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Do Religions Influence Customer Behavior? Confronting religious rules and

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Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003)

www.escdijon.com

Do Religions Influence Customer Behavior?

Confronting religious rules and marketing concepts
Djamchid Assadi a
a
CEREN – Département Marketing Vente – Groupe ESC Dijon Bourgogne – BP 50 608 – 21006 Dijon cedex
papier reçu le 1er décembre 2003, accepté le 15 décembre 2003

Abstract
Countless factors, personality to culture, have been considered to explain the consumer behavior. Surprisingly,
the religion which affects the social and cultural environments in which customers reside and conduct their
individual behaviors and manners, is very often ignored. Indeed, almost all religions around the globe have sets
of laws that affect everyday purchases and habits. Even if the degree to which individual members adhere to the
religious conventions varies, the fact is that the preferences and tastes are considerably shaped by the value-
giving rules and customs of their surrounding religion.
This paper tends to achieve a preliminary theoretical study of the relationships between the monotheist religions,
Judaism, Islam and Christianity, and the correlative consumer behavior.
Key words: Religion, consumer behavior, types of needs, consumer, culture, Islam, Judaism, Christianity

be considered as a “rebirth” of the pre-modern

beliefs where the religious dogmas and principles
Introduction constituted the dominant social episteme and ethos.
The renewed interest in religion of all kinds should
Is religion defunct in our materialistic and interest-
rather be seen as a transformation of the religion in
driven societies? The sociologist Harvey Cox
the (post)modern era where rationalization,
(1966) was one of the first Cassandra who argued
meaning the adoption of norms and values
that religion had become irrelevant in succession of
emphasizing effectiveness, efficiency, and cost-
secularization and urbanization. Today, however, benefit equations, is dominant. The (post) modern
religion is very much alive, not only in the “hot spiritualities rather give place to the new ways of
spots” on the globe, where nations or groups take
practicing and interpreting religion (Bellah, 1964),
arms, but also in the pacific societies where
such as personal search for meaning and
religious groups take stands and influence public
interpretation of sacred symbols. That is probably
opinion on a wide range of social issues including
why the number of independent denominations has
abortion, aid to parochial schools, death penalty, risen considerably in the United States.
and the like.
The durability of religion in our modern society is
undeniable. Still, this “reenchantment” should not

