Religion or Religiosity: Which Is the Culprit for Consumer Switching Behavior?

This research investigates how religion (i.e., religious affiliation) and religiosity affect consumer switching behaviors in Korea and the U.S. Data were collected from Korea (Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, and nonreligious consumers) and the U.S. (Catholics, Protestants, and nonreligious consumers). ANOVA and structural equation modeling using LISREL were employed to test the hypotheses regarding consumer switching behaviors. The findings suggest that religiosity, expressed as the importance of religious beliefs in one's life, can be a trigger that influences consumer switching behaviors and that religious affiliation is not a good predictor of consumer switching behaviors. The relationships between religion, religiosity, and control variables were also examined using MANOVA.