Does the halal label of Lemonilo instant noodles matter to students?

Purpose – This study aimed to determine the influence of the Korean wave, brand ambassadors, and halal label on the purchasing decisions of Lemonilo instant noodles. Methodology – This study uses quantitative research methods. Using a purposive sampling technique, the research sample comprised 72 students from a management study program at UIN Walisongo Semarang. Descriptive statistical analysis, a validity test, a reliability test, a classical assumption test, multiple linear regression analysis, and hypothesis testing were used. Findings – The Korean wave variable positively and significantly influenced purchasing decisions. By contrast, brand ambassadors and halal label had an insignificant effect on the purchasing decisions of Lemonilo instant noodles among students of the Management Study


Introduction
Indonesia has a large population of 275.773 million (Biro Pusat Statistik, 2023).Indonesia's large population has created a market for imported products.Therefore, domestic industry still needs to work on the issue of competition between local and imported products in Indonesia.Specifically, they complain that local products are less competitive than foreign ones are.This means that Indonesian consumers still have high demand for imported products.One way to accomplish this amidst the rise of foreign brands is to innovate and face competition.
One ready-to-eat food product that is easy to find is instant noodle.Instant noodles are a food product with a high-carbohydrate source in addition to rice.Instant noodles function as a sudden (instant) and ready-to-eat food and an alternative to previous staple foods, such as rice, cassava, and potatoes.Indonesia is ranked 2nd in the country with the most significant consumption of instant noodles in the world after China.Instant noodle consumption in Indonesia reached 13.27 billion packs.This represents 11.23% of the world's instant noodle consumption (Kusnandar, 2022).
South Korea is one of the most popular cultures today.The arrival of the South Korean culture is usually referred to as Hallyu.Hallyu (한류), which in English refers to the Korean wave, is the spread of various Korean popular cultures, such as fashion, beauty, food, entertainment, films, music, and traditional culture, as well as trends that can influence other countries.In a Twitter report released on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, according to unique authors, Indonesia was ranked first in the country with the most significant number of K-Pop fans worldwide in 2021.Japan occupies the second position.Following this, the Philippines, South Korea, and the United States are among the top five countries with the most K-pop fans (Alifah, 2022).
Fans' fanaticism is expressed by enjoying Korean entertainment and imitating the lifestyle, messages conveyed, and food consumed by idols.Korean fans, called K-popers, are loyal and generous towards their idols.Thus, they buy products advertised by their idols to support and obtain the same products as their idols (Ilmi et al., 2020).Many companies have used the Korean wave as a marketing strategy to attract customers.Giving gifts such as photo cards to products is expected to attract consumer interest.Because it cannot be denied that anything related to Korea will sell well in the market, it is hoped that the Korean fever or Korean wave can expand market segmentation by embracing loyal K-pop fans.Unsurprisingly, many companies scramble to attract K-pop idols to promote their products and increase their sales.Seeing high public enthusiasm for Korean culture, many companies collaborate with South Korean artists as brand ambassadors to increase the value of their products.
Brand ambassadors are figures capable of presenting a brand's products or services to increase consumer enthusiasm.The advertising strategy of using brand ambassadors has been previously introduced.Many companies have long used this strategy to introduce products to the public effectively.According to Royan (2005), advertisements submitted by interesting sources receive the most attention.In addition, they can easily be remembered by the public.Based on a survey conducted by Katadata Insight Center of 1609 respondents who like South Korean entertainment, 20.4% of respondents consider brand ambassadors when purchasing a product.
