Religious subcultur

e in consumer behav
ior
Marketers increasingly use religious
and spiritual themes to talk to cons
umer.
Instead of considering religion as
religious affiliation (e.g., how do
Catholics differ from Protestants) or level
of religiosity (e.g., high versus low), our
framework proposes that religion affects
consumer psychology and behavior
through four key dimensions— 1.beliefs,
2.rituals, 3.values, and 4.community.
Beliefs: Religious beli
efs about sacredness differ
between religions, sects, a
nd denominations.
Rituals: Rituals are sym
bolic, repeated behaviors t
hat are performed in the sa
me manner and order every t
ime (Rook 1985), such as da
ily prayers or meditation,
sacraments, holidays, and r
eligious gatherings.
Values: Religious values
provide normative guidance
to individuals about what
to consume, how much to co
nsume, and when to consume
it.
Community: Finally, reli
gions provide social suppor
t to members and help satis
fy members’ need to belong
, including the need for gr
oup identification and affi
liation
Weight watchers ww
international, Inc., form
erly Weight Watchers In
ternational, Inc., is a glo
bal company headquart
ered in the U.S. that off
ers various products an
d services, including wei
ght loss and maintenan
ce, fitness, and mindset
such as the Weight Wat
chers comprehensive di
et program
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international
mutual aid fellowship with the stated purpose of
enabling its members to "stay sober and help oth
er alcoholics achieve sobriety." AA is nonprofessi
onal, self-supporting, and apolitical. Its only me
mbership requirement is a desire to stop drinking
Organized and religion consumption
Marketers have not studied organized religion extensively, possibly
because many
view it as a taboo subject.40 As one research director noted,
“Religion, along with
sex and politics, is one of the three taboo topics that we’re never
supposed to talk
about.”41 Religious sensibilities vary around the world, and big
trouble can result if
marketers violate taboo subjects in other cultures. Here are some
examples
Winning entries in the Doritos/Pepsi MAX “C
rash the Super Bowl” challenge
 Example
• In Salt Lake City, a proposed
billboard for Polygamy Porter
beer aroused the
ire  of Mormons worldwide.
The billboard company under
contract with the
brewery refused to erect the
ad. The board, which was goi
ng to show a picture of
a scantily clad man, cherubs,
and a six-pack of spouses, ad
vises drinkers to “take
some home for the wives.”
Example
Pakistan's media re
gulatory agency ha
s banned a condo
m commercial star
ring a sultry Pakist
ani model after it r
eceived hundreds
of complaints the a
d was too racy, a s
enior official said T
hursday
 Islamic marketing
ISLAMIC MARKETING OR HALAL
MARKETING.
Islamic marketing or Halal marketing assumes
that religion affects consumer choice and thus,
follows Islamic laws, principles and guidelines
in strategic marketing decisions of designing,
communicating and delivering products and
services to customers
Religion in
pakistan
Nike committed a legendary error when it released a pair
of athletic shoes in
For example, a Malaysian com
mercial for
Sunsilk’s Lively Clean & Fresh s
hampoo depicts a young, smili
ng woman, but there
is not a strand of hair in sight.
Her head is completely covere
d by a tudung, the
headscarf worn by many Musli
m women in that country. Suns
ilk’s pitch is that it
helps remove excess oil from t
he scalp and hair, a common pr
oblem among wearers
of tudungs
Halal food
Mindful of the success of kosher certification,
some Muslims recognize that
halal foods (permissible under the laws of Isl
am) also may appeal to mainstream
consumers. The Islamic Food and Nutrition C
ouncil of America certifies halal
products with a “crescent M,” much like the c
ircled “O” of the Orthodox Union, the
largest kosher certifier. Both kosher and halal
followers forbid pork, and both require
similar rituals for butchering meat. Religious
Jews don’t mix milk and meat, nor do
they eat shellfish, whereas religious Muslims
don’t drink alcohol. Neither group eats
birds of prey or blood.
 Halal food
By Islamic law, all foods are considered
halal, or lawful, except for pork and its by-
products, animals improperly slaughtered
or dead before slaughtering, animals
slaughtered in the name of anyone but
Allah (God), carnivorous animals, birds of
prey, animals without external ears (some
birds and reptiles),
Colgate-Palmolive cla
ims to be the first inter
national company to h
ave obtained
halal certification in M
alaysia for toothpaste
and mouthwash produ
cts. Some
Nokia introduced a phone for the Middle East and North Africa ma
rkets that
came loaded with an Islamic Organizer including alarms for the five
daily
prayers, two Islamic e-books, and an e-card application that lets pe
ople send
SMS greeting cards for Ramadan.
Ogilvy & Mather established a new arm, Ogilvy Noor (Noor means “light” in
Arabic), which the ad agency describes as “the world’s first bespoke Islamic
branding practice.” Ogilvy also introduced the Noor index, which rates the appeal
of brands to Muslim consumers. The index was formulated on the basis of how
consumers ranked more than 30 well-known brands for compliance with Shariah,
or Islamic law. Lipton tea, owned by Unilever, topped the list, followed by Nestlé.
Ogilvy’s research shows that young Muslim consumers are different from their
Western counterparts; they believe that by staying true to the core values of their
religion, they are more likely to achieve success in the modern world.