The Influence of Religion on Grocery Shoppers’ Behavioural Intentions in Mauritius Supermarkets

Objective – Based on Sheth's (1983) integrative theory of patronage preference as the central theoretical framework, this paper examines religious influences on grocery shoppers' behavioural intentions in Mauritius. Methodology/Technique – Using stratified random sampling method a 5 point-Likert scale questionnaire was administered. Data from the random sample of 409 grocery shoppers was obtained by a computer aided telephone interview. The sample consisted of 202 Hindus, 71 Muslims and 136 Catholics represent the religious proportion of the Mauritian population. Findings – Results indicate that religious commitment significantly influences store loyalty, and complaint intentions, but have no significant impact on price sensitivity. Religious affiliation was found to have an impact on complaint intentions only. Understanding how to attract more loyal customers should be an underlying strategy for store managers rather than focusing on short-term profits. Novelty – Future research should consider how religious commitment mediates self-congruity, trust, commitment and satisfaction and their influence on behavioural intentions. This research is limited as it only considers the behavioural intentions of grocery shoppers in Mauritius. These findings address the gap in the religion domain and shed light on the value of religiosity wherein the market is highly religious as a potential marketing segmentation tool when formulating marketing tactics and implementing marketing strategies Type of Paper: Empirical