Keeping the faith! Drivers of participation in spiritually-based communities

Granger, Karen; Lu, Vinh Nhat; Conduit, Jodie; Veale, Roberta; Habel, Cullen

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.03.013

Cited by 21 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…This mirrors previous research conducted in America (e.g., Aaron et al, ; Brown, ). This study also determined that Australian church attendees have a sense of belonging in their current church and attend frequently that mirrors previous Australian research findings (Granger et al, ). As expected, these findings do not correlate with Australian census data that showcase that gender is relatively equal and people are elderly (e.g., ABS, , ).…”

Section: Conclusion and Implications For Religious Nonprofit Organissupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Although church attendance is frequently measured as part of religiosity (Benda & Toombs, 2000;Woodroof, 1985), religiosity represents a deeper commitment to religious beliefs and values such as a belief in God, personal prayer, and the dissemination of the gospel (Corwyn & Benda, 2000;Granger, Nhat Lu, Conduit, Veale, & Habel, 2014). A person can, therefore, attend church without a personal belief in God.…”

Section: Church Attendancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Take me to church: What ministries are of perceived value for attendees from a nonprofit marketing perspective?

Tkaczynski

2017

Int J Nonprofit Volunt Sect Mark

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Church can mean different things to different people. Whilst the opportunity to hear preaching within a conventional church building has traditionally represented the key driver of church value, other ministries such as contemporary worship music, fellowship with others, and small group bible studies are relevant for church attendance amongst certain church attendees. In addition, these church ministries of perceived value may vary on the basis of whether a church attendee is involved in a ministry role or not and if the church is located within an urban or a regional context. To identify the perceived value of church ministries as perceived by church attendees, data from 8,000 respondents of the Australian 2011 National Church Life Survey were analysed.Although sermons and communion represented the church items of perceived value for both leaders and nonleaders regardless of their location, respondents varied considerably in what they deemed as most important for their church in the future. This study provides theoretical and practical implications for religious nonprofit organisations (e.g., churches) relating to the perceived value of church experiences and provides future research opportunities. Specifically, through appropriate market segmentation, target marketing, and positioning, these organisers can design and promote specific ministries to precise church attendee segments. Although the opportunity to hear a sermon has consistently attracted church attendance (e.g., Stott, 1990;Ward, Pullman, & Rylance, 1883), people may choose to attend church for alternative reasons such as contemporary worship music (Connell, 2005;Goh, 2008) and to participate in social justice aid programmes (Brown, 2009;Nooney & Woodrum, 2002). It has also been consistently found that attending church and/or church-orientated activities can provide an attendee with mental and health benefits (Abbotts, Williams, Sweeting, & West, 2004;Koenig, Ford, George, Blazer, & Meador, 1993) which has driven attendance, particularly for those that are female, married and have health insurance (Aaron, Levine, & Burstin, 2003). Consequently, churches will actively market several church ministries through various forms of media to influence people to attend church (Foster, 2010;Webb, 2012). | Church attendance in AustraliaDespite Australia having some of the largest growing Christian churches worldwide such as Hillsong and Planetshakers, overall church attendance is declining in Australia (Bellamy & Castle, 2004;McCrindle Research, 2014). The number of Australians attending church at least once a month (regularly) has halved from 36% in 1972 to 15% in 2011 (NCLS Research, 2012 | AIMS OF THIS RESEARCHIt is widely acknowledged within the marketing literature that people are heterogeneous (Dibb, Stern, & Wensley, 2002;Kotler, 1980) Chand, 2015;Sanders, 1967).From a nonprofit marketing perspective, identifying what is of perceived value to potential church attendees is essential for religious marketers (e.g., churches) when designing new ministries o...

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Section: Conclusion and Implications For Religious Nonprofit Organissupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Church Attendancementioning

confidence: 99%

Take me to church: What ministries are of perceived value for attendees from a nonprofit marketing perspective?

