Marketing Management Principles, Practices and Religion - Essay Example

? Marketing Management Principles and Practices and Religion Marketing Management Principles and Practices and Religion According to reliable sources, this age is a time where work and business are taking over as the central places of contemporary life and religion is gazing at the back seat watching politics and social needs cloud people’s minds (Rose, 2006). With the current evolution of the internet, there is adequate information regarding religion and its subsequent counterpart, politics. It is agreeable that politics offers the worst consumer experience about service, yet principles of marketing continues to devote themselves disciplinary to it (Claitors, 2003). On the other end, faith, which happens to be the greatest provider of meaning in all people’s lives fails to register not even a single statement on the radar of nearly every mainline of marketing reading materials published in the past rigid couple of decades. This apparent and particular paradox is the systemic provider of the backdrop to this paper. Introduction Today, different analysts are examining the berthing idea of adjoining politics and religion into the broadened marketing camp. There are brief contemporary reviews of religious marketing, where analysts are undertaking comparison of politics and religion to assess whether these pillars can conform to a uniform framework of marketing for environments, which are non-business. Again, there is critical examination of the idea that religious economy validates marketing in faith environments. All these examinations depict a common factor whereby, they all aim at determining whether it is appropriate to apply marketing management principles and practices to religion (Daft & Marci, 2010). This paper will explore significant objectives that revolve around adopting principles of marketing and methods that show the degree in which marketing management principles finds it appropriate to apply adoption of religious practices and principles. Currently, there is some level of existing contrast between religious marketing and political marketing where every aspect of academic sub disciplines are more surprising in the view of adopting marketing principles and practices (Goldman & Sigismund, 2010). The best part of the past century is that, there has been continuous adoption of marketing principles and practices but its seeds are appearing in the modern part of early years of the twentieth century where disciplinary forms of academics are revealing modern systems of marketing in politics. Years earlier, innovators came up with mass leafleting, polling through computers, personal letters, and established relationship between marketing, and the World Wide Web where efforts to incorporate business and religion passed fruitlessly. This is because of the fact that, most of these innovations oriented business into politics as opposed to business and religion (Curry, 2009). A brief survey of religious marketing Late twentieth century witnessed accelerated adoption of methods of marketing from the mainstream of consumer marketing to initiation in different aspects of life such as religion. At the close of twentieth century, every channel presented and segmented different religious services where the public has an opportunity of choosing. Different writers started documenting the emergency of religious marketing as part of academic focus in early 1980s. Since then, publishing of religious marketing management reading materials started only to last for no more than a year (Vallabhaneni, 2008). However, as time went on, these religious reading materials took a different direction as they started appearing once more in the late 1990s. Particularly, in the US where there a number of organizations equipped with special knowledge, books, and courses were available with the view of helping churches grow and expand their congregations by applying marketing methods and practices into their marketing mainstream. The challenge of religious marketing Even though there are no conventional academically written materials specifically textbooks about religious marketing, there is some level of gleaned evidence showing adoption of marketing approach by the modern church from various sources that comprise of opponents and proponents publications of marketing. There is also evidence from extensive materials accessed through the Web. An illustrative religious marketing in progress is the consideration given by the recent approach outlined by the members of the Unitarian Universalist Church in America where director of electronics and communication in this church initiating merging approach towards marketing (Daft & Lane, 2009). The biggest challenge that occurs between religion and marketing is how to merge the patterns of behavior of a market economy with the best practices that attracts church membership. It is also challenging to provide key components that today’s faith communities seek. It is a complex matter when discussing ways in which to apply marketing for religious purposes. Some analysts view the religion or church practices as a brand. On the other end, they view the congregants as customers while the evangelist as the speaking tool for a brand. When they draw this some sort of set of equivalents, they give a suggestion of several ways of adopting the relevant marketing practices (Masteralexis, Bar, & Hums, 2011). Through the analysts set of suggestions, there is a drivable point that, religious marketing challenge emphasizes on placing the church service on a quality platform that depicts worship experience and portrays the external community and social activities. The marketing debate In the midst of the 1990s, proponents and opponents of religious marketing developed a fierce debate where proponents supported the use of marketing to sell religion preferably in the US. Additionally, the proponents argued that, marketing serves the church right as it attracts and retains new congregants as well as provide them with what they need. Through marketing, church leaders can employ a large pool of marketing skills in their quest of attracting and recruiting different visitors to local religious gatherings. Marketing also provides faith communities with ethos that are essential in focusing on the needs of consumers. According to George Barns who is a radical advocate of