Utility of Religious GoodsEssay Preview: Utility of Religious GoodsReport this essayUtility of Religious GoodsAshley BairdCourtney WaldronChappell Wyms Jr.Midwestern State UniversityDillard College of Business AdministrationMarketing Research – MKTG 4143Fall 2017Table of Contents3. Introduction3. Objectives4.Background4. Research Development6. Analysis5. Literature Review9. Qualitative Methods9. Qualitative Results14. Variables14. Interviews and Research Questions15. Religious Consumption Survey Variables16. Discussion17. Conclusion17. Limitations18. Marketing Implications19. ReferencesIntroductionAround 1992 the market for religious goods and services started to decline. The key basis of religious consumption was based on the personal identification with religion, the importance religion played in your life, and views from a materialistic standpoint. Sales for religious goods declining from the sale of bibles, religious artifacts/symbols, and other material items that represent religion among the population. Within today’s market, Individual actions are perceived actions of an entire religion, for example in Houston during Hurricane Harvey Joel Olsteen was depicted as a monster for not opening its church doors in order to shelter citizens from the flood in a time of crisis and this made it look as if Christians did not want to help others unless they benefitted from the action. Religious organizations are more of the center of religion and not the belief system of the religion. Marketing and profiting off of a belief in a higher power has turned consumers away from participating in church services, charity events, and purchasing household religious items(dependent on type of religion). “The relationship between religion and culture manifesting through family and self-identity are applied to three consumer behavior themes: materialism, role of possessions as status enhancers and the use of friends and family as a reference group(Lindridge 2005).”
ObjectivesThe objectives of this report is to determine what the differences and similarities between religious and nonreligious consumers, when it comes to religious products. We will look at these to groups in a 2*2 matrix. On a y axis of external and an x axis of internal religious expression.
BackgroundIn today’s society you have that religion and spirituality being personalized. People can practice their religions at their own. There is no need for the group practice anymore due to the vast amount of information available in the world. With this people can ‘mix and match from different sources to customize their spiritual beliefs and practices.”(Rinallo and Maclaran) This leads to the various expressions of religiosity and spirituality.
The materialistic aspects of religion can have different meanings to each belief. Some believe in the fact that material aspects of life dont matter and others try to avoid it totally to become more spiritual. Even though materialism as opposed to some religious values, religious goods still hold a large market. This could be attributed to “religious kitsch objects can offer simultaneous symbolic and functional value.”(Higgins and Hamilton), because of this these values allow for purchasing without the materialistic attitudes affecting those buying.
For our interviews it focused more on finding a sample population to gauge the what the habits of the consumers are. The surveys looked mostly at both qualitative and quantitative questions for the interviewee. The qualitative questions focused on the religiosity of the interveiwees, and to understand where they would be on the Religiosity Matrix. The qualitative questions focused on the amount that the interviewees purchased, to understand habits and reasons behind the purchases.
Research DevelopmentBefore considering any literature or beginning data collection, the class, a convenience sample of 12 students, participated in a group discussion lead by the marketing research professor, for approximately one hour. This was done in the first two weeks of class. Some of the students have previously had courses together, but generally the participants in the discussion did not know each other well and were not of a specific demographic in relation to gender, religion, age, or race. The group, lead by questions posed from the professor, discussed the topics of religion, why religion is a sensitive topic to discuss with others, and why humans consider religion to be an intimately personal topic.
A summary of the topic is shown in Figure 1, and the following section describes the subject.
For convenience, the topic was considered under the umbrella of:
The main topic is the concept that women are better at math in a context of social and economic inequality and, specifically, female participation in scientific research. In these settings, women should be judged on their competence to evaluate scientific data, their ability to identify the best ways to develop and test data, their involvement in a community within which to investigate, their social skills, and their involvement in research.
Research should be developed that is relevant to a society and a particular class. Some of the activities on the discussion board were, among other things, “women’s studies/research.” An example of such an activity would be a study that assesses children’s social skills and social supports in the context of a social context. For one specific class, for example, a group would develop a research and social engagement training program that can assess the impact of a research project/program in their ability to evaluate positive, negative, or neutral research projects on children’s ability to work with their parents (e.g., a project for the education of children to become more interested in STEM, a program for adults working towards an understanding of human resources and social services, or a research program developed to help identify the barriers to achievement. As such, the project may involve a specific topic (such as women’s studies) but is not aimed for all schools. This subject discussed in further detail in my recent email discussion about research methodology and how it relates to gender, including questions about the roles and responsibilities of women in research, and about how this subject is often discussed on other panels of this class.
A study is also included within the discussion board to collect questions related to different social or economic issues and relevant to these different social and economic contexts. Questions of different social and economic issues are considered to be discussed to decide if a study can be approved for use on the discussions board or whether an individual who is eligible to participate has to have access to an approved study. Other relevant activities, such as activities to address human resource needs, are not included. This topic was also discussed further in the last email discussion between the professor and one student.
The moderator would present a text of the text of each section. A study that included questions related to each category or topic and that included both a short (25 words that are about math and the discussion board) and substantive (25 words about the topics). The moderator would also place the text of the research into the public domain and to allow for the general public viewing of it, without the need for the professor to be a research student or a college lecturer.
In other words, the moderator would be discussing studies that are not specifically related to gender, race, ethnicity,
The participants in the group overall seemed to be religious, with the notable exception of two participants who verbalized disinterest in the concept of religion. Some participants did not reflect their opinion by wording their responses strategically and responding less frequently. Overall, the class appeared to be largely Christian, some practicing, but at least two estranged. The purpose of the conversation was to begin the thought process on the topic of religion and prepare the class to use exploratory research methods such as literature review and depth interviews.
Research QuestionsFrom the initial class conversation, Professor Nguyen formed five research questions over the topic of religion, materialism, values, and life satisfaction. After beginning exploratory research, the fifth question, which discussed the role of religious organizations and life satisfaction,