THE IMPACT OF RELIGION ON SHOPPING BEHAVIOR Nikolaos I. Migdalis *1, Nasya Tomlekova 2, Panayotis K Serdaris 3, Yordan G. Yordanov 4. Bulgaria.

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1 ISSN: IJMRR/ December 2014/ Volume 4/Issue 12/Article No-1/ Nikolaos I. Migdalis et al./ International Journal of Management Research & Review THE IMPACT OF RELIGION ON SHOPPING BEHAVIOR Nikolaos I. Migdalis *1, Nasya Tomlekova 2, Panayotis K Serdaris 3, Yordan G. Yordanov 4 1 PhD Student, Dept. of Economics of the Food Industry, University of Food Technologies Plovdiv, Bulgaria. 2 Assoc. Prof, Dept. of Molecular Genetics, Maritsa Vegetable Crops Research Institute Plovdiv, Bulgaria. 3 Assoc. Prof, Dept. of Business Management, TEI Kozani, Greece. 4 Prof, Dept. of Economics of the Food Industry, University of Food Technologies, Plovdiv, ABSTRACT Bulgaria. The aim of this research paper was to explore the relationship between religion and consumption behavior. Quantitative data were gathered through questionnaires from people with different nationality and religion. The results showed that there were statistical differences in several caves. We found that microculture develops different patterns of behavior for Christian and Muslim consumers, based on their religious preferences. It is suggested that religious microcultures should be viewed as constituting distinct consumer segments, which may warrant different marketing efforts. Keywords: Consumer behavior, Religion, Nationality. INTRODUCTION It is widely acknowledged that religion has a strong influence on people s belief, personal identity and value systems, all of which have consumption implications. Religion provides people with a structured set of beliefs and values that serve as a code of conduct or guide to behavior (Delener, 1994). Religious traditions may directly influence various aspects of the choice behavior of its followers by the rules and taboos it inspires (Chiswick, 2006). Obvious examples are the importance of fasting and feasting to patterns of food purchases, belief in taboos on clothing styles and activities of women, practices of personal hygiene related to purchases of toiletries and cosmetics and influences on housing and entertainment patterns. Less obvious is the influence of religion on the consumption of goods and services that are not directly restricted by religious law. In such a case, religious values affect consumer behavior by influencing the consumer s personality structure-his or her beliefs, values and behavioral tendencies. These personality structures, in turn, affect the consumption choices that consumers make (Mokhlis, 2009, 2010). Religious affiliation or adherence of individual to a particular religious group has been termed an ascribed status. This because like race and nationality, its effect on individual life often predates birth, determines family size, level of education attained, the amount of wealth accumulated and the type of life decision taken (Hirschman, 1983). Being able to identify the *Corresponding Author

2 behavior of consumers in affected by their religiosity factors is critical to the success of marketers, especially for those who operate in multi-religious countries like India. Perhaps the major challenge for them is to understand the differences and similarities that characterize consumer s behavior across different religious. Though marketers can use a standardized approach by focusing on common basic needs for all consumers, they seem to underestimate the profound influence of religious differences among consumers on their choice and shopping behaviors. As such, the advantages of this approach are difficult to gain if consumers with different cultural backgrounds are not largely compelled by standardized marketing efforts because of their religions. Therefore, in order for marketers to develop effective marketing strategies for a specific culture, an intimate understanding yet comprehensive knowledge of how shopping behavior of consumers is constantly affected by their religious values is apparently warranted (Mokhlis 2006, Mustafar and Borhan 2013, Patel 2014). The aim of this research paper is to explore the relationship between religion and consumption behavior. Specifically, our research aims to appreciate the differences and similarities, if any, between Christians and Muslims. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data for the present study were obtained from a survey of 330 individuals, from whom 324 usable questionnaires were obtained (98.1% response rate). The participants were either people living in Greece (Athens, n=100), people living in Bulgaria (Sofia, n=80), people living in United Arab Emirates (UAE) or in Saudi Arabia (Dubai, n=70, Jeddah, n=30), people living in UAE or in Saudi Arabia but were foreigners (n=44). (Tables 1-4). A selfadministered questionnaire conducted in order to address the above issue. The questionnaire included 29 questions that can be answered with yes or no (Table 5). The data collection period was approximately 4 months. The coding of the data was carried out by transforming all answers to numbers, using the SPSS software package. The analysis included both descriptive statistics as well as the necessary statistical tests (one-way anova, Chi-Square test) in order to verify the correlations and the statistical important mean value differences. RESULTS Out of total 330 questionnaires distributed 324 were usable. Male were the 67.9% of the respondents, 66.9% were Christian Orthodox and 33.02% Muslim (Tables 1,2). In terms of the age and education distributions, the majority of the respondents (53.7%) were between 26 and 41 years old and were Bachelor holder (40.1%) and Msc Holder (28.7%) graduates (Tables 3,4) Moreover, 38.9% of the respondents were private sector employees while the 55.2% of the total sample was married. People like shopping in Bulgaria more than in Greece or in UAE and Saudi Arabia. In Europe (Greece and Bulgaria) there are no products forbidden from the religion, while in Saudi Arabia and UAE there are such products. In Greece and in Saudi Arabia or UAE people attend classes about religion in school, while this is not the case in Bulgaria and for foreigners living in Saudi Arabia or UAE. Moreover, regarding attending religion classes out Copyright 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 1121

