Exploring the role of religion in consumer decision-making processes: perspectives on developing nations

The literature is replete with postulations around consumer decision making process. Essentially, the core argument in this issue is that Irrespective of the market offering involved, the consumer pass through a number of stages which begins with need recognition. Conventionally, this is followed by search for information, evaluation of alternatives, decision, and post-purchase evaluation. A number of scholarship efforts have provided variants of this vis-à-vis various decision models that do not necessarily conform to the rational model depicted in the highlighted process. This chapter presents a critical overview of this discourse. Moreover, in view of its all-encompassing form, the chapter offers an eclectic submission on each of the stages in this conventional process in relation to how religion reflect in them to influence consumption in developing nations. A good number of cases and illustrations are presented to accentuate this as relevant to developing nations as the contextual platform for the chapter.