Consumer Spirituality and Marketing Sudhir Kale, Bond University, Australia Over the last ten years, the topic of spirituality has inspired scores of studies in management and related disciplines. Marketing scholars, it seems, have shied away from discussing spirituality for far too long. This paper draws attention to the rising salience of consumers&apos; spiritual needs. A working definition of spirituality and preliminary guidelines for researchers are provided to kickstart research and dialogue in this important area. It is argued that spiritual utility urgently needs to be incorporated along with other utilities when considering product benefits. [to cite]

Australia

Gary Gregory

Margaret Craig Lees

Sydney

Teresa Davis

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ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH 
 
Labovitz School of Business & Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, 11 E. Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802 
 
 
Consumer Spirituality and Marketing
Sudhir  Kale, Bond University, Australia 
 
Over the last ten years, the topic of spirituality has inspired scores of studies in management and related disciplines. Marketing
scholars, it seems, have shied away from discussing spirituality for far too long. This paper draws attention to the rising salience
of consumers’ spiritual needs. A working definition of spirituality and preliminary guidelines for researchers are provided to kick-
start research and dialogue in this important area. It is argued that spiritual utility urgently needs to be incorporated along with
other utilities when considering product benefits.
 
 
[to cite]:
Sudhir Kale (2006) ,"Consumer Spirituality and Marketing", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume
7, eds. Margaret Craig Lees, Teresa Davis, and Gary Gregory, Sydney, Australia : Association for Consumer Research,
Pages: 108-110.
 
[url]:
http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/13027/volumes/ap07/AP-07
 
[copyright notice]:
This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in
part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/.
 
108 
 
 
CONSUMER SPIRITUALITY AND MARKETING 
Sudhir Kale, Bond University 
 
ABSTRACT 
Over the last ten years, the topic of spirituality has 
inspired scores of studies in management and related 
disciplines. Marketing scholars, it seems, have shied away 
from discussing spirituality for far too long. This paper 
draws attention to the rising salience of consumers’ spiritual 
needs. A working definition of spirituality and preliminary 
guidelines for researchers are provided to kick-start 
research and dialogue in this important area. It is argued 
that spiritual utility urgently needs to be incorporated along 
with other utilities when considering product benefits. 
 
CONSUMER SPIRITUALITY AND 
MARKETING 
The concept of spirituality dates back almost two 
thousand years to St. Paul, but it is only in the last two 
decades or so that it has been systematically researched in 
the social sciences. The American Heritage Dictionary 
defines human spirit as “the vital principle, the animating 
force traditionally believed to be within, and the essential 
nature of every human being.” While over two hundred 
articles have appeared on the topic of spirituality and 
management between 1999 and 2005, hardly any papers 
address how spirituality could be harnessed in the 
marketing context. The small amount of literature that does 
exist on spirituality and marketing tends to be largely been 
practitioner-oriented and seems confined to the marketing 
of churches or cults (Lyon 2000). This article contends that 
businesses are fast realizing the role of soul and spirit in 
human consumption and have begun to effectively 
capitalise on the spiritual needs of consumers even in 
marketing materialistic products such as sports cars and soft 
drinks. Marketing scholars, on the other hand, have been 
slow in exploring the phenomenon of spirituality and in 
assessing its impact on the marketplace. 
Spirituality revolves around the key constructs of 
meaning and interconnectedness and should therefore from 
a natural field of inquiry for macro-marketing scholars as 
well as those interested in post-modern phenomena and 
marketing (Kale 2004). Spirituality has the potential to 
explain some of the dynamics between the self and 
consumption. However, research on spirituality within 
marketing cannot progress unless there is agreement on the 
constituents and correlates of spirituality. 
  
WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY? 
Scholars in management, psychology, religion, 
philosophy, nursing, and counseling have argued for over 
two decades on the definition of the term spirituality. 
Confusion between the concepts of spirituality and religion 
is what mainly fuels this debate (Dialmy 2001; Zinnbauer, 
Pargament and Scott 1999). In one of the first empirical 
studies on spirituality and management, Mitroff and Denton 
(1999a) uncovered some theoretically prescient 
observations: the respondents in this study differentiated 
strongly between spirituality and religion. While they 
viewed religion as a highly inappropriate topic of discourse 
in the workplace, spirituality was seen as a highly 
appropriate subject for discussion. Similar observations 
were echoed in the work of Roof (1993). In this study, a 
large number of interviewees felt that religion had an 
institutional connotation that manifested into the practice of 
rituals, adhering to dogmas, attending services, and the like. 
Spirituality, on the other hand, dealt with life’s deeper 
motivations and an emotional connection to God (or 
creation).  
The word spirituality comes from the Latin root 
spiritus, meaning breath—the breath of life. Benner (1989) 
esoterically characterises spirituality as a human response 
to God’s gracious call to a relationship with Him. Beck 
(1986) and Goldsmith (1992) characterise spirituality as an 
inner state of being; the heart or force within a person. 
Schneiders (1989, 684) defines spirituality as “the 
experience of consciously striving to integrate one’s life in 
terms not of isolation and self-absorption but of self-
transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives,” 
while Myers (1990, 11) describes it as “a continuing search 
for meaning and purpose in life; an appreciation for the 
depth of life, the expanse of the universe, and natural forces 
which operate; a personal belief system.”  
Based on an exhaustive review of interdisciplinary 
literature, spirituality has been defined in this article as an 
individual’s endeavors to explore -- and deeply and 
meaningfully -- connect one’s inner self to the known world 
and beyond. This definition somewhat parallels Clark’s 
(1958) concept of religion, which he characterised as “the 
inner experience of the individual when he senses a 
Beyond.” We shall now briefly explore the key components 
of this definition. An elaborate description of these 
components appears in Kale (2004). 
Inner Self. Key to most discourses on spirituality is 
the idea of an inner life or inner self. Zukav (1990) 
characterises the inner self as the invisible realm in which 
the origins of our deeper understanding are located. 
Bartunek and Moch (1994) suggest that the notion of inner 
self involves a sense of one’s being or consciousness, and 
how that being relates to other beings. The inner self could 
also be visualised as the core from which our most valuable 
thoughts and feelings originate. It is only when we are in 
touch with this core that we act with authenticity (Kale 
2004). 
Meaning. The search for meaning in life permeates 
both spiritual as well as existential discourses. For example, 
Victor Frankl(1959) has discussed the noölogical dimension 
of mankind, the innate motivation to find an overarching 
meaning or purpose in life. Cremins (2000) characterises 
“search for meaning in life” as the most significant aspect 
of spirituality. Carroll (1997) views spirituality as a 
relationship that fosters meaning, purpose, and mission in 
life. 
Interconnectedness. The term connectedness or its 
correlates have been used in almost all descriptions of 
spirituality (Benjamin and Looby 1998; Mitroff and Denton 
1999a; Van Ness 1996). Sass (2000) suggests that 
 
109 
spirituality, throughout the literature, has been depicted as 
an emphasis on connection and integration. Such 
connection has been portrayed as the recognition of the 
ultimate unity of all beings, a sense that there exists an 
energy that transcends all material categories and concepts. 
Mitroff and Denton (1999b) acknowledge the significance 
of interconnection in conceptualizing spirituality as the 
basic desire to find ultimate meaning in life and to live an 
integrated life (emphasis added). 
The Beyond. Inherent in most discussions on 
spirituality is the notion of a supreme power, a superior 
being, or a transcendental force that provides a sense of 
purpose for everything and everyone. It is in connection 
with this “Beyond’ that a spiritual experience occurs. A 
spiritual experience is often accompanied with a sense of 
awe, wonder, amazement, and joy. Vedic philosophy 
maintains that experience of the Beyond is the end of 
duality; a deep realization of the unity of all things and 
beings.  
Spirituality is an exploration of the inner self and a 
discovery of the interrelationships of that self with the 
broader reality. Self exploration and integration thus form 
the two main drivers of spirituality. Goods and services 
designed and promoted to facilitate this exploration and 
integration would therefore offer spiritual utility to 
consumers.  
 
SPIRITUALITY AND THE MARKETPLACE 
Spirituality has become big business. Oprah Winfrey, 
the popular talk-show host, helps millions of viewers 
“remember their spirit” on a daily basis. A USA Weekend 
poll conducted in July 1998 revealed that 47% of 
Americans viewed spirituality as the most important 
element of their happiness. Ray and Anderson (2001) found 
that over 50 million Americans—and the same number of 
EU residents--now subscribe to new values and ways of 
relating when it comes to work, success, consumption, and 
spirituality. They call this segment “cultural creatives,” a 
group spread across the largest cities and the smallest 
towns, spanning all income and socioeconomic strata. 
Cultural Creatives care deeply about ecology and saving the 
planet, about relationships, peace, social justice, and about 
authenticity, self actualization, spirituality and self-
expression. They tend to be both inner-directed and socially 
concerned; they are activists, volunteers and contributors to 
good causes more than other Americans (Ray and 
Anderson, 2001). 
The aging of consumers in Western societies, coupled 
with their level of affluence, now permits them and the 
business community the luxury of seeking more meaning in 
their lives (Brandt 1996). Evidence of meaning-seeking is 
ubiquitous. A group calling itself the Conscious Business 
Alliance (CBA) has been set up in the U.S. for the soul 
purpose of providing spiritual nourishment through 
business activities. It is an international membership 
alliance of individuals, businesses, and organisations who 
share a vision and a commitment to develop a new 
paradigm for the meaning and nature of work. CBA 
explores the many ways in which the business community 
can both enrich and be enriched by the human soul and 
spirit. In regard to the increasing evidence of spirituality in 
the Western world, Mariana Caplan (1999, 117) writes: 
Over the past 40 years, the West has been met with a 
massive influx of spiritual information, currently crowding 
the pages of popular newspapers, television programmes, 
and the glossiest mainstream magazines. Meditation classes 
are offered at the United Nations, Hillary Clinton uses 
visualisations and relaxation techniques, yoga is taught in 
many of the world’s largest corporations, and the spiritual 
lives of celebrities such as Richard Gere, John Travolta and 
Tom Cruise are the frequent subject of public questioning 
and curiosity. Not only has mainstream spirituality gained 
popularity, it has also become big business. The New Age 
is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and some of the most 
popular contemporary spiritual teachers and gurus are 
among the wealthiest men and women in the USA. 
A Gallup poll conducted in 1999 asked the question, 
“Do you feel the need in your life to experience spiritual 
growth? 78% of Americans said yes, up from 20% in 1994. 
Clearly, the market is riper than ever before for offerings 
that would quench the spiritual thirst of consumers. 
Marketing scholars need to catch up with these market 
developments and incorporate spirituality as an important 
explanatory facet of consumer behavior.  
 
