Religion influence Consumer Behavior

“Human beings are not born with a set of behaviour, they have to learn it. What they learn is
dictated by the culture into which they are born or within which they grow up” – J Bareham
(1995)

Culture makes us similar to some people but different to the vast majority. Culture
compromises of many aspects such as Language, Politics, everyday food habits and Religion.
Religion can be defined as a subculture. A subculture is a group whose members share beliefs
and common experiences that set them apart from others. Our group memberships help to
define us.

Religion is an abstract concept. If we have to define the terms, religion represents « a unified
systems of beliefs and practices relative to the sacred things,” while religiosity is viewed as
« the degree to which beliefs in specific religious values and ideal are held and practiced by
an individual”(Delener, 1990).

Religion has received little attention from consumer researchers. This is partly a result of an
initial assumption by a smaller number of consumer writers who maintain that the religious
influences on consumption process are indirect and that the topic of religion had no place in
theories of consumer behaviour. However Religion is an important cultural factor to study
because it is one of the most universal and influential social institutions that has significant
influence on people’s attitudes, values and behaviors at both the individual and societal levels.
Religious subcultures have an impact on consumer variables such as personality, attitudes
toward sexuality, birthrates and household formation, income and political attitudes.

Religious values provide the individual not only with a certain form of acts
and spiritual rituals but also with standards of behaviour and a general
worldview. Thus religion can form the basis of how an individual chooses
to lead his/her life. Almost all religions have sets of laws that affect everyday purchases
and habits. Even if the degree to which individual members adhere to the religious
conventions varies, the preferences and tastes are shaped by the value giving rules and
customs of their surrounding religion. Here, religion refers to, not only a belief binding the
spiritual nature of man to a supernatural being, but mainly a sub-system of culture that
determine customs and norms of the society..

If we have to give one example: food habits in relation to culture and religion are amongst the
oldest and deeply rooted aspects of a society with many variations worldwide. There are
many similarities but yet many differences across all cultures and religions, for example both
Jews and Muslims must not eat Pork or consume Blood, but in contrast a Muslim may eat
shell-fish whereas a Jew cannot. In the Hindu religion a strict Caste system is followed and
dictates who a person can eat with, who prepares a persons food, what sort of food is prepared
for someone and who food can be accepted from. However for Hindu followers living in a
western society it is not always possible to adhere to. For example pre-packed food or food
from a canteen/restaurant would not be able to be purchased as it might have been prepared
by someone of a lower caste. This is a good example of religion has to adapt to allow for the
culture one lives in relation to food intake.

A study was also conducted by Bailey and Sood (1993). They examined the effects of
religious affiliation on consumer behavior of six religious groups in Washington DC:
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Catholic and Protestant. The results identified
statistically significant differences in the consumer behavior of different religious groups.
They found that Muslim consumers were relatively more impetuous shoppers but less likely
to be informed or risky shoppers. Hindus were found to be in rational shopper group while
Catholics were less likely to be informed shoppers. Buddhists are the only minority religious
members in the sample to report consumer behavior similar to the societal norms.

The influence of religion on consumer behaviour is found to be mediated through several

factors1 including “an individual’s religious affiliation, his or her commitment to religious
beliefs and practices, the extent of his or her religious knowledge in his or her views and
perceptions on societal issues, and his or her motivation in following his or her religion.”

Besides Religion influences the consumption activities and consumers’ behaviour through
three different ways:
- it affects the structure of consumption
- it creates and communicates meaning in products and services
- it influences how individuals make their decision.
However it has been argued that religion is highly personal in nature and therefore its
effects on consumer behavior depend on individuals’ level of religious commitment or the
importance placed on religion in their life. Even if, customers' choices are influenced by their
religious environment, the fact is that the degree of influence varies with the degree of
observance. Within the same religion, codes of behavior are dissimilarly respected between
conservative and tolerant. Conservatism may view expensive clothing, flashy cars, or the use
of credit cars as symbols of materialistic approach to life that is inconsistent with the laws of
God. Liberal interpretations are usually more tolerant for this type of materialism. Different
levels of religiosity determine cognitive and behavioral differences in individuals purchasing
decisions.

1
The Constructs Mediating Religions’ Influence on Buyers and Consumers, Nazlida
Muhamad, Dick Mizerski, Katherine Mizerski