Apart from utilizing the Korean wave and brand ambassadors, providing halal labels can be a marketing strategy that companies can employ to influence consumers to use their products.As Muslims, we must pay attention to the halal labels printed on the products we consume.Considering that the majority of Indonesia's population is Muslim (87.20%), the demand for halal guarantees for food products in Indonesia is very high.However, there are still many products on the market that are not labeled as halal.In Islam, everything we consume will seep into our bodies, so we are obliged to consume something halal (Nurudin, 2023).
Indonesia has a large market for halal industry.The potential to develop a halal-based business sector has become a lifestyle choice for both Muslims and non-Muslims in Indonesia.Halal certification labeling is the most significant element in customer purchasing decisions.Companies can use this technology to make their products acceptable to the society.With the halal labeling of products, producers can increase opportunities to gain a more promising market share (Davidson et al., 2021).The circulation of various products in Indonesia, both local and imported, means that people, especially Muslim communities, must be more selective in choosing which products to use, where not all products in circulation are labeled halal.
The Korean wave, through films, dramas, music, and brand ambassadors, is currently a marketing strategy used by many companies.One company that uses the Korean wave phenomenon, brand ambassadors, and halal labeling as strategies to promote its products is Lemonilo Instant Noodles.Lemonilo is a product of the PT.Lemonilo Indonesia Sehat was founded in 2016 (Toarik, 2023).Lemonilo is collaborating with NCT Dream as a brand ambassador to targeting the younger generation.The NCT Dream is a unit of the K-pop group NCT that is debuted under SM Entertainment.NCT Dream was debuted as one of the NCT units formed specifically for the youngest members, consisting of Mark Lee, Renjun, Lee Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung.
The selection of K-pop idols, in this case NCT Dream, as brand ambassadors, is one form of influence from the Korean wave.Say"Dream".In the NCT, Dream encourages the younger generation to pursue and realize their dreams (Nurfadiyah, 2021).According to (the World Health Organization), the younger generation or youth are individuals aged 15-24 (Trimulyani, 2019).According to a basic health research report, instant noodle consumers in Indonesia comprised 67.6% aged 15-19 years, 64.8% aged 20-24 years, and 63.4% aged 25-29 years.This age group has the highest proportion compared to other age groups (Tridayanti & Nurfebiaraning, 2022).This means that more than half of young people in Indonesia in each age group consume instant noodles.
Furthermore, according to IDN Times survey results, 78.8% of K-pop fans in Indonesia are aged between 15-25 years, with 40.7% of K-pop fans aged 20-25 years, 38.1% aged 15-20 years (Almaida et al., 2021).Thus, K-pop fans in Indonesia are dominated by younger generations.This is by Lemonilo's tagline "Towards a Great Generation."They wanted to invite the younger generation to adopt a healthy lifestyle and to introduce healthy noodles.The second tagline is "Whatever your DREAM is, make it come true by choosing well," inspired by NCT DREAM, which has received many awards in Korea and internationally, and is aimed at fans (NCTzen) to continue pursuing their dreams.In addition, Lemonilo and NCT Dream both have green brand images.This was the reason for choosing the NCT Dream as Lemonilo brand ambassador.
In this study, three independent variables influence consumer preferences: the Korean wave, brand ambassador, and halal label.Pre-research on 20 management study program students from the Faculty of Economics and Islamic Business, UIN Walisongo Semarang, showed that all respondents knew about Lemonilo instant noodle products.The Korean wave factor also influences purchasing decisions among students, where the results show that 65% said watching films/dramas, listening to music, or watching shows about South Korea could influence respondents' purchasing decisions.The brand ambassador factor also influenced purchasing decisions, with a result of 60%, which means that students agreed to make purchasing decisions because of the brand ambassador used by Lemonilo instant noodles.Halal labeling also influences purchasing decisions among students, with 75% paying attention to the halal label on a product before making a purchase decision.How does the Korean wave, brand ambassadors, and halal labeling influence consumer purchasing decisions, especially for students, in buying a product?Researchers have previously investigated this issue.