RESEARCH DIRECTIONS 
This article provides a working definition of 
spirituality which can be used as a starting point for 
studying the phenomenon within the marketing context. 
Scholars are encouraged to provide alternative definitions 
and to carry out a debate on the merits and drawbacks of the 
various definitions. Critical to this discourse should be a 
commitment to avoid the spirituality/religion controversy 
when it comes to definitions.  
It would be interesting to explore the correlates of 
spirituality with other variables such as personality, 
nationality, culture, and age. Several interesting issues 
could be researched. For example, does the incidence of 
spirituality increase or decrease with economic 
development? What are the global macro-trends in 
spirituality and how would these trends impact consumer 
behavior and marketing practices? What is the relationship 
between spirituality and consumer identity? Is spirituality 
increasingly used as a means of identity preservation and as 
a reaction to deterritorialization? 
To fully comprehend the spirituality phenomenon and 
to explain its dynamics in the marketplace would require 
considerable research, both qualitative and quantitative. 
Segmentation models may be designed by incorporating 
spiritual variables comprising of both beliefs and practices. 
Market diversification activities of spiritual and religious 
organisations such as the Vatican, the Hare Krishnas, and 
the Mormons as well as those of New Age pundits such as 
Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer could be systematically 
studied to better understand market dynamics. 
As mentioned earlier, it is puzzling that not many 
marketing scholars are interested in the topic of spirituality. 
Doctoral dissertations on spirituality are almost unheard of 
in the halls of marketing academia. There is hardly any 
scholarly research addressing the role of spirituality in the 
consumer choice process. These oversights are probably 
attributable to the slavish insistence on separating 
spirituality from other elements of life, a phenomenon 
brought to the fore by Mitroff and Denton (1999a). Given 
the paucity of research on the topic of spirituality, bountiful 
opportunities exist for those who wish to make their mark 
 
110 
in this exciting area. 
A recommended starting point would be to 
comprehensively conceptualise the concept of spirituality 
and delimit its boundaries. Scholars will then need to devise 
acceptable scales that measure spirituality. While attempts 
have been made in the management and social psychology 
literature to develop such scales, (cf. Ashmos and Duchon, 
2000; Hays, Meador, Branch, and George, 2001; Sass, 
2000, Hodge, 2001), the instruments appear lacking in 
analytical rigor and comprehensiveness. As of today, 
spirituality is still a slippery construct, and only a 
systematic program of inquiry will provide meaningful and 
actionable insights. 
 
CONCLUSION 
It seems that the world is smitten by the spirituality 
bug and marketing academics are oblivious of this 
development. Consequently, marketing scholars are largely 
ignorant about what has brought about the resurgence of 
spirituality and how this development plays out in the 
marketplace. Spirituality is increasingly impacting the 
beliefs and behaviors of consumers the world over. 
Spiritual motivations are not simply restricted to the choice 
of a particular sect, guru, or religion. Secular corporate 
firms are increasingly using spiritual appeals to identify and 
bond with consumers. The community of marketing 
scholars needs to urgently comprehend and research the 
role of spirituality in modern consumption. Management 
scholars have already taken cognizance of the significance 
of spirituality, as evidenced by the number of articles on 
workplace spirituality figuring routinely in contemporary 
management journals. Journal editors in the field of 
marketing could help accelerate theory development on 
spirituality and marketing by inviting and publishing papers 
exploring spirituality. Doing so will bring us closer to 
closing the gap between theory and practice. 
 
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