3 of school, only in Saudi Arabia or UAE this takes place for 48% of the participants, while in all the other cases the answer for the majority of the participants was no. All people in Saudi Arabia or U.A.E. pray to God when they face an issue, while this happens only for the 62% of the participants in Greece and 85.7% in Bulgaria. In all cases though people seem to hang out with people of other religions. All people in Saudi Arabia or UAE believe that their religion instructs them about what is good and what is bad, while in Greece such answer is given by 76.1% of the participants and 93.8% in Bulgaria respectively. Regarding shopping in Saudi Arabia or UAE the people who do their shopping according to what their religion dictates reaches the proportion of 54% while the equivalent proportion in Greece and Bulgaria amounts to 8% and 5% respectively. As far as experiencing religion holidays in their own country the whole of the population do so while a 91.4% is recorded in Greece and 95.5% in foreigners in Saudi Arabia or UAE. As for interracial weddings a proportion of 96% in Saudi Arabia or UAE are against it while in Greece and Bulgaria the rates are 51% and 37.5% respectively and in foreigners in Saudi Arabia or UAE it reaches 45.5%. Most people in Saudi Arabia or UAE denote that there is specific clothing permitted by their religion (92%), while in Greece and in Bulgaria people do not believe so (78% and 91.2% respectively). On the other hand, regarding going for shopping all together with their families when in childhood, people seemed to do so very much in Saudi Arabia or UAE (84%) and quite less in Greece (72%) and in Bulgaria (55%). Most people in Saudi Arabia or UAE show the same preference in brands that their parents used to choose (70%) while in Greece and Bulgaria this is not the case (31% and 31.2% respectively). As far as the preference of buying products made in their own country is concerned 47% do so in Saudi Arabia or UAE while the relative proportions recorded in Greece and Bulgaria are 56.0% and 62.5% respectively. In Europe mother cooks all home dishes, while 82.0% in Saudi Arabia or UAE cook the home dishes. In Greece, as well as in Saudi Arabia or UAE, people may buy a product which was never used before by his family; while in Bulgaria 28.8% of the participants denote that they would not do so. In Europe people seem to think that it is less important for them if their friends will approve what they buy (85% of them in Greece and 75% of them in Bulgaria answered negatively) than people in Saudi Arabia or UAE (69% of them answered positively). In Greece, as well as in Bulgaria, the sales personnel friendliness is not an evaluating criteria to purchase a product, at least not that much as in Saudi Arabia or UAE (63% and 52.5% in the first two countries and 81% in the latter one). For 25% of the people in Saudi Arabia or UAE the suitability to their religion and culture is the most important factor on the goods and services they will take, while this percentage is much less in Europe or in the foreigners of these countries. In Greece on the other hand, people seem to keep their wardrobe up to date with the changing fashions much more (62%) than in Bulgaria (7.5%) or in Saudi Arabia or UAE (31% for the natives and 29.5% for the foreigners). In Greece and for the natives in Saudi Arabia or UAE the fashionable styling is important (75% and 67% respectively) compared to Bulgaria (60%) and to the foreigners of Saudi Arabia or UAE (45.5%). Moreover, the very good quality in what they buy is important to all participants regardless of their country of origin. Shopping is a pleasant activity to people Copyright 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 1122

