Halal trust during the COVID-19 outbreak: the role of quality, perceived benefit and health risk evidence from mobile food purchasing

Purpose - This study aims to scrutinize the halal trust model by integrating the quality and valence theory in the mobile food purchasing service during the COVID-19 outbreak. Design/methodology/approach - This research uses data from 368 Muslim customers collected via an online survey from Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. This study uses partial least square modelling to appraise the formation of halal trust, including halal food quality, mobile apps quality, perceived benefit and health risk as drivers and loyalty as the consequence. Findings - The data analysis notes that the combination of perceived quality and valence theory provides a comprehensive understanding of halal trust in mobile halal food purchasing during COVID-19. This study also verifies the crucial role of halal food quality and mobile apps quality in gaining halal trust. Research limitations/implications - This study used data from Muslim customers of the greater Bandung, Indonesia. The data limited the generalization of this study's findings. Moreover, this study predicted halal trust by integrating perceived benefit, perceived trust and quality as the predictors, whereas other determinants such as commitment and reputation were not included. Therefore, future researchers can incorporate these issues in their future halal trust research. Practical implications - To gain Muslim trust, this study recommends managers whose halal food is sold via mobile apps ensure that their halal food has a quality standard, made of, and processed according to Islamic values. Next, having a high-quality mobile app is also a must. Originality/value - This study is early research that examines the integration of the quality and valence theory to evaluate halal trust in mobile halal food purchasing during COVID-19.