2
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13
Table 1 : Christian Dominations (%)
Roman Catholics
Orthodox
Protestants (+ Pentecostals)
Anglicans
Independents (+ Pentecostals)
Others
Source: Sarah Slobin/NYT in International Herlad tribune, October 15, 2003
The religion revival, either as a spiritual guideline,
a cultural framework, or both, has also impacts on
behaviors and values of all kinds. Of course,
fundamentalists of different convictions, who
should not be confused with fanatics, adopt many
similar behaviors in terms of schools, special clubs,
magazines, books, stores, marriage services and
share equally analogous attitudes and values
concerning abortion, pornography, teenage
pregnancy, premarital sex, cohabitation, close
family ties, and divorce. Still, they are not the only
ones who comply their behaviors to the religious
beliefs and rules. Religious requirements or
practices often take on an extended meaning
beyond observant believers. For instance, dietary
laws represent an obligation for observant families,
and at the same time, a sort of habit or preference
for non observant members of the community. The
Kosher certification secured by Dannone yogurt
resulted in a 25% increase in the brand’s Jewish
household penetration in the United States, as well
as $ 2 millions in annual report (Schiffman,
Kanuck, 2000, p 351).
The objective of this paper is to explore the impacts
which religions' ru les might have, in theory, on the
purchasing and consuming behavior of pro-
religious individuals or those who live in the
respective cultural environments. Religions around
the globe are believed to have sets of laws and rules
that affect ritualistically and symbolically consumer
behavior: from eating and sleeping to working and
playing, by passing by everyday purchases and
habits. Religion, here, refers to, not only a belief
biding the spiritual nature of man to a supernatural
being, but mainly a system of faith and worship.
This system is supposed to influence believers'
conducts as a sign of reverence or faith and those of
agnostics and atheists, as a pillar of cultural
environment. We consider in this study the
monotheist Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions
3
1990 2000
50.8 50.2
22.1 10.2
19.6 16.2
5.8 3.8
1.5 18.3
0.2 1.2
Review of literature.
Even though, social beings’ behaviors and attitudes
are directly influenced by at least religion-rooted
cultural aspects of their living environments,
religion’s impacts on customer behavior have been
only very modestly studied in the specialized
marketing literature. Studies focus mainly on the
impacts of religiosity on behaviors or the
application of the marketing concepts to the
religious institutions such as church membership.
The impact of religion as a cultural factor on
conducts of (atheist, agnostic, and believer)
customers has grabbed less attention.
A first search for the keywords, religion and
consumer behavior in the EBSCO Research
Databases (22/10/2003) which contains many
marketing-related journals and archives, such as
Journal of Marketing from 1936, European Journal
of Marketing from 1971, and Journal of Consumer
Marketing from 1983, ended with four (peer
reviewed) articles: Rodero and Branas (2000),
Delener (1990), Wilkes, Burnett and Howell (1986)
and Hempel and McEwen (1975).
Rodero and Branas (2000) study how religious
institutions compete in a celestial market to offer
insurance to protect individuals against uncertainty
of life after death (hope of reaching heavens", "life
contentment" or "expected afterlife consumption).
With such a contract, individuals are believed to
gain utility when practicing religion. Delener
(1990) explores the effects of religion and
religiosity on perceived risk in purchasing
decisions. According to the author, Catholics are
more likely to be sensitive to any potentially
negative consequences of their purchase decisions.
Wilkes, Burnett and Howell (1986) put emphasis on
the definition of religion and the relationship
between church attendance and religiosity, in order
to examine the relevance of religiosity on consumer
research and the role of religion in consumer
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13
choice. Hempel and McEwen (1975) don' t study the
impacts of religion on marketing behaviour, but
rather extent the marketing concepts to the
nonbusiness institutions of religion and church-
member interactions, in order to provide useful
bases for segmenting the religious markets.
A similar research with the keywords, religious,
instead of, religion, consumer behavior and
marketing provide with four articles, Delener
(1990), founded in the previous search, Jung
(2003), Andeleeb, Syed Saad (1993) and McDaniel
and Burnett (1990). Jung (2003) explores the
statistical data relative to the spending of time in
postcommunist Poland. According to him, The
Polish spend 6.4% of the leisure time in personal
hobbies and civic and religious activities. Andeleeb
(1993) investigates how patients rank religious
affiliation in importance when choosing among
hospitals. The results of his study seem to show that
the importance of same religious affiliation is
ranked lower than factors such as quality of
doctors, their experience and cleanliness. Yet, a
greater proportion of the patients with the same
religious background are more likely to recall,
prefer and choose hospitals of their affiliations.
McDaniel and Burnett (1990) investigate the
influence of consumer religiosity on the evolution
of retail department store attributes such as
religious affiliation and store patronage.
Many other researchers have tried to apply
marketing concepts to religious bahviors and
denominational affiliations. Delener (1994)
Table 2: Pages Devoted to Religion in Consumer Behavior Textbooks
Index searching
Berkman, Lindquist, • Religion, influence of socialization, • Cultural and cross-cultural • 426-27, 476-77
Sirgy subcultures, marketing
marketplace behavior
Peter, Olson, Grunert • Religion
Schiffman, Kanuk • Religion, religious
religious institutions,
subcultures
Solomon, Bamossy, • and commitment
Askegaard (1999)
• and consumption
• and cultural change process
• Religion desacralized
• and food
• and group influence
• and holidays
Zaltman, Wallendrof • Religion affiliation
4
investigates the influence of the religious construct
on consumer decision making and particularly the
relationships between religiosity and marital roles
in the process of automobile purchase in the North-
East region of the United States. Tournois and
Mouillot (2002) consider religion as a tangible
variable susceptible to modifying the conviction in
a negotiation process. Weber (1999) discusses, in a
non peer-reviewed article, the impacts of the
Internet on religion and the role of religion on the
World Wide Web. He argues that spiritual sites are
being compelled to figure out how to balance their
ideals with the desire for profit.
The researcher is not better off with the textbooks
of consumer behavior. The impact of religion on
the customer behavior is dramatically absent in the
textbooks in which students are expected to
discover the true field of inquiry of a new
discipline. Many textbooks, in spite of their
pedagogical interests, don' t contain chapters,
sections, paragraphs or keywords relatives to the
impacts of the religion on the consumer behavior:
Kassarjian and Robertson (1968), Ladwein (1999),
Lambkin, Foxall, Raaij, Heilbrunn (1988), Mowen
(1995), Walters and Paul (1970), Sternthal and
Craig (1982).Some others contain a few words,
sentences or paragraphs in this matter. The
following table gives a report on the state of
literature relative to interactions between religion
and consumer behavior.
Parent chapter Devoted pages
to, influences, Subcultural influences
• Subculture and social class • 272, 293
holidays, • Subcultures and consumer • 350-352
religious behavior
• Group influence • 277
• Lifestyle • 422-3
• 439, 457, 458,
464, 465
• 394-5
• Cultural Influence
• 381
• Cultural influence
• 284
• Group influence
• Demographic characteristics • 60
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13

