Desecularization, Social Identity, and Consumer Intention to Purchase Religious Products

Abstract

• This study shed some lights on the way religious affiliation and religiosity affect consumer buying behavior. • Theory of Planned Behavior construct items have a significant impact on consumer purchase intentions. • Christians and Muslims take into account different factors when forming purchase intentions. • Religiosity does not impact the intention of consumers to purchase religious products. Limited research exists regarding the impact of religion and religiosity on consumer behavior, particularly in the context of a desecularizing society. In this paper, we examine the factors that impact consumer intention to purchase religious products in North Macedonia. Using survey methodology and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we find that each of the construct items from the Theory of Planned Behavior have a significant impact on consumer purchase intentions for the full sample, but that Christians and Muslims take different factors into account when forming purchase intentions. Further, we find that religiosity does not impact the intention of consumers to purchase religious products. The findings enhance our understanding of consumer buying behavior and the extent to which religion and religiosity impact the intention to purchase religious products. We also contribute to the existing theories on the impact of social norms and religiosity on consumer purchase intention for religious products, in desecularizing heterogenous societies.