Literature Review Purchasing Decision
Purchasing decisions are consumers' actions regarding whether they want to buy a product (Khairunnisa et al., 2020).Purchasing decisions are actions that determine all available options to choose by going through the stages of introduction, information search, alternative assessment, purchasing decision, and behavior after purchase (Zubaidah & Latief, 2022).Four factors influence consumers' purchasing decisions: 1).Cultural factors.Culture is the most essential determinant of desires and behavior.2).Social factors.Family, reference groups, roles, and statuses are among these.3).Personal factors.Purchasing decisions are influenced by four factors: age, family life cycle, work and economic environments, lifestyle, and personality.4).Purchasing decisions are influenced by four psychological factors: motivation, perception, beliefs, attitudes, and learning (Kotler, 2002).
There are five stages in the purchasing decision-making process: 1).Product selection: Consumers decide to buy or use a product for other purposes.In this case, the company or producer must focus on the people who intend to buy their products.2).Regarding brand selection, consumers must decide which brands to buy.Each brand has its own unique characteristics.Companies must understand how consumers choose their brands.3).Consumers must decide which channel to visit during purchasing channel selection.Each consumer has different criteria for determining a dealer, usually due to factors such as close location, low prices, complete inventory, shopping convenience, and space.4).Number of purchases: Consumers can decide how many products they buy.In this case, the company must prepare the products according to consumer needs.5).Consumer decisions regarding purchasing time can differ; for example, some buy every day, once a week, once every two weeks, or even once a month according to their needs (Kotler, 2002;Lubis & Hidayat, 2017).

Korean wave and purchase Lemonilo Instant Noodles
The Korean wave is the spread of various popular Korean cultures such as fashion, beauty, food, entertainment, films, music, and traditional culture, as well as trends that can influence other countries ( Hong & Kim, 2013;Lupitasari et al., 2022;Valenciana & Pudjibudojo, 2022).Sembiring and Prabandari (2021) mentioned the various popular cultures that have emerged in Indonesia, including Western, European, Japanese, and Korean (Korean wave).If someone likes Korean music, dramas, or films, that person is likely to buy products related to the Korean culture.According to Turban's theory, culture can influence people to make purchasing decisions.Culture can influence consumer behavior, and different cultures can make a big difference to what consumers buy (Turban et al., 2015).The results of research conducted by Siswandi and Djawoto (2019) state that the Korean wave positively and significantly affects purchasing decisions.This means that when the popularity of the Korean wave began to grow, interest in purchasing various necessary products, one of which came from Korea, also increased.Supported research by Fahira and Andjawati (2022) find that the Korean wave positively and significantly influences purchasing decisions.The higher the influence of the Korean wave, the greater the purchasing decisions that consumers make.The same research was also conducted by Siskhawati and Maulana (2021), who showed that the Korean wave positively influences purchasing decisions.H1: The Korean wave has a positive influence on the decision to purchase Lemonilo instant noodles.

Brand ambassador and purchase lemonilo instant noodles
Brand ambassadors refer to figures capable of presenting a brand's products or services to increase consumer enthusiasm (Jin et al., 2019).Based on the Lea-Greenwood theory, a brand ambassador is a tool used by companies to communicate and connect with the public to attract new customers and enhance sales (Lea-Greenwood, 2013).According to Royan (2005), brand ambassadors are spokespersons to quickly stick to consumers' minds and make them want to buy a product.The results of research conducted by Sukmawati et al. (2022) state that brand ambassadors positively and significantly influence purchasing decisions.This means that the more attractive the brand ambassador, the higher the level of purchasing decisions (Sukmawati et al., 2022).Arisanti and Zulaikha (2019) proved that the brand ambassador variable could significantly influence purchasing decisions.Thus, the more competent and attractive the brand ambassador appointed to represent the product, the more it influences consumers' purchasing decisions.H2: The brand ambassador has a positive influence on the decision to purchase Lemonilo instant noodles.

Halal labeling and purchase lemonilo instant noodles
Halal labeling includes halal writing or statements on product packaging to show that the product in question has the status of halal product (Hidayatullah, 2020;Sudarsono et al., 2023).Kotler (2002) states that beliefs and attitudes can influence purchasing behavior (Kotler, 2002).Beliefs are descriptive thoughts of a person about something.This belief is based on actual knowledge, opinion, and faith.Howard defined confidence as the level of consumer certainty that considers a brand to be evaluatively correct, whether it is good or bad (Artaya, 2018).Information regarding halal products marketed in Indonesia is essential and designed to protect Muslims from consuming non-halal products.By implementing halal standards, products can have clear quality standards and more functional customer features (Rizkitysha & Hananto, 2022;Nurudin, 2023).The halal label is considered by buyers when purchasing a product.The more halal labels a product is sold, the more likely potential buyers will decide to buy that product.Ulfah et al. (2022) found that halal labeling positively and significantly affects purchasing decisions.This is supported by Nurudin (2023), who stated that halal labels significantly affect purchasing decisions.A similar finding can also be seen by Nurnaningtias and Aswad (2022), who state that the halal labeling variable positively and significantly affects purchasing decisions.H3: The halal labeling has a positive influence on the decision to purchase Lemonilo instant noodles.
The development of the above hypothesis can be illustrated in Figure 1 as follows:

Research Methods
This type of research is field research used a quantitative approach.Data in the form of numbers are processed and analyzed to obtain scientific information from these numbers (Martono, 2012).
Quantitative data are in the form of numbers and, according to their form, can be processed or analyzed using statistical calculation techniques (Siregar, 2013).The research used was a quantitative associative.Associative quantitative research analyzes the connection or cause-andeffect between two or more variables using statistics (Nurdin & Hartati, 2019).This form is also called causal, because it explains the relationship between the independent variables, which is the cause or influence of what is influenced, and what is caused is the dependent variable.Primary and secondary data were used in this study.Primary data was obtained from the first source by distributing questionnaires to several respondents who were the samples of this research, namely students of the Management Study Program, Faculty of Islamic Economics and Business, UIN Walisongo Semarang.Secondary data were obtained from other sources.This study obtained secondary data from journals, websites, news, and related articles.The population used in this research was management study program students, Faculty of Economics and Islamic Business, UIN Walisongo Semarang Class 2019-2021.Management students were used as respondents in this study because they had received courses on halal products.Therefore, it is assumed that management students understand and care more about halal products.
The sample was a part of the population.Non-probability sampling is also performed.In a non-probability sampling technique, the sample is given a different opportunity for the entire population to become a sample.The results of the Slovin sample formula were obtained from 72 Management Study Program students in UIN Walisongo Semarang.The sample criteria were as follows: 1).Have consumed Lemonilo noodles at least twice, 2).Have watched and listened to South Korean dramas/films/music; 3).NCT Dream as a brand ambassador for Lemonilo noodles, and 4. Have received halal product courses.
The data collection technique used in this study was a questionnaire.The respondents were management study program students from the Faculty of Islamic Economics and Business at UIN Walisongo Semarang.The measurement scale used in this study was a Likert scale.The answers to each question ranged from strongly disagree to agree, with scores ranging from 1 to 5.
In this research, four variables are used, namely, three independent variables or independent variables: Korean wave, brand ambassador, halal labeling, and one dependent variable or dependent variable purchase decision.These variables can be measured using the factors that influence them outlined in the questionnaire to be more focused and appropriate to the method used.
The data analysis technique used to test this research's dependent and independent variables is multiple linear regression.SPSS software was used to analyze the data.The UI used was

Description of Research Objects
Lemonilo was born from a health startup called Konsula, which was founded in 2015.On October 1, 2016, Lemonilo was officially established as a healthy lifestyle (Suryanto, 2020) (Fitrianti, 2022).

General Description of Respondents
The respondents of this study were students of the management study program at UIN Walisongo Semarang who had consumed Lemonilo instant noodles at least twice, watched and listened to South Korean dramas/films/music at least three times, knew that NCT Dream was the brand ambassador for Lemonilo instant noodles, and had received courses on halal products.The data were collected online using Google Forms.The general description of the respondents is as follows: Of the respondents, 72 respondents aged 19 years had a percentage of 13.89%, followed by respondents aged 20 years (31.94%),21 years (27.78%), and 22 years (26.38%).These results show that 20-year-olds buy or consume the most Lemonilo instant noodles.The percentage of respondents who made purchases in the 2019 class was 31.94%,followed by 2020 (37.5%), and 2021 (30.55%).From these data, it was concluded that several generations had purchased most of the products.Lemonilo instant noodles are in class 2020.The study included 17 male (23.6%) and 55 female (76.8%).Judging from the distribution of respondents based on gender, most Lemonilo instant noodle consumers were female (55 respondents, 76.4%).