Tkaczynski

2017

Int J Nonprofit Volunt Sect Mark

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“…Kale's (2004) article is exemplary in its attempt to capture how globalization has influenced religious practices worldwide. Particularly in postmodern cultures in which religious institutions are increasingly decentralized (Granger, Lu, Conduit, Veale, and Habel 2014), scholars are primed to explore how markets and marketing reciprocally influences religion. In today's market, the lines between religious institutions and for-profit corporations are becoming increasingly blurred.…”

Section: Current State Of the Literature And Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion-Related Research in the Journal of Macromarketing, 1981-2014

Drenten

McManus

2016

Journal of Macromarketing

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This study provides a review of religion-related research published in the Journal of Macromarketing (JMK) from 1981 to 2014. A systematic review of the journal identifies 19 key articles at the intersection of religion and macromarketing. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are utilized to review this body of work in terms of frequency, content, methodology, and authorship. Results reveal four categories of religion-related research in JMK: 1) the impact of religion on macromarketing issues, 2) the impact of macromarketing issues on religion, 3) religion as a theoretical perspective, and 4) religious groups/individuals as a research context. Opportunities for future research on macromarketing and religion are discussed.The Journal of Macromarketing (JMK) has a long, rich tradition of publishing research that "examines important social issues, how they are affected by marketing, and how society influences the conduct of marketing," according to its stated mission. Religion constitutes one of the world's most important social issues, unique in its cognitive, emotional, motivational, and behavioral aspects. Since its inception in 1981, JMK has supported the inclusion and consideration of religion in understanding the macromarketing landscape. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we aim to gain insight into and appreciation of how Journal of Macromarketing has shaped to our understanding of macromarketing and religion. Second, the review reveals areas in which scholarship is lacking at the intersection of macromarketing and religion. Following in the path of Jones and Shaw (2006), this literature review focuses specifically on JMK, examining 34 years of religion-related research in the journal in an effort to contextualize the contributions made in this current special issue on Religion and Macromarketing.Religion provides a unique theoretical and substantive perspective in the field of macromarketing. Religion and the market have been indelibly linked throughout history: in the agoras of Plato's Republic and the quest for the 'good life'; in the Holy Bible's pro-trade commandment of "thou shall not steal"; in the modern debate regarding 'religious freedom' for 21 st century corporations. As Mittelstaedt (2002) states, "religion affects (1) what we trade, (2) how we trade, and (3) when and where trade occurs" (p. 7). Around the world, market systems are reciprocally shaped by the religion. Religion-related holidays can promote consumption (e.g., shopping for Christmas gifts) or restrict consumption (e.g., fasting during Yom Kippur). Religion-related values can drive advertising imagery and market regulations (e.g., alcohol advertisements banned in Saudi Arabia). Religion-related norms can predict product viability in a market (e.g., beef and pork are not offered at McDonald's in India). Religions themselves have become increasingly commercialized in the modern marketplace with the increasingly popularity of religion-related spokespersons (e.g., Christian televangelist Joel Osteen) and the marketing ...

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“…The secular town surrounding this complex is equally expansive, with 208 hotels, 100 restaurants and 220 souvenir shops, providing the equivalent of one shop for every 30,000 pilgrims to Lourdes (Fargues, 2011, 65). Consequently, Lourdes, which is seen as a "spiritually based community (SBC)" (Granger, Conduit, Veale and Habel, 2014), has clearly become a restructured consumption scape (Urry, 1995) and a "place directed marketplace" (Scott and Maclaren, 2013) where consumers can consume both the sacred offerings of the Sanctuary and the secular offerings of the Lourdes marketplace.…”

Section: Lourdes: a Contextual Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mini-miracles: Transformations of self from consumption of the Lourdes pilgrimage

Higgins

Hamilton²

2016

Journal of Business Research

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This paper explores transformations of self through pilgrimage consumption. A three year ethnographic study of Lourdes, one of the largest Catholic pilgrimage destinations, reveals the concept of "mini-miracles" to refer to those miracles that occur in and are important to an individual's life, but are unlikely ever to be officially deemed as miracles in the eyes of the church. Mini-miracles transform selves and in turn draw pilgrims annually and recurrently to consume the Lourdes pilgrimage experience. The findings reveal the existence of three forms of subjectively experienced mini-miracles: physical, social and peaceful, each of which act as intangible word-of-mouth consumption drivers to the Lourdes pilgrimage. Lourdes, as a business institution, should capitalize on the word-of-mouth mini-miracles shared amongst consumers as a means of building and maintaining stronger networks and relationships within Catholic/ Christian communities at both the national and local level.

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Keeping the faith! Drivers of participation in spiritually-based communities

Cited by 21 publications

References 57 publications

Take me to church: What ministries are of perceived value for attendees from a nonprofit marketing perspective?

Take me to church: What ministries are of perceived value for attendees from a nonprofit marketing perspective?

Religion-Related Research in the Journal of Macromarketing, 1981-2014

Mini-miracles: Transformations of self from consumption of the Lourdes pilgrimage

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