4 from Bulgaria and from Saudi Arabia or UAE to a greater extent than that for people from Greece (81.2% and 81% for the first two cases and 74% for the latter one). In addition to that, foreigners that live to Saudi Arabia or UAE prefer buying the best-selling brands (61.4%) to a slightly greater extent than natives of the same countries (53%) and to a significantly greater extent than in Greece (48%) and in Bulgaria (30%). People that live in Saudi Arabia or UAE but come from other countries tend to go to the same stores each time to shop (79.5%) a lot more than natives of the same countries (41%) do and more than in Greece (51%) and Bulgaria (26.2%). Moreover, the lower the price is usually the participant s choice in Bulgaria (76.2%) to in a greater extent than in Greece (39%), or in Saudi Arabia or UAE (34.1% for the foreigners and only 16% for the natives). Finally, people prefer to do their shopping trips fast in Greece (73%) but not in the other countries (33.8% in Bulgaria, 38.6% for the foreigners in Saudi Arabia or UAE and 19% for the natives in the same countries) while the ones that live in Saudi Arabia or UAE prefer to ask the opinion of their parents more often. The results showed that there is statistically important differences in several cases (p<0.05). With respect to age, people of a younger age seem to pay less attention to religion and to have less strong relationship with their parents, while they do seem to care more about fashion and consumption in general. DISCUSSION The data indicate that interesting differences and similarities exist among different nationalities and religions. In Saudi Arabia or UAE people seem to do their shopping following what their religion dictates while in Europe this is not the case. Similarly, people in Saudi Arabia or UAE would not marry a person of another religion while people in Bulgaria do not seem to have such a problem. Regarding consumers loyalty most people in Saudi Arabia or UAE show the same preference to brands that their parents used to choose while in Greece and Bulgaria this is not the case. In fact people in Greece and Bulgaria seem to prefer buying products which are made in their own country while this tendency in Saudi Arabia or UAE, is smaller. In Europe, people seem to think that is less important for them if their friends will approve what they buy, and the sales personnel s friendliness is not an evaluating criteria to purchase a product. Hirschman was one of the earlier consumer behavior researches to inevestigate the relationship between a consumer s religious affiliation and a number of consumption related variables. In the first study, Hirschman (1981) found Jews to be more innovative than non- Jews and to be potentially less store and brand loyal. In the second study, Hirschman (1982) demonstrated the presence of distinct differences between Catholic, Jewish and Protestant consumers, in their self-perceptions regarding inherent novelty seeking and information transfer. Finally, Hirschaman (1983) concluded that few other variables exhibited the range and depth of explanatory power effected by religious affiliation. Bailey and Sood (1993), examined the effects of religious affiliation on consumer behavior of six religious groups in Washington DC: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Catholic and Protestant. They found that Muslim consumes were relatively more impetuous shoppers but less likely to be informed or risky shoppers. Hindus were found to be in rational shopper Copyright 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 1123

