Effects Of Intrinsic And Extrinsic Religiosity On Attitudes Toward Products: Empirical Evidence Of Value-Expressive And Social-Adjustive Functions

Abstract

Religiosity affects various aspects of consumer behavior. This research distinguishes two dimensions: Intrinsic religiosity is lived per se, as a personal and intimate value; extrinsic religiosity is an instrument to attain personal goals by connecting with other people. Intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity likely affect the functions of consumers’ attitudes toward products, both value-expressive (e.g., to express the individual self) and social-adjustive (e.g., to be accepted by social groups). Intrinsically religious consumers have an inner self defined by their religiosity, so they do not seek social approval. They should have less need for products to express their inner selves or manifest social ties, compared with extrinsically religious consumers. In contrast, extrinsic religiosity may increase both value-expressive and social-adjustive functions of products. Study 1 supports these hypotheses; intrinsic religiosity decreases the value-expressive and social-adjustive functions of consumer attitudes, whereas extrinsic religiosity increases both attitude functions. Study 2 applies these findings to an advertising context and reveals that the purchase intentions of intrinsically religious consumers increase when they view a value-expressive instead of a social-adjustive advertisement. Purchase intentions among extrinsically religious consumers are higher than those of intrinsically religious consumers when they view a social-adjustive advertisement.