explore religions rules and instructions that might

In this paper, we explore the possibility of drawing
a framework for identifying the impacts that
religions might have on consumer behavior.
Methodology
If marketing is the science of studying and
satisfying customers’ needs and wants, then
studying religions which carry rules and
instructions relative to permitted and preferred
ways of satisfying one’s needs and wants, seems to
be extremely important. To explore this
relationship, we opt for a theoretical approach and
have direct impacts on conducts and behaviors of
customers.
Even though there are thousands of different
religions being practiced around the world, over
three-quarters of the world population belong to
one of six major religions: Buddhism, Christianity,
Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.
Among these, our focus will be on Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. All three monotheist
religions and inherited from Abraham.

Table 3: Explicit adherent of all religions (000)

Religions Adherents % Lion share

in world
Agonistics 762 640 12,75 Asia, Europe
Atheists 149 723 2,50 Asia, Europe
Animists 225 421 3,77 Asia, Africa
Baha'is 6 932 0,12 Asia, Africa
Buddhists 356 270 5,96 Asia, N. America
Chinese folks religionists 381 632 6,38 Asia
Christians 1 974 181 33,02 Europe, L. America
Confucians 6 253 0,10 Asia
Hindus 799 028 13,37 Asia
Jains
4 151 0,07 Asia
Jews 14 313 0,24 N. America, Asia
Mandeans 38 0,00 Asia
Muslims 1 155 109 19,32 Asia, Africa
Shintoists 2 778 0,05 Asia
Sikhs 22 837 0,38 Asia
Spiritists 12 184 0,20 L. America
Zoroastrians 2 486 0,04 Asia
New religions (after 1800 and mainly after 1945) 101 406 1,70 Asia
Other religions 1 019 0,02 N. America, Europe
World 5 978 401 100,00

Source: Quid 2002, Robert Lafont,

Judaism. Small by comparison to other world
religions, Judaism still occupies a central place
among world religions, because it served as the
basis for two following monotheistic religions,
Christianity and Islam. Jews comprise about 0.2%
of the human race. There are currently about 18
million throughout the world, and mainly
concentrated in North America (about 7 million)
and Israel (about 4.5 million).
Judaism is a monotheistic religion that believes
there is one God who is omnipresent, omnipotent
and omniscient. Man is created in God' s image, so
all people are equal in His eye. Furthermore men
are similar to Him in the fact that they are
intellectual and are responsible for their own
actions. Jewish law regulates how Jews must
worship, treat other people, and conduct their daily
habits, including purchases and behavior. Jews

5
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13
believe in two primary sources of information to
guide their habits and faith: The Torah and the
Talmud.
The holiest book in Judaism is called the Torah
which mean Teaching (often referred to as the Old
Testament by non-Jews). It consists of 24 Books
divided into three sections: (Chumashe Torah),
Prophets (Nevi' im) and Writings (Ketuvim). The
Torah holds in total 613 Mitzvah (any of
commandments or precepts in the Bible and
additional ones of rabbinic origin that relate chiefly
to the religious and moral conduct of Jews), which
encompass all aspects of life, from birth until death
and teaches people of Jewish faith how to act think
and feel about life, wage war, manage property,
deal with paganism, accomplish repentance and a
slew of other categories.
The Ten Commandments, found in the books of
Exodus and Deuteronomy (first section) are
essentially a brief summary of Jewish law and help
outline decisions and choices for families and
consumers alike.
1. I am the Lord, your God
2. You shall not recognize the gods of others in My
presence
3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your
God in vain
4. Remember the day of Shabbat to keep it holy
5. Honor your father and your mother
6. You shall not murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. Do not give false testimony against your
neighbor
10. You shall not covet your fellow' s possessions
The Talmud, the other source of information to
guide habits and faith, contains stories, laws,
medical knowledge, and debates about moral
choices, etc.
Schools of Judaism. There are various schools in
Judaism. Conservative, Orthodox, Reform,
Conservative and Humanistic Judaism are the most
common forms. Orthodox Judaism is the oldest
and the most conservative form of Judaism.
Orthodox Jews, because of the degree to which they
follow the word of the Jewish law, tend to have the
most restrictive lifestyles and, thus, the most
restrictive consumer habits. Reform Judaism is
liberal and followed mainly by many North
American who respect the ethical laws of Judaism,
but leave up to the individual the decision whether
to follow or ignore the dietary and other traditional
laws. Conservative Judaism is a mainstream
6
movement midway between Reform and Orthodox.
Humanistic Judaism is a very small group, mainly
composed of atheists and agnostics, who regard
mankind as the measure of all things.
Reconstructionist Judaism, also a new, small,
liberal movement, started as an attempt to unify and
revitalize the religion. They reject the concept that
Jews are a uniquely favored and chosen people.
Christianity. A total of about 2 billion people,
about one-third of the world’s population, are
Christian, most of them live in Europe and the
Americas. This religion is based on the teachings
and personal life of Jesus Christ, and that of his
father, God the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect
Creator who governs the universe today. The Ten
Commandments of the Old Testament are
confirmed in the New Testament by Jesus Christ.
Table 4: World and Christian Populations (in
billions)
1900 2000
World 1.6 6.1
Population
Christians 0.6 2.0
Source: Center for the Study of Global
Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary in International Herlad Ttribune,
October 15, 2003
Schools in Christianity. Christianity is divided in
the eleventh century between the Roman Catholic
Church in Rome and the Eastern Orthodox Church
of Turkey. Roman Catholic Church, the largest
Christian body, composed of those Christians who
acknowledge the supreme authority of the bishop of
Rome, the pope, in matters of faith. The word
catholic means "universal" and has been used to
designate the church since its earliest period, when
it was the only Christian church. The Roman
Catholic Church regards itself as the only legitimate
inheritor, by an unbroken Episcopal succession
descending from Saint Peter to the present time, of
the commission and powers conferred by Jesus
Christ on the 12 apostles. The Roman Catholic
Church accepts the Bible as the basis for its
teaching. Later, the reformation caused a second
major division in the Catholic church and gave birth
to the Protestantism.
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13