5 group while Catholics were less likely to be informed shoppers. Buddhists are the only minority religious members in the sample to report consumer behavior similar to the societal norms. Essoo and Dibb (2004) conducted a similar study in Mauritius with a national sample of respondents from three different religions: Hinduism, Islam and Catholicism. The results confirmed that there were marked differences between Hindus and Muslims for all seven types of shopper: the demanding, practical, trendy, traditional, economic, thoughtful and innovative shopper. Vassilikopoulou et al, 2006 examined micro-cultural differences in the consumer s perceptions, attitudes and purchasing behavior of electronic and home appliances in Greece. They found that micro-culture develops different patterns of behavior for Christian and Muslim consumers, based on their religious preferences and social class. Differences were also found between Christian and Muslim consumers in their perceptions of the ideal store, as well as in their buying selection criteria. Culture has many elements and one of the most important of them is religion. Why and how a person purchases is related to have to his/her religion. This variable is regarded as the power directing a person throughout his or her life (Lotfizadeh, 2013). Religious prohibitions have no significant influence on Greek consumers while the fashionable styling is important in Greece. Furthermore, Greeks began to seek and prefer local over imported goods (Boutsouki et al, 2008, Koutroulou and Tsourgiannis, 2011, Lazaridis, 2003, Michalopoulos and Demoussis, 2001, Papafoticas et al, 2014, Skuras and Dimara 2005). Although from our data Bulgarians before an important purchase they do not tend to ask the opinion of their parents, the marital decision role is very important (Kancheva and Marinov 2014). In Bulgaria the majority declared themselves as Christians, but about six percent classified themselves as Muslims. Religious background plays a role in food consumption like the consumption of alcoholic beverages (Florkowski et al, 2006). Muslim countries vary greatly in the degree to which they follow the Islamic teaching. Some are stricter than others. However, there is no Muslim society, at present, which can be called an Islamic economy. However, a growing number of Muslim countries are expressing the desire, and in some cases (Saudi Arabia) taking serious actions to turn to Islamic laws and teachings (Shariah) in modeling the way of life including their economic behavior (Metwally, 1997, Zaman, 2009). Although there is an acknowledgment of inter-differences, such as those among Muslims living in different countries or Muslim with different social class positions, religion continues to be seen as the homogenizing force across the Muslim population (Sandiksi and Ger 2010, Sandiksi, 2012). Few researches have considered the impact of Islam on consumer behavior in Saudi Arabia and UAE. A survey collected data from Dubai demonstcated that Muslim consumers expressed a strong interest in their physical appearance, concern for achievement and more view of achievement than Christians do (Cherrier et al, 2009). It is suggested that religions microcultures should be viewed as constituting distinct consumer segments, which may warrant different marketing efforts. Additional attempts should be made to provide more consistent evidence for different religions establishing an in depth understanding of the variation in consumer behavior according to different religions and cultures. Copyright 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 1124

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8 Table 1: The religion and nationality of the sample group 1 st group 2 nd group 3 rd group Greece Bulgaria UAE -Saudi Arabia Nationality Greek Bulgarian Emirati (70) Saudi (30) Christian Muslim Male Female Table 2: Foreigners living in UAE and Saudi Arabia Nationality Greek Bulgarian British Lebanese Syrian Christian Muslim Male Female Table 3: Sample categorized by age Sample group Total Greece Bulgaria UAE-Saudi Arabia Foreigners in UAE- Saudi Arabia Age % 2.5% 17.0% 13.6% 9.0% % 11.2% 29.0% 36.4% 31.5% % 22.5% 18.0% 34.1% 22.2% % 7.5% 24.0% 6.8% 14.5% % 33.8% 6.0% 9.1% 13.3% 56 and 7.0% 22.5% 6.0% 9.6% over Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Table 4: Sample categorized by education Sample group Total Greece Bulgaria UAE- Foreigners Saudi in UAE- Arabia Saudi Arabia Educational Uneducated 1.0% 3.8% 1.2% Background High school 7.0% 68.8% 4.0% 13.6% 22.2% graduate Bachelor 34.0% 23.8% 52.0% 56.8% 40.1% holder MSc holder 48.0% 3.8% 36.0% 13.6% 28.7% MBA holder 3.0% 13.6% 2.8% PhD holder 7.0% 8.0% 2.3% 4.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Copyright 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 1127

9 Table 5 : Questionnaire and One-way Anova test with respect to age Sum of df Mean F Sig. Squares Square Do you generally like shopping Are there any products in your country which are forbidden from your religion Do you attend class about religion in school Are you attending religion classes out of school Are you praying to God when you are facing an issue Are you hanging around with people who believe in another religion Does your religion instructs you about what is good and what is bad Are you doing your shopping following what your religion advise Do you experience religious holidays in your country Would you ever marry a person from another religion than yours Are there specific clothing permitted from your religion While your childhood did you go all the family together for shopping While as an adult do you show the same preference in brands that your parents used to choose Do you prefer buying products which are made in your country Is your mother cooking the home dishes Did you ever buy a product which was never used before from your family Is it important for you if your friends will approve what you buy Is the sales personnel friendliness an evaluating criteria to purchase a product Is the suitability to your religion and culture the most important factor on the goods and services you will take Do you keep your wardrobe up to date with the changing fashions Is the fashionable styling important to you Is the very good quality in what you buy important to you Is shopping a pleasant activity to you Do you prefer buying the best - selling brands You go to the same stores each time to shop The lower the price is usually your choice You prefer to do your shopping trips fast Do you prefer to dine along with your family Before an important purchase do you ask the opinion of your parents Copyright 2012 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 1128