Rethinking religion in the context of ethnicity and well-being

Abstract

Identifying the “religion–ethnicity–well-being” nexus as an understudied topic in marketing and consumer behavior research, we propose three main trajectories for future research: Firstly, given the politics of religions, there is a need for studying societies that suffer from and are affected by religioethnic tensions and also different types of risks that threaten people’s well-being in such contexts. Secondly, future research should investigate how and why markets may generate and mediate religioethnic prejudices and antagonism that put society’s well-being at risk. Thirdly, with the upsurge of transcultural alternative religiosities/spiritualities, researchers should examine how through the processes of religious hybridization and hybrid consumption people change their existing consumption patterns and how alternative religiosities/spiritualities influence their sense of well-being, particularly in contexts where religious shifts are contested.