religious marketing, applying marketing management practices and principles is appropriate since the church itself is business that involves the business of the ministry (Temporal, 2011). This argument resonated with that of many British religious evangelists of the last two decades of the twentieth century who were seeking increasingly to bring modern rigors of modern management and marketing into the religious process. Due to these arguments by the proponents, the pro marketers against the idea of adoption of marketing management principles and practices in religion suggested variously that it is scripturally unsound to use marketing approach in religious matters. This is because; marketing approach operates in a manner, which is pragmatic as opposed to spiritually (Glowik & Smyczek, 2011). They criticize that church movements, in particular, seeking to grow and expand make use of marketing skills to establish congregations at the expense of the congregants by reasoning that they are teaching scripture message based on religion. Other opponents are against the idea of adopting marketing practices and practices into religion since these techniques of marketing involves suitable definition of the church’s vision by choosing relatively homogenous segment of consumers in order to match this vision with the needs of ministering the highly selected congregation. Given these points highlighted by different opponents and proponents of the subject, it is agreeable that lack of marketing skills is the key contributor of the churches’ failure to recruit and retain new visitors or congregants (Varey, 2002). Despite the fact that some opponents attribute this failure to issues related deep-seated reasons based on spirit, it is worth noting that this opposition is by no doubt a means of unthinking response by those die-hard traditionalists. Therefore, it is true to say that, even those against the outcome of adoption of marketing principles and practices on religion are often as knowledgeable when it comes to marketing methods as opponents. Their arguments carry with them a highly technical discussion about the essence of marketing techniques in terms of technological propositions that they advance argumentatively (Kosmin & Kaiser, 2006). Some people may have varied views regarding the adoption of marketing management principles and practices on religion, but this paper has a static stance based on facts. As such, it notes down that, it is appropriate to apply the principles and practices of marketing management to religion since these practices and principles are effective. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to exclaim that, these extremes depend highly on clear limits in which church uses them in the faith context. The best principles and practices of marketing management cannot result to lethargy or confusion (Scollon, Scollon, & Jones, 2011). Arguably, marketing alone cannot be enough for an effective ministry. Fact-findings point out that, the best marketing plan can never provide compensation for spiritual lethargy. Nonetheless, as far as this concerns discernment, vision, spirit, and the integrity of the leader, marketing is unable to provide these concerns. Hence, adoption of marketing principles and practices is necessary in religious reasons since these techniques can help revive a declined market of a religious product. This is also essential given the turbulent economic environment that the religious world is experiencing today. In the 1980s and 1990s, seeker church movements and church growth partly resulted to a contemporary decline in church going in the United States. This attempted halt threatened the growth and development of the church in many parts of this country. However, upon realizing the contributions made by varied application of marketing principles and practices, church leaders resolved to use these techniques in attracting and retaining new church visitors. As time went by, there was tremendous turn out of congregants especially in the wake of the 1990s. These cognitive attribute of church adopting marketing practices and principles skilled the trend of marketing management incorporation into religious aspects of faith communities (Stevens, Loudon, & Wren, 2006). Following this considerable example, it is relevant, appropriate, calm, and stable to apply the practices and practices of marketing management in religious business. Proponents of incorporating principles and practices of marketing management into religion assert that, with the prevailing spatial framework of competition in the world, it is congruent for the church to adopt marketing management principles in religion. Exhaustive and comprehensive attempts made by marketing mix are absolute there is need for the church to understand the relationship between contemporary marketing and postmodernism. In the media, there is strong emphasis on the use marketing principles in religious activities due to emergency of religious competition (Turner, 2011). It is therefore decisive for the church to make maximum use of marketing management principles in its religious dealings since there are selected ways in which it should shine light on the certain problems. Anyone within the faith community who has any business idea should give attention to adopting marketing management skills and principles into the religious domain. This is because, they provide additional insights into the nature of the target market especially the contemporary market where customers are up to what can satisfy their needs in spite of the products’ origin or anything close to that. By extending marketing management principles and practices into religious business environment, people will start rethinking about marketing practices and theories and as such, the religion might have no strings attached to adopting marketing management principles into its agendas (Burton, 2009). Discussions regarding adoption of marketing management practices into religion tend to give much focus on the source of these issues. They emanate largely from Christian countries based on the far flank north of Atlantic. Whereas given these claims, Christians in the Western countries justify their bias by partly claiming that marketing management practices tend to penetrate well in their countries hence they should receive priorities. Finding a marketing niche for religion Earnest marketers began the