurants. Yoshino (2010) mentioned that
Malay cuisine is basically home-cooking and that
Malays have not come up with any particular ways
of presenting it to consumers as “ethnic cuisine” in
a commercial setting. In line with that, many of the
Malay restaurants now do a little bit of everything
especially to the foods itself to keep up with chang-
ing trends and to satisfy customers' wide ranging
of taste. The purpose of this study is therefore to
identify whether the Malay foods characteristics
Each ethnic delicacy in Malaysia has its own inter-
esting and unique stories along with the exclusive
characteristics. Back in the glory, people are proud
and feel appreciate of their traditional food that's
full of uniqueness and techniques that differ from
any other ethnic. The traditional foods for each
ethnic have marked the differences between the
cultures exist in this country. Malay as one of the
major ethnic owns plenty of unique and delicious
foods. The main characteristics in its traditional
Malay cuisine can be described as strong, spicy
and aromatic that combining the rich tastes of
many herbs, roots and spices. Coconut milk, for
example, is another favorite ingredient in most of
Malay dishes in giving the heavy, rich and creamy
texture. In terms of cooking methods, Hassan
(2011) mentioned that Malay cuisines are quite
similar to life of Malay villages, slow and laid back
as most authentic Malay delicacies cooked on low
heat for a long time as compared to Chinese food.
In relation to this, the authentic Malays foods not
only prepared at home, but also available in vary-
ing types of restaurant businesses, ranging from a
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