Research Result
From the validity test results for each questionnaire item, the Korean wave variables, brand ambassador, halal labeling, and purchasing decisions had a calculated r-value greater than the table r-value (see Table 1).Therefore, all the indicator items used in this study passed the validity test and were declared to be valid.
Table 2 shows the reliability test results, which can be seen in table below; the reliability coefficient value for each variable is above 0.6.Therefore, the instrument used in this study was reliable.The results of the determination test reveal that the Korean wave, brand ambassador, and halal labeling influence purchasing decisions by 0.081, as seen from the value-adjusted R Square.Based on the results of the F test, the calculated f value is greater than the f table (3.080 > 2.740) with a significance value of 0.033.Thus, it can be concluded that the independent variables (Korean wave, brand ambassador, and halal labeling) together influence the dependent variable on purchasing decisions.As noted in Table 3.The calculated t-value of the Korean wave was 2.112 > 1.99547 and the significance value (sig.) is 0.038 < 0.05.Therefore, the Korean wave partially and significantly influences purchasing decisions.The calculated t-value for brand ambassador was -0.384 < 1.99547, and the significance value (sig.) is 0.702 > 0.05.This means that brand ambassadors do not partially or significantly influence their purchase decisions.The calculated t-value for halal labeling was 0.506 < 1.99547, and the significance value (sig.) is 0.615 > 0.05.This means that halal labeling does not partially or significantly influence purchasing decisions.

Discussion
Based on data analysis, we found that the Korean wave variable positively impacted purchasing decisions.This means that, if the popularity of the Korean wave increases, the tendency to make purchases also increases.These results support the theory of Turban et al. (2015), who stated that culture can influence an individual's purchasing decisions.Culture significantly influences consumer behavior, and cultural differences can create significant variations in the products or services consumers choose.This also emphasizes that culture is the most fundamental factor influencing an individual's purchasing behavior (Kotler, 2002).
The findings of this study align with those of Handriana et al. (2023), indicating that the Korean wave significantly affects purchasing decisions.In this study, consumers used the phenomenon of the Korean wave as inspiration to be interested in Scarlett products and eventually decided to make a purchase.These results are also supported by Fahira and Andjawati (2022), who demonstrated that the Korean wave influences the purchasing decisions of official albums from K-pop idol groups.This indicates that Korean cultural trends, commonly known as the Korean wave, which permeates various aspects of life, can influence consumers' purchasing decisions.Therefore, if someone likes Korean music, dramas, or films, they are highly likely to choose to buy products related to Korean culture, such as those that come with Korean artists' photo cards.
The brand ambassador used by Lemonilo did not influence the purchasing decisions of Management Study Program students at UIN Walisongo Semarang.This study differs from Lea-Greenwood's (2013) theory, which states that a brand ambassador is a tool that companies use to communicate and connect with the public, specifically in attracting new customers and increasing sales.According to Royan (2005), a brand ambassador is used as a brand spokesperson to quickly embed in the minds of consumers, leading them to want to buy a product.The results of this study align with the research conducted by Aisyah (2022), which states that K-pop idol brand ambassadors have no influence on the purchasing decisions of shopee consumers in July.Meanwhile, brand ambassador also does not influence the purchasing decisions of Nature Republic Skincare consumers in Pekanbaru City.This is because most Nature Republic respondents in Pekanbaru are aged 22-26 years, at which age decision-making is no longer influenced by who the brand ambassador is, but rather by whether the product is suitable (Amin & Yanti, 2021).
Respondents decided to purchase Lemonilo instant noodles after learning that the NCT Dream is the brand ambassador for Lemonilo, with an average or mean score of 3.125.Item 4.2, stating that respondents were motivated to consume Lemonilo instant noodles because of the NCT Dream and had an average or mean score of 3.055, the two items with the lowest averages.This can be interpreted as NCT Dream not being the primary reason that respondents buy Lemonilo instant noodles.Considering the number of K-pop artists, interest is also divided among the NCT Dream fans.This means that the influence of public figures contracted to support the promoted product or brand ambassador has little impact on attracting consumers' attention when making purchasing decisions.
The halal label on the product packaging does not significantly affect purchasing decisions.Although the respondents in this study, who were students in the Management Study Program at UIN Walisongo Semarang, had taken courses on halal products, they still needed to decide whether to purchase Lemonilo instant noodles.In other words, if there is a halal label, consumers will choose to buy Lemonilo instant noodles.Furthermore, the results of the reconfirmation with respondents indicate that they pay more attention to the expiration date than to the halal label on product packaging.Other factors, such as price and taste, were also crucial to respondents when purchasing.
This research does not align with Kotler's theory, which states that beliefs and attitudes can influence individual purchasing behavior (Kotler, 2002).Although the halal label should be a primary consideration when purchasing food products, this study shows that this factor does not significantly affect the decision to purchase Lemonilo instant noodles.This finding contradicts the teachings of Allah in Surah Al-Baqarah verse 168, which states, "O mankind, eat from what is lawful and good on the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan."This emphasizes the importance of consuming foods that are guaranteed to be halal and pure.
The findings of this study align with the results of Bayu et al. (2020), which indicate that halal labels do not influence the purchasing decisions of chatime beverages because consumers pay more attention to the expiration date than halal labels.Meanwhile, Suprapto and Wahyuddin (2020) stated that halal labels do not affect consumers' purchasing decisions because of the need for more attention to the halal label and consumer confidence in the product as a homemade item believed to use halal ingredients.Support is also found in the research by Rahayu and Handayani (2023), who state that the halal label does not influence the purchasing decisions of MS Glow in Cilacap.This indicates that consumers prioritize the quality of a product and its suitability for their skin over a halal label when making purchasing decisions.

