Buying monastic products, gift or purchase?

Abstract

Focusing on the act of purchasing retail monastic products, this article applies a cause-related marketing (CRM) approach within a Management, Spirituality, and Religion (MSR) framework. When they purchase monastic products, are individuals simply buyers or do they, by means of their actions, support a religious cause by combining a gesture of purchasing with a gesture of gift-giving? We conducted qualitative interviews with individuals making purchases at religious and secular points of sale in France, and subjected the data acquired to textual analysis. Four classes of meaning emerged. It transpires that gift and purchase are intertwined and systematically associated with a hedonistic sentiment combining pleasure, trust, and love. The soft expression of religiosity illustrates the phenomenon of spirituality taking refuge in the private sphere. Our results enrich the interdisciplinarity of MSR research, confirm the findings outlined in CRM literature, and provide monasteries with a better understanding of their customers.

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