Abstract With different religions mixing in many societies, religious
consumer groups receive increasing attention as target segments. Trying
to appeal to such religious segments, companies differentiate food
products by adding religious labels (e.g. kosher or halal) to packaging. But
while this makes the products more attractive to the consumers of the focal
religion, adding a religious label may also impact the brand evaluation by
consumers with no religious beliefs or a different religious orientation.
Drawing upon social identity theory to explain the psychological basis of
inter-group discrimination, and taking account of information integration
theory to analyse how religious labels affect product and brand
evaluations, this article aims to assess the spillover effects between
religion and brand among consumers who are not part of the religious
communities addressed by these labels. The findings indicate that the
perception of religious labels on food packaging is influenced by the
attitudes towards the religion and the brand, while the relative importance
of both antecedents is dependent upon several consumer characteristics.
The theoretical and managerial implications of our findings, the limitations
of our work and directions for future research are discussed.