Table 5: Christians as a percentage of the identified, ranking from lower-level biogenic to

population higher-level psychogenic needs: physiological,
safety, love and social, self-esteem, and self-
500 1000 1900 1950 2000 actualization needs. Maslow later modified his
pyramid by adding the needs to know and
Africa 9.2 % 45.4
% understand plus aesthetic needs to the hierarchy
(Maslow, 1970). In the first presentation,
Asia 2.3 % 8.5 % physiological and safety needs can be considered as
Europe 94.5 76.9 personal. Once the individual can maintain
% % reasonably a satisfactory level of providing for
those needs, he or she turns to satisfy the upper-
Latin 95.2 92.7 level social needs. Maslow’s theory serves as a
America % %
guideline in this paper. Still we are not unaware of
North 96.6 83.0 the shortcomings of Maslow’s:
America % %
Consumers may seek to meet lower-level and
Oceania 77.5 82.3 higher-level needs at the same time (Zikmund,
% % d’Amico, 1996);
World 22.4 18.7 34.5 34.1 33.0 The hierarchy cannot be universal for all
% % cultures. Anglo-Saxon culture values self-
actualization and individuality above all else, while
Source: International Herlad Tribune, in Japan and German-speaking countries, people
October 15, 2003 and Quid 2002 are most highly motivated by a need for personal
security and conformity, and finally in France,
Islam. Islam was born in the 7th century A.D. and Spain, Portugal and other Latin and Asian
is the third monotheist religion revealed by God to countries, people are most motivated by the need
people through His messengers. Islam is now the for security and belonging (Kotler, Armestrong,
world' s second largest religion after Christianity: Saunders, Wong, 1999);
1.22 billion in the year 2000, representing about 20-
22 percent of the world' s population. It is predicted Very little research has been performed, and in
that by the mid 21st century, there will be as many some cases, research that has been performed has
Muslims as Christians. not been supportive of the theory (Mowen, 1995);

Islam has a two-fold meaning in Arabic: peace, and
submission to God. This submission requires a fully
conscious and willing effort to submit to God. The
sacred book, the Koran, prescribes a way of life
which each Muslim must follow. Other injunctions
and commandments concern virtually all facets of
one' s personal, family and civic life. These in
clude
such matters as diet, clothing, personal hygiene,
interpersonal relations, business ethics,
responsibilities towards parents, spouse and
children, marriage, divorce and inheritance, civil
and criminal law, fighting in defense of Islam,
relations with non-Muslims, and much more. The
Muslim creed has five core elements: the
declaration of faith in Allah and Muhammad, the
prayer, fasting during the month of Ramadan, alms-
tax, and the pilgrimage to Makkah.
Pyramid of needs. To explore the impacts of the
above religions' rules upon needs, we adopt the
very classic pyramid of needs, conceived by
Abraham Maslow. He believed that even though
each individual is unique, all humans have certain
common needs. He ordered these needs in a
hierarchy, from the most basic and pressing to the
highest-level and the least pressing needs. The
higher one moves in the hierarchy, the more needs
are abstract and different to satisfy. In this
hierarchy, five basic levels of human needs are
It cannot be tested empirically. There is no way
to measure precisely how satisfied one need must
be before the next higher need becomes operative
(Schiffman, Kanuk, 2000).
Despite these criticisms, Maslow’s hierarchy seems
to provide a useful tool catalogue of different needs
for this study, because it represents the universality
and comprehensiveness of almost all the human
needs. Relying on their theory, we might be able to
explore the impacts of religion on different levels of
customer’s needs and on the consumer behavior in
general.
Results
The Confrontation of the monotheist religions’
rules and codes with the different levels of human
needs show that the former have the most
behavioral instructions for the latter.
Impacts of the monotheist religions on the
physiological needs.
Physiological needs including food, water, air,
shelter, clothing and sex, are required to sustain
biological life. Individuals buy houses, food, and
clothing to satisfy these needs. The monotheist
religious impacts on this category of needs is the
most evident.

