Economic growth in the Malaysian vegetarian market potential: internalized dimension of motivation

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the internalized dimension of motivation under the Unified Model of Vegetarian Identity (UMVI) model, namely, personal and prosocial motivators, for vegetarianism that spurs economic growth in the Malaysian vegetarian market potential. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured online questionnaire was adopted as the primary methodology from which a total of 163 respondents were obtained. Findings Both, personal and prosocial motivators do positively relate to the economic growth of the Malaysian vegetarian market potential. However, prosocial motivators has a greater impact with a beta coefficient of 0.374 compared to 0.273 for personal motivators. Research limitations/implications Probable inaccurate representation of the entire vegetarian population in Malaysia. Time and resources available. Practical implications Practically, the Malaysian vegetarian society and Malaysian government bodies benefit from the study in ensuing promotion of environmental awareness in line with a vegetarian diet. Originality/value Lack of literature resources on vegetarianism in Malaysia led to the study contributing to an expansion of literature on the matter. This pioneer study benchmarks global literatures on motivators of vegetarianism and their impact on economy against the scarce literatures available in the Malaysian context. It contributes to the Malaysian economy and potential vegetarian restaurant start-ups wishing to enter the Malaysian vegetarian market. Theoretically, the theory of planned behaviour, utilitarian function and the UMVI were jointly utilised in explaining the motivators capturing Malaysian vegetarians' intention towards demand for vegetarian food.