Belief Systems, Religion, and Behavioral Economics

CHAPTER 8

Managerial Implications for Businesses

Although implications for businesses have been discussed throughout this book, this chapter is devoted to recapping these previous recommendations along with providing a course of action for businesses. The key takeaway point is that religion influences consumer behavior. Businesses need to step away from exclusive reliance on traditional demographic (e.g., age, gender, education) and psychographic (e.g., personality, lifestyle) descriptors of a target market and examine how religion defines the core values of the target market. We are not advocating ignoring other demographic and psychographic influencers but rather proposing to include religion in the mix. Effective marketing must realize the ...