7
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13
Permitted and prohibited Food and Diet. Some of
Judaism' s most extensive details and restrictive
regulations exist in the realm of food and diet. One
clear rule concerns the Kosher food is divided into
3 main categories: Meat, Diary, and Pareve (which
includes fish, food grown from the earth and made
from non animal food products).
Among many Jewish People, Kosher products are
highly regarded and enforced. For an animal to be
considered Kosher, it must first, in the case of meat,
chew it' s own cud (meaning a ruminant) and have
split hooves. It must meet both requirements.
Therefore, deer, antelope, goats, sheep and bovines
are considered kosher, while rabbits, pork and other
animals are not. In the case of fish, must have
scales and fins, also, all shellfish are prohibited.
Birds must not be birds of prey in order to be
kosher. Kosher products also refer to the way in
which the animal is slaughtered as the way it is
prepared. According to the Torah, man is given
dominion over animals, and he has the right to use
animals for legitimate needs. In fact, animal flesh
can be consumed for food, animal skins can be used
for clothing, and it is dictated that the Torah itself
should be written on parchment (animal hides).
Still, Judaism stresses the proper treatment of
animals. Unnecessary cruelty is forbidden, and in
many cases, animals are given the same treatment
as human beings. Many Jews interpret this to mean
that they can use animals only when there is a real,
need and they must do so in the manner that causes
the animal the least suffering. Kosher slaughtering,
therefore, is designed to be as fast and painless as
possible, and if anything occurs that might cause
pain - like a nick in the knife -- the flesh may not be
consumed. (www.jewfaq.org/animals.html ).
Meat and dairy must not mix, and must be prepared
and eaten in different containers. For traditional
Jews, the prohibition from benefiting from a
mixture of milk and meat is interpreted strictly, so it
is forbidden to even buy a cheeseburger. Meat
products are not permitted to come into contact
with milk products in any way. This includes the
food itself and the utensils used to cook and serve
food. There is also a waiting period between eating
meat and milk. No waiting period is required after
eating a food containing milk, but the person should
rinse his mouth. Jews following Kosher rules,
therefore, typically have "two sets" of utensils and
plates: one for meat, and one for milk. Dishes are
stored separately, and typically are labelled to
clearly differentiate them. If food is cooked in the
wrong pot, it is not kosher.
There are some exceptions:
1. Glassware. Glass is considered non-absorbent, so
it can be used with both types of food, as long as it
is cleaned.
8
2. Sinks. Stainless steel sinks are preferred.
Porcelain sinks are porous, and are difficult to make
kosher. A double sink enables one-half to be used
for milk and one-half for meat.
3. Ovens and ranges. Separate ovens and ranges for
meat and milk are not required, but if the same
oven is used for both, spills and splatters should be
avoided. Both types of food should not be cooked
in the same oven at the same time. Often Kosher
Jews specify meat and milk burners, and cover the
unused side with aluminium foil. Many people
avoid this problem by having separate ovens.
4. Dishwashers. A dishwasher can be used for both
meat and milk dishes, but not
at the same time. Dishes should be well rinsed
before being put in the dishwasher. Between the
two types of loads, a rinse cycle should be used. It
is also preferable to have separate racks for meat
and milk. Many people use the dishwasher for
either milk or meat, and wash the other by hand.
5. Towels. Towels that are freshly clean can be
used either with meat or milk. Once they are used
for one, they must be washed before use with the
other. Many people have two sets of towels to avoid
confusion.
It is very remarkable that in Catholicism there are
not many restrictions for the food. So, various food
products can be marketed, with no specific
restrictions or prohibitions, except when called
upon by the Bible when observing Lent or other
festivities. The only restriction is that during the 40
days in which Lent is celebrated, eating white or
red eat is prohibited on Ash Wednesday, Good
Friday and every Friday in which Lent is observed.
For restaurants and other businesses, such as
markets or convenience stores, one can expect a
sharp decrease in the sale of beef and red meat,
which can be easily compensated by the increase in
fish, seafood and chicken sales that substitute beef
during that period.
Christians were to follow what God prohibited to
the Jews, because the Gospel declared that the
Messiah did not come to contradict the laws but to
supplement them. Nevertheless, they did not
transgress the law, as they followed their apostle
Saint Paul who said that all foods were allowed
except those intended for idols. Saint Paul gave the
following explanation: Nothing that goes into the
mouth soils it; it is what leaves the mouth that soils
it. Christians allowed the pig meat even if it is
prohibited in the Torah. Fish, shrimps, any "game
from the sea" as well as the exploitation of the
