סמינר בשיווק

Zeynep Gurhan-Canli from Koç University

In this research, we examine differential cognitive consequences of two most prominent religious concepts –God and religion– as they pertain to prosocial intentions. We hypothesize that God (vs. religion) reminders lead to higher (vs. lower) thinking abstraction, and increases compliance with abstractly (vs. concretely) framed messages or prosocial tendencies toward distant (vs. close) targets. Study 1, which involves 60-week donation data obtained from a small mosque in Turkey, documents real consequences of the hypothesized fit effect by showing that Friday sermons that activate relatively more God-specific (vs. religion-specific) thoughts result in higher monetary donation for spatially distant (vs. close) targets immediately after the prayer. Study 2A and Study 2B show that thoughts about God (vs. religion) lead to higher (vs. lower) levels of mental construal among samples from predominantly Muslim or Christian populations. Study 3 documents that prompting thoughts about God (vs. religion) among student respondents from a predominantly Muslim population lead to higher intentions of donating time to a prosocial student club when the student club is described abstractly (vs. concretely). Finally, study 4 shows that monetary donation intentions among a national sample from a predominantly Christian population enhance for abstractly (vs. concretely) construed causes after exposure to God-related (vs. religion-related) concepts. Study 4 also provides empirical evidence that this effect is mediated by higher task engagement due to mental fit.