Joint Marketing Research Seminar II

Organization Committee:

María Jesús Yagüe. Full Professor. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Mónica Gómez. Associate Professor. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Place:

Aula Master en Marketing. Módulo XV. Facultad CC. Empresariales. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

11:00-12:00. Talk: Brands: The Opiate of the Non-Religious Masses?

Speaker:

Tülin Erdem, Professor of Marketing, Leonard N. Stern Professor of Business and Professor of Marketing at the Stern School of BusinessNew York University.

Co-authors:

Ron Shachar, Gavan J. Fitzsimons and Keisha M. Cutright. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

ABSTRACT

Many researchers have suggested that people often form relationships that are religious in nature with brands. The popular press has even proclaimed brands as the “new religion”. With such implied associations between brands and religion as inspiration, this research aims to understand whether or not there is a significant relationship between consumers’ religiosity and their reliance on brand name products (i.e. the degree to which they prefer branded goods over non-branded goods). This article examines the relationship between religiosity and brand reliance using (1) data sets on Americans at the state level, county level and individual level, (2) various measures of religiosity and various measures of brand reliance, and (3) three different empirical approaches (field, survey and experimental). The results (across these different data sets, measures and methods) suggest that non-religious consumers rely on brands to a much greater degree than do religious consumers, particularly when income is high. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential mechanisms driving this relationship.

12:00-12:30. Coffee Break
12:00-13:00. Journal of Marketing Research: Spanning the boundaries

Speaker:
Tülin Erdem, JMR Editor-Elect

[JOINT MARKETING RESEARCH SEMINAR II]