Consumer Transits and Religious Identities: Towards a Syncretic Consumer

Citation

Rodner VL & Preece C (2019) Consumer Transits and Religious Identities: Towards a Syncretic Consumer. Journal of Marketing Management, 35 (7-8), pp. 742-769. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2019.1601124

Abstract
The majority of research on religious consumption assumes stable, singular and exclusive preferences, an individual is an adherent to one religion at a time and conversion is a radical break in identity. In examining a context where individuals can simultaneously practice multiple religions despite seemingly theologically incompatible beliefs, we introduce the concept of religious transit, allowing for a more processual understanding of religious identity. To do so, we draw on theories of religious capital, foregrounding the flexibility of this resource in enabling multifarious religious consumption. This is made possible by the religious leaders themselves; in highlighting shared rituals and discourses, they downplay any cognitive incongruences to allow for easy, market-mediated accessibility. By conceptualising four types of religious consumption we theorise the dynamics of consumer mobility.

Keywords
religious consumption; consumer mobility; religious capital; religious transit; Brazil

Journal
Journal of Marketing Management: Volume 35, Issue 7-8