broadening debate in the early 1960s and since then there are various attempts made in order to bring a range of non-marketing principles into the marketing fold. The central focus to this debate revolve around making redefined and classified discipline where a number of definitional strategies have been made in order for marketing management and its strategies to embrace the power of religious business. These marketers discussed two definitional strategies of marketing management, which are exchange theory and naive marketing. Following the fact that marketing theorists are at pains to identify what may constitute to valid or invalid practices of marketing, Christians are at the verge of adopting marketing principles and practices (Underwood, 2002). This means that, the classifications offered by marketers at the edge of accommodating various domains of marketing practices are considerable. Hence, religion should consider using marketing management principles as examples of non-profit marketing. Results highlighted by the most recent research set forth that, even though opponents of religious marketing practices continue to claim that the church should not adopt marketing management practices and principles, their claims are baseless. This because of the fact that, non-conventional advocates of marketing principles point out that the church is currently using these practices but it is simply unaware of the fact. Suggestions made by different marketing theorists put across that marketing management and its principles have been in existence for a long time (Sergeant, 2007). Given these sentiments, there is the notion that marketing management undergone many transformations and as of today, there should be no obstacles stopping the church to adopt marketing principles and practices into its religious endeavors. It is legitimate for religion to adopt marketing management principles and practices into its activities. Actually, this follows the fact that, marketing traces its roots from a far flank situation where Satan resolve to wage a promotional campaign in order to persuade Eve to have a taste of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. With this waged promotional campaign by Satan followed the practice of selling the Christian gospel by preachers. This phenomenon is as old as the sell of political candidature and the likes. Different Christian writers assert that, in many forms, the greatest religious movements of the world kicked off due to initiation of concepts and practices that readers today know them as marketing (Applbaum, 2004). Their innate utilization of the concepts sparked a tremendous series of adoption of marketing methods that led to the current debate towards legitimizing adoption of marketing management practices and principles into religion. With reference to this view, it is understandable that all religious advocates ranging from Saint Paul to Billy Graham are naive marketers. Their credible messages fall under the emphasis of religious adoption of implicit use of coarse marketing. Surprisingly, the notion that lies under these views depict a possible way of recognizing an untutored marketing version based in the traditional outreach practices of religion whereby, everything every person does that involves persuading or communicating is simply marketing in disguise. Different scholars set out that, if Jesus himself is not the founder of modern business, he is indeed interpreted religious avocations and activities in business terms (Alserhan, 2011). Due to clear indication of marketing supremacy syndrome depicted by these scholars, it is therefore appropriate for the religion to adopt marketing management practices and principles in its endeavors. Cognitively, it is foreseeable that different cynics will interpret this approach by church to adopt such principles and practices as a facile attempt towards rewriting history as opposed to clumsy way of extending the scope of marketing management as a discipline. This will perhaps indicate what this paper elaborates as marketing supremacy syndrome. It is worth noting that, just because different researchers do not understand marketing philosophy and its concepts, that is its customer centeredness, it does not necessarily mean people cannot adopt such a philosophy. In a counter argument that is more rational, such claims can only be valid if religious outreach activities adopt the concepts of modern marketing rather than just modern marketing techniques (Alderman& Leon, 2003). While in the context of analyzing marketing concepts, this paper finds it absolute to propose the adoption of marketing management principles into religion. The evolution of religious landscape in the US and elsewhere had a number of sociologists argue that, this evolving process led to emergency of what they term as a competitive religious economy. This is a situation whereby churches compete for congregations at a local scope. Ever since constitution separated the church from the state in 1776, the church had no choice but to streamline ways of marketing itself as it lacked state support (Noll, 2002). This meant that the church could not establish any religious foundation as the noted down by the First Amendment which forbid state sponsored voluntarism. This shows that the church had no freedom of choice and it had to operate under religious and political affiliations. With this connotation in mind, it is vital for the church of today to adopt marketing management principles, concepts, techniques, and practices among other contextual tools so that it does not stand to lose its religious appeal in the society. Following the achievements that adoption of marketing management practices and principles to religion attained for church, it is vital for religion to set marketing mix in its foot. As Independence in America approached, there was rapid evolution of open market in religion. This called for many potential niches as there were few barriers to entry and the awareness of alternatives was high. With commitment, choice was possible and fully compatible (Antes & Warne, 2004). Today, because of these two sides of demand and supply with marketplace and voluntarism, religious landscape is becoming increasingly pluralist and vibrant. Over the past two decades, this called for numerous faiths as well as denominations to set coherent and strong roots locally and provide congregants with