Money, Marketing, and Religion: An Economics of Religion Perspective

Religious and economic interests have always been intertwined. History shows that material gifts are an essential component of the practice of various religions because they help to form community and identity and also fulfil an economic function by providing economic security for religious ‘experts’ such as priests, monks, or saints. In contemporary society, religion is being advertised and marketed as never before. Churches advertise on billboards and in print and new media such as the internet, mobile apps, and social media. As a result of the transformation process set in motion by the use of new media in the religious sphere, ‘traditional’ religious institutions are no longer the only source of religious and spiritual goods. Religious content has been popularized which leads to increasingly permeable borders between the religious and the non-religious. Various aspects of religion that were marginal—such as personal happiness, healing or self-optimization—are marketed according to demand as products or services, and this leads to the formation a religious marketplace. This chapter examines the complex connection and multi-layered relationship between religion and economic aspects past and present.