Loving My Local Business as My Neighbor: Religiosity’s Influence on Local Business Support During a Pandemic

EasyChair Preprint 6881

Abstract

Across three studies, we help inform how to encourage consumers to support local businesses during a pandemic by identifying why some consumers are more likely to support local businesses than others. Study 1 shows a positive relationship between religiosity and support for local businesses but only during a pandemic. Study 2 shows that this relationship is greatest for local (vs. non-local) businesses, and caring for one’s neighbors mediates this effect. Finally, Study 3 uses advertising to prime a focus on neighbors, revealing that a neighbors-focused ad increases local business support to similar levels for consumers of all religiosity levels.

Keyphrases: Consumer support, Pandemic, Religion, local businesses, love thy neighbor

@booklet{EasyChair:6881,
  author    = {Elizabeth Minton and Frank Cabano},
  title     = {Loving My Local Business as My Neighbor: Religiosity’s Influence on Local Business Support During a Pandemic},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 6881},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2021}}