An article from this weekend in the WSJ that I thought was interesting. It’s about brand names having more importance to non religious people, than religious. Here’s an excerpt:
“In an Internet-based study, 356 participants (68% Christian, 19% nonreligious, 4% Jewish, and the balance Buddhist, Muslim or ”other”) were asked to make six choices between brand-name and generic goods, with realistic price differences. The researchers classified the products as either “expressive” (Ralph Lauren sunglasses vs. WalMart’s) or “functional” (Motrin vs. CVS ibuprofen). Subjects then answered 10 questions designed to gauge the importance of faith in their lives.
A subject who attended worship services at least weekly was roughly 20% less likely to select an “expressive” brand than one whodid not; there was no difference in the functional category.”
It was taken from an article called “Brands: The Opiate of the Nonreligious Masses?” by Ron Shachar, Tulin Erdem, Keisha M. Cutright and Gavan J. Fitzsimons, Marketing Science (forthcoming).”