skins, the bones and the hairs of the dead animal are
authorized. Each time a sacrament take place,
families and friends gather to eat, but there is not a
specific kind of food for each sacrament. Foods
vary according to the country.
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13
Koran quote many aspects of what God prohibited
to the Jews: "We prohibited any animal with nails
with those which practice Judaism. We prohibited
to them the grease of the bovines and the sheep,
except for that of their backs, their entrails and what
is mixed with the bones. We thus punished them for
their rebellion. We are veracious!" (Surate: Herds,
146). Other restrictions are all that provokes
numbness or causes an evil to body.
Muslims follow certain standards such as halal
(permissible) which referred to the slaughter of
animals. God addressed this message to the faithful:
"0 you who believe! Eat these good things that We
granted to you; thank God, if it is Him whom you
adore. God only prohibited you the dead animal,
blood, the pig meat and any animal on which one
will have called upon another name that that of
God. No sin will be charged to whom that would be
constrained to eat it without for that being
rebellious, nor transgressor. God is that which
forgives, He is forgiving/ merciful" (Surate: The
Cow, 172-173). God goes into more details
regarding these prohibitions: "Here what is
prohibited to you: the dead animal, the blood, the
pig meat; what was immolated to another that God;
the animal choked or dead following a blow, or
dead from a fall, or dead from a blow of horn, or
that which a deer has devoured - except if you had
time to cut Its throat - or that which was immolated
on stones" (Surate: The Set Table, 3). The market
of permitted food (Hallal) is considerable even in a
Christian country, like France. The 4.5 millions
Muslims in France, 7.5% of the total population,
consume 300 000 tons of meat products every year
through 3000 independent butcheries and chain
supermarkets for a total sale of 3 billions euros
(Bouaziz, 2003).
All the quoted prohibitions are applicable if there is
a choice. Nevertheless, as it is quoted in the Qu' ran:
"He indicated to you what was prohibited unless
you are constrained to resort to it" (Sourate: Herds,
119). It is understood here, that someone can be
forced to eat forbidden food, if he/she suffers from
hunger, and is in the need for food. The theologians
fixed the limits of this hunger at "one day and a
night", and if the man only finds illicit food, he can
just eat from them what is necessary to avoid his
loss until he finds another food".
Clothing. Orthodox Jews prefer to wear concealing
clothing when observing the Sabbath (Friday
evening and Saturday), with black, white and
opaque colors preferred, long pants and/or skirts are
also preferred. For women Orthodox Jews, long
sleeved blouses, as well as long skirts; and for
Orthodox men, white shirts, black pants and black
hats are highly sought after. Black clothes are often
worn because black is considered the color of
severity, and is symbolically appropriate for
important religious events (praying, holidays, etc.):
9
Gartels are required by the code of Jewish law.
They provide a separation between the top half of
the body and the bottom while praying. Those who
choose not to wear a gartel hold that other clothes
(like the regular waistband of their pants, or a belt)
satisfy the rule.
A hat, a double head covering (and more complete
head covering than a kippot), is required during
praying. Some Jews choose to wear a head covering
while eating, others choose to wear one all of the
time. The style of hat varies by localized group.
Women are also instructed not to show their hair.
Years ago Catholics used to have more restriction
in regards of clothing especially for women, but
now the only restriction is that women shouldn' t
wear very provocative clothes. But, this view is
maintained by very conservative individuals and it
is not widespread or enforced.
For women in Islam, the port of the "Hidjab" is a
divine regulation. It is necessary for the woman to
cover her hair in the presence of foreigners, as well
as the other parts of the body, except the face and
the hands. Another Arab word was employed in a
verse and which was translated by "large veils" is
"Djalabib".
Impacts of the monotheist religion on the
safety needs.
Safety and security needs, both the actual need for
physical safety and the need to feel secure from
threatening events or surroundings, refer to relieves
such as order, stability, routine, familiarity, and
control over one’s life and environment. Health and
availability of health care are important safety
concerns. Saving accounts, insurance policies,
education, and vocational training are all means by
which individuals satisfy the need for security.
Medical care. Even if religion is now highly
involved in western style healing, it still affects the
manner in which health care is provided by
preaching moderation and abstinence for prevention
and good health.
The human body is viewed as Gods Temple, so it
must be taken care of, which is why, as in Judaism,
great care is placed on preserving it, so nutritional
products and exercise equipment are also very good
