Rethinking religion in the context of ethnicity and wellbeing

Identifying the ‘religion-ethnicity-wellbeing’ 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 religio-ethnic tensions and also different types of risks that threaten people’s wellbeing in such contexts. Secondly, future research should investigate how and why markets may generate and mediate religio-ethnic prejudices and antagonism that put society’s wellbeing 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 wellbeing, particularly in contexts where religious shifts are resisted.