Religion and commerce are two concepts which give rise to divergent views when
associated with each other. Nevertheless, churches are increasingly making use of
commercial methods such as marketing and retailing for a vast array of purposes
including fundraising, connecting with their congregation and keeping abreast of
social, technological and economical changes. As such, the Christian retail industry
is a booming industry which cannot be ignored. It is common practice for businesses
to investigate various aspects of their target consumers in order to align their efforts
to meet the consumers’ needs. Likewise, it is necessary that churches that engage in
retailing conduct a thorough analysis of their target market. Furthermore, church
retailers should consider the peculiar nature of their consumers, which may be
influenced not only by their short-term, product-based needs but by their long-term,
spiritual needs as well. This research is important as individuals who view the
retailing of certain products by churches negatively are unlikely to purchase from
church retailers, and may even be unlikely to consider attending the churches that
retail those products. In addition, this research will provide church retailers with
insight into their consumers, enabling them to structure their retailing efforts more
effectively. This study investigates the attitudes of church members toward church
retailing, as well as attitudes towards various types of church retail products. A series
of 26 in-depth interviews were conducted for this study, resulting in each individual
expressing antithetical attitudes towards the broad concept of church retailing, with
more distinct positive and negative attitudes emerging following further enquiry about
particular product types. Generally, attitudes were more positive towards products
perceived to be more authentic with regards to the religious mission of the church,
and more negative toward products they perceive to stray from it. Furthermore,
attitudes towards church retailing were influenced by what individuals perceive to be
the churches’ reasons for retailing, as well as the individuals or communities
benefiting from the proceeds thereof. The principle inference emerging from this
study is that the attitudes of church retail consumers are essential as they largely
influence their likelihood to purchase and, in turn, the success of church retailers.