a major purpose and meaning for several minorities who could not find achievement of power and self-identity via any other mechanism. At this instant, we can consider religion as academically cultural community since exhibits what most scholars refer to as a commercial culture. A particular magazine in 1886 reported that, by that far the church had became a business enterprise where the chief test to ministerial success based on ability to build a church. This spiritual age presented an integral element of debating with the view of making it preferable to adopt the use marketing management practices in religious business. The implications made adaptable in this sense identify a brief process of marketing (Rose, 2006). At first, the organization of church based on religion can have interpretation through history due to marketing competition. Secondly, following such a situation, marketing management can lay claims so that every person would consider it as an integral segment of modern religious operations. As an acknowledgement of the importance of marketing management principles and practices, the church should have the freedom to adopt and apply these concepts in its religious business as this gives a fundamental choice to association in the corporate commercial culture, which is now present in every country. The recent argument by pro marketers regarding the essence of marketing techniques such as market targeting and segmentation is a clear indication of the importance of incorporating marketing management principles into religious endeavors. The presence of the purest laissez fair where contemporary religion operates given the fact that these rules left an extant in the modern world highlights a possible overtone where religious attempts should implement marketing principles that are fit for this rational church (Sayre & King, 2009). In addition, adoption of marketing principles and practices is cognitive for religion as today’s church is operating in a human social endeavor that revolves around outcomes of what some scholars are referring as democratic capitalism. Summary and recommendations In summary, in this paper, there is in depth examination of the major reasons as to why religion has a just stance towards adopting and applying principles and practices of marketing management in its endeavors. Furthermore, there are clear and excerpt examples revolving around the history of origin of marketing practices and their relationship with the modern aspect of management. Besides, there is light shining towards a number of key marketing ideas that include concepts and methods of marketing as well as exchange concept, followed by their aspect of application in religion (Muhlbacher, Leis, & Dahringer, 2006). Explaining from a generic marketing framework of view, it is recommendable for the church to adopt and apply principles and practices of marketing management in religious business since religion is the only mechanism that can transform the notion of marketing. The church has the power to change the broadened concept where most people think that marketing and religion sit uncomfortably within a framework of generic marketing. Thus, continuous interactions between these features can accommodate the classificatory activities of marketing techniques into religious business. References Alderman, G. & Leon, L. (2003). Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity, and Popular Expressions, Volume 1. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Alserhan, B. (2011). The Principles of Islamic Marketing. Farnham: Gower Publishing, Ltd.. Antes, P. & Warne, R. (2004). New Approaches to the Study of Religion: Textual, Comparative, Sociological, and Cognitive Approaches, Volume 2. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Applbaum, K. (2004). The Marketing Era: From Professional Practice to Global Provisioning. London: Routledge. Burton, D. (2009). Cross-cultural Marketing: Theory, Practice and Relevance. London: Routledge. Claitors, (2003). Dictionary of Occupational Titles: With O*NET(tm) Definitions. Baton Rouge, LA: Claitor's Law Books and Publishing. Curry, J. (2009). A short course in international marketing [electronic resource]: approaching and penetrating the global marketplace. Petaluma, CA: World Trade Press. Daft, R & Marcic, D. (2010). Understanding Management. New York: Cengage Learning. Daft, R. & Lane, P. (2009). Management. New York: Cengage Learning. Glowik, M. & Smyczek, S. (2011). International Marketing Management: Strategies, Concepts and Cases in Europe. Munchen: Oldenbourg Verlag. Gpldman, A. & Sigismod, W. (2010). Business Law: Principles and Practices. New York: Cengage Learning. Kosmin, B. & Keysar, A. (2006). Religion in a Free Market: Religious and Non-religious Americans, Who, What, Why, where. New York: Paramount Market Publishing. Masteralexis, L., Bar, C. & Hums. A. (2011). Principles and Practice of Sport Management. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Muhlbacher, H., Leihs, H. & Dahringer, L. (2006). International Marketing: A Global Perspective. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA. Noll, M. (2002). God and Mammon: Protestants, Money, and the Market, 1790-1860. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rose, H. (2006). Handbook of Religion And Social Institutions. New York: Springer. Sargeant, A. (2007). The Routledge Companion to Nonprofit Marketing. London: Routledge. Sayre, S. & King, C. (2009). Entertainment and Society: Influences, Impacts, and Innovations. New York: Taylor & Francis. Scollon, R. Scollon, S. & Jones, R. (2011). Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach. Routledge: John Wiley and Sons. Stevens, R., Loudon, D. & Wrenn, B. (2006). Concise Encyclopedia of Church And Religious Organization Marketing. London: Routledge. Temporal, P. (2011). Islamic Branding and Marketing: Creating a Global Islamic Business. Routledge: John Wiley and Sons. Turner, B. (2011). Religion and Modern Society: Citizenship, Secularisation and the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Underwood, D. (2002). From Yahweh to Yahoo!: The Religious Roots of the Secular Press. Illinois: University of Illinois Press. Vallabhaneni, R. (2008). Corporate Management, Governance, and Ethics Best Practices. Routledge: John Wiley and Sons. Varey, R. (2002). Marketing Communication: Principles and Practice. London: Routledge. Read More