options. Lastly, with respect to purity, when
treating patients of the opposite sex the health care
provider should avoid touching unless medically
necessary. Still, Judaism places human life above
all else. Thus, in any life-threatening situation,
whatever needs to be done to save a life is fine,
even if that means violating Jewish law.
(www.scjfaq.org/faq/19-15.html)
Catholics don' t have any restriction or special
tradition regarding to medical care, the only very
important thing is that alcohol, illegal drugs and
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13
tobacco which are considered to be harmful for
health. Consuming any of these drugs in excess is
considered as a sin for the Catholic religion
In Islam, the dietary requirements also apply to
medical injections and tests when admitting,
screening, or treating patients (especially
concerning materials that contain gelatin extracted
from animal sources). In addition, alcohol free
medications are preferred. The theologians are not
unanimous as for the need to take drugs. It is
considered to be allowed if there is a real health
danger if the patient does not take these drugs, and
if these drugs cannot be replaced by any other legal
product.
Impacts of the monotheist religion on the
social needs.
These needs derive from the fact that people seek
warm and satisfying human relationships with other
people and particularly with their families. Social
needs include mainly love, affection, belonging,
and acceptance. Almost all personal care products
(cosmetics, mouthwash, shaving cream) are bought
to satisfy social needs. Religious holidays and
special rituals are also moments of social gatherings
and reply to the social needs. How do they
influence the behaviors?
Religious Traditions and Holidays. For the Jews,
there are two holidays known as the "High
Holidays," the most important holidays of the
Jewish year: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish
New Year. No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah
and much of the day is spent in synagogue. One
popular observance during Rosh Hashanah is eating
apples dipped in honey. This symbolizes a wish for
"a sweet new year." Some people dip bread in
honey for the same reason. Another popular
practice of Rosh Hashanah is Tashlikh ("casting
off' ). Jews walk to flowing water, such as a river,
and empty their pockets into the river, symbolically
casting off sins. This practice is not discussed in the
Torah, but is a long-standing Jewish custom.
Yom Kippur is considered to be the most important
Jewish holiday. It is a "Day of Atonement" where
believers demonstrate repentance. Yom Kippur is a
complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on
that day. It is a complete (food and water) fast,
which lasts for 25 hours. The Talmud also restricts
washing and bathing, using cosmetics, deodorants,
etc., wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews
routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress
clottles), and engaging in sexual relations on Yom
Kippur. Many Jews who do not observe any other
Jewish custom will refrain from work, fast and/or
attend synagogue on Yom Kippur. It is a custom for
Jews to wear white on Yom Kippur, because white
symbolizes purity. Some even wear a "kittel" which
10
is the Hebrew name for the traditional robe in
which Jews are buried.
(www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.html )
In Islam, Friday, called Jum'ah, is the day for
collective worship. This congregational event takes
the place of the daily noontime prayer and includes
a sermon, called the Khutbah, which is delivered by
an imam. The length of the service may vary,
depending on the assessment of inmates' needs by
imams. The room for prayer should be free of any
pictures of living creatures, although other artistic
designs are acceptable.
Impacts of the monotheist religions on the
egoistic needs.
The forth level of Maslow’s pyramide represents
need for esteem or Ego needs which can take either
inward (self-esteem), outward (peer recognitions)
orientation, or both orientations. Inwardly-directed
ego needs reflect an individual’s need for self -
acceptance, self-esteem, success, independence, and
personal satisfaction with a job well done.
Outwardly-directed ego needs include the needs for
prestige, reputation, status, and recognition from
others. High-tech products such as computers or
sound systems, and luxury products such as furs or
big cars are often bought to fulfill ego needs.
Islam teaches the consumer to have a balanced
approach toward spending, always maintaining a
balance between personal needs and those of
society and also between the provisions of this
world and those of the life to come. Islam calls only
toward moderation. A believer is described in the
Koran as one of "those who, when they spend, are
not extravagant and not miserly, but a just balance
between those". (Qumran 25: 67). Islam encourages
benevolent spending, as Allah says (Ibid): "Give the
kinsman, the poor, and the wayfarer their due, but
do not spend wastefully. Verily, the spendthrifts are
the brethren of the devils and Satan is ever
ungrateful to his Lord".
Music. Music is certainly a good product to satisfy
the egoistic needs, because it is valued both by the