Conclusion
The results of the data analysis indicate that the Korean wave had a positive influence on the decision to purchase Lemonilo instant noodles.In contrast, brand ambassador and the halal label do not influence students to buy Lemonilo instant noodles.This shows that students did not consider the halal label important when deciding to purchase Lemonilo instant noodles.From these findings, it can be interpreted that students perceived all noodles marketed as halal, making the halal label not a specific concern for them.Additionally, this indicates that the Korean wave has influenced students' perceived value regarding the type of food consumed.
However, it should be noted that this study has some limitations, such as the limited number of respondents (72 individuals) and data collection solely through questionnaires without involving interviews.Additionally, the study only included students from the Management Study Program at UIN Walisongo Semarang, limiting the generalizability of the research findings to this specific population.The variables examined were restricted to the Korean wave, brand ambassador, and Halal Labels.
Future research should employ different data analysis techniques and research models to enhance the understanding of the factors influencing purchase decisions.There is potential to include other variables, such as word-of-mouth and brand awareness, which could provide further insights.Future researchers should increase the sample size and broaden the scope of this study to obtain more generalizable results.
, reliability test, normality test, multicollinearity test, heteroscedasticity test, and hypothesis test.The hypothesis test was a coefficient of determination test (R 2 ), simultaneous test (F-test), t-test, and multiple linear regression analysis.
. PT Lemonilo Indonesia Sehat or Lemonilo was founded by Shinta Nurfauzia (co-CEO), Ronald Wijaya, and Johannes Ardiant in 2016.In September 2017, Lemonilo officially launched its first product, Lemonilo fried noodle-flavored instant noodles, on its online platform..com.Along with the increasing demand for Lemonilo instant noodles, they are also sold offline in supermarkets and minimarkets.Lemonilo instant noodles are now available in more than 28 Indonesian countries.Continuing the success of Lemonilo fried noodle-flavored instant noodles, Lemonilo continues to innovate by releasing various flavors Lemonilo instant noodles.The new flavor variants included Lemonilo Instant Noodle Soup with Chicken Onion Mialami, Lemonilo Instant Noodle Soup with Chicken Curry Flavor, Lemonilo Instant Noodle Soup with Spicy Korean Flavor, Lemonilo Spekta with Rendang Padang Flavor, and Lemonilo Konjak with Fried Noodle Flavor.Lemonilo continues to develop and launch healthier products.As of 2020, Lemonilo has sold more than 40 products through its online platform

Table 1 .
Reliability Test