{"73924":{"#nid":"73924","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study: Religious Fundamentalists and Brand Loyalty","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDespite their differences, most major world religions warn that attachment to fleeting material objects is an obstacle to spiritual transcendence. Therefore, religious fundamentalists, who try to strictly follow the tenets of divine scripture, ought to care little for worldly possessions like cars and clothing, says Nancy Wong, assistant professor of marketing at Georgia Tech College of Management.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, fundamentalists actually tend to form strong personal connections with particular product brands, according to a new study conducted by Wong in partnership with Aric Rindfleisch, associate professor of marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and James E. Burroughs, assistant professor of commerce at the University of Virginia.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study\u0027s findings suggest that fundamentalists\u0027 brand connection stems from their need for predictability and certainty in a confusing world that is rapidly changing in ways that threaten their most sacred values.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022They seek cognitive security in the brands they buy and use,\u0022 says Wong, who recently presented this study, titled \u0022\u003Cem\u003EReligious Fundamentalism and Brand Connections\u003C\/em\u003E,\u0022 at the ACR Europe conference in Sweden.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWong and her collaborators conducted their research in America first and then Singapore. While most of the 382 people surveyed in America were Christian, the sample of 300 Singaporeans was evenly divided among Buddhists, Christians and Muslims.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Singapore is one of the few places with sizable percentages of adherents to three of the world\u0027s major religions,\u0022 says Wong, whose research team wanted to see if the results of its American survey were replicable across other cultural settings and religious groups.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir findings were consistent among all three religious groups in both countries for the product categories examined: cars and blue jeans in America, and cell phones and watches in Singapore. The researchers were careful to avoid products that might have religious associations, Wong notes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMarketing scholars generally pay scant attention to religion, and companies often only acknowledge fundamentalists when faced with an organized boycott resulting from religious-based objections to a product, Wong says. However, the rise of fundamentalism among all major world religions is a movement that marketers can no longer ignore, she stresses.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Based on our findings, firms may wish to take a much more proactive stance in terms of developing relationships with religious fundamentalists, as their need for predictability makes them a particularly attractive segment,\u0022 Wong says. \u0022Their ability to remain vigilant to a particular brand and shun competitive appeals is an increasingly valuable commodity in a hypercompetitive marketplace. Marketing campaigns that stress how a product or service delivers consistent and predictable performance should help attract these individuals to a brand and maintain them as part of its loyal franchise.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Study shows religious fundamentalists form strong attachments to product brands"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Most major world religions warn that attachment to fleeting material objects is an obstacle to spiritual transcendence. However, according to a new study, fundamentalists actually tend to form strong personal connections with particular product brands.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study examines Buddhists, Christians and Muslims"}],"uid":"27301","created_gmt":"2005-07-05 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:59","author":"Elizabeth Campell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2005-06-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2005-06-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"73925":{"id":"73925","type":"image","title":"Nancy Wong","body":null,"created":"1449178028","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:08","changed":"1475894683","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:43"}},"media_ids":["73925"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/mgt.gatech.edu\/index.html","title":"College of Management"},{"url":"http:\/\/mgt.gatech.edu\/directory\/wong.html","title":"Nancy Wong Faculty Page"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EBrad Dixon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECollege of Management\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=bd106\u0022\u003EContact Brad Dixon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-3943\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brad.dixon@mgt.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}