social group (peer recognition) and by one’s self
(self-esteem).
As in Judaism, there are no restriction to the type of
music that one can listen to. Therefore all genres
are open. As usual there are a number of special
songs sung in Hebrew for holidays or special
occasions that can be marketed.
In Christianity, music is allowed too. During mass
almost all of the times there' s a choir or at least a
person playing the piano and singing. Music can
vary according to the country.
In Islam, there are certain types of prohibited music
and songs:
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13
Any song whose objective is distraction and
entertainment, without any acceptable goal at the
religious level is prohibited, that it is accompanied
by music or not.
The use of instruments with a musical aim and
with no other functions is prohibited, that it is
accompanied by songs or not.
Any song or music leading to the negligence
(with regard to the religious duties) or to the sin is
prohibited.
To make a career of music and song.
What action is to be taken by someone who is
involuntarily at a place where there is prohibited
music? He should not lend the ear and diverts
immediately his/her attention from this music. One
must also try, as soon as possible, to leave this
musical environment.
Still, there are some conditions for music to be
allowed. For example:
• A song be justified by a valid reason: to reduce
loneliness, to facilitate a long trip, to give courage
during hard work, to deaden a child, or to reduce
depression (provided the words do not contain
anything prohibited).
• It is also allowed to accompany these songs by
the "douff" (which is not a purely musical
instrument), on certain special occasions, like
marriages, merry occasions, feast days.
Need for Self-Actualization.
The highest level of needs, according to Maslow’s,
are characterized by self-actualization or self-
fulfillment needs and refer to an individual’s desire
to fulfill his or her potential, to become everything
he or she is capable of becoming. College training
and financial services are sold as ways of achieving
self-fulfillment.
If spiritual devotions can be considered as part of
self-actualization process, then one should know
that Jews are not allowed to have images or statues
of God, therefore there is no market for that, while
for Catholics there is a very big demand for these
kinds of products such as crosses, images, pictures,
statues, etc. Images of saints and events regarded as
pivotal to the Catholic faith are heavily sought
after.
Discussion and conclusion
The exploration of the literature relative to
marketing and religions seem to support the
impacts of religion, part of culture and source of
spiritual guidance, on consumer behavior and
choices. Interconnection between different religious
regulations and the correlative consuming behavior
are evident. Still, this conclusion needs to be
11
tempered because it would be a mistake to make
generalization about a population’s behavior based
upon its religion. Degree of observance, for
instance, makes a difference between different
groups within a conviction. For example, traditional
Moslems adhere more strictly to the rules, such as
prohibiting the use of alcohol, dating and sexual
relationships than the liberal who remain reluctant
in following literally such practices. As a general
rule, restrictions seem to be often observed by
conservative individuals and not the majority of the
population.
In other words, even if, customers' choices are
generally influenced by their religious
environments, the fact is that the degree of
influence varies with the degree of observance.
Within the same religion, codes of behavior are
dissimilarly respected between conservative and
tolerant. Conservatism may view expensive
clothing, flashy cars, or the use of credit cars as
symbols of materialistic approach to life that is
inconsistent with the laws of God. Liberal
interpretations are usually more tolerant for this
type of materialism. Religiosity or the degree to
which beliefs in specific religious values and ideals
are held and practiced by an individual, can then be
considered as a valuable axe for the futures studies.
Different levels of religiosity determine cognitive
and behavioral differences in individuals
purchasing decisions.
After this exploratory investigation, a next step
should be involved to measure effectively the
importance of religious codes on consumer
behavior. In-depth qualitative open ended question
based interviews with conveniently selected
individuals, should indicate the most important
impacts of religion on atheist, agonistic and devoted
consumers' behaviors. In this research process,
other factors, such as income, lifestyle, personality
and alike, should be controlled for because their
potential influence on consumer behavior.
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Webography
Judaism
www.AllThingsJewish.com
www.jewfaq.org
www.judaism.com
www.scjfaq.org
 Djamchid Assadi / Cahiers du CEREN 5 (2003) 2 - 13

www.shamash.org

Christianism
www.catholic.net

Islam
www.al-islam.org
www.cair-net.org
www.islamtoday.net
monzer.kahf.com/
www.fleurislam.net
www.musulmane.com

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