The Impact of Religious Beliefs on Halal Skincare Brand Loyalty in Central Java Indonesia: The Mediating Role of Brand Love

ABSTRACT People's lifestyle changes after the Covid-19 pandemic has penetrated, increasing awareness of the importance of skin health and beauty care. Many studies have examined the relationship between brand love as a mediating variable on consumer loyalty. However, there is still little research on the context of halal brands, where many make them different from conventional brands because of restrictions in Islam. This study examines and explains the role of brand love in mediating religious beliefs on the loyalty of halal-labelled skincare brands. The number of samples in this study was 157 respondents who were Muslim consumers who use halal skincare using a purposive sampling method. The analysis technique used is Path Analysis using SmartPLS version 3. The results show that religious beliefs have a positive and significant effect on brand love and brand loyalty; besides that brand love is proven to be able to mediate the relationship between brand experience and brand loyalty. Halal skincare producers need to manage their consumer loyalty so that new consumers will be interested in buying. Keywords: religious beliefs, brand love, brand loyalty, halal skincare   ABSTRAK Perubahan gaya hidup masyarakat setelah pandemi Covid-19 merambah, meningkatkan kesadaran akan pentingnya perawatan kesehatan dan kecantikan kulit. Banyak penelitian yang meneliti hubungan antara brand love sebagai variabel mediasi terhadap loyalitas konsumen. Namun masih sedikit penelitian tentang konteks merek halal, dimana banyak yang membedakannya dengan merek konvensional karena adanya pantangan dalam Islam. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji dan menjelaskan peran brand love dalam memediasi pengaruh keyakinan agama terhadap loyalitas merek skincare berlabel halal. Jumlah sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah 157 responden yang merupakan konsumen muslim yang menggunakan skincare halal dengan menggunakan metode purposive sampling. Teknik analisis yang digunakan adalah Path Analysis dengan menggunakan SmartPLS versi 3. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa religious belief berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap brand love dan brand loyalty; selain itu brand love terbukti mampu memediasi hubungan antara brand experience dan brand loyalty. Produsen halal skincare perlu mengelola loyalitas konsumennya agar konsumen baru tertarik untuk membeli. Kata Kunci: keyakinan agama, brand love, loyalitas merek, skincare halal