I was asked the following question. What research have you come across that would be helpful for
youth workers to better understand how the systems and events of this culture are
affecting us?
Great question. A paper entitled Brands:
The Opiate of the Nonreligious Masses?, has been published in Marketing
Science. [i] The research team was made up of
scholars from Tel Aviv University, Duke University and New York
University. According to their
data they claim that religiously minded people are less interested in consumer
products that are branded by a major brand name. In the study those who claim to be non-religious are much
more reliant on well-known brand products, especially when they have the
financial means to afford major brands.
The research team theorizes,
“Brands and religiosity may serve as substitutes for one another
because both allow individuals to express their feelings of
self-worth.”
"’Brands are a signal of
self-worth,’ Fitzsimons[ii] said. ‘We're signaling to others that we care about
ourselves and that we feel good about ourselves and that we matter in this
world. It's more than I'm hip or cool,
he said: ‘I'm a worthwhile person, and I matter, and you should respect me and
think that I'm a good person, because I've got the D&G on my glasses.’"[iii]
The Christian faith
is to be lived within a community of practice. Being connected to a faith community says a lot about who a
person 
is and what they value. If
we don’t know who we are in Jesus Christ and if we struggle to make meaning out
of life through faith then, certainly Apple, Juicy Couture, Gap or Urban
Outfitters more than willing to help fill the void by providing some sense of
meaning or
self-worth, right? Some marketers are actually attempting to attach
religious overtone to some brands in order to attract consumers looking for
meaning, identity and purpose in life – think True Religion.
Andy Root pointed out, at a youth worker training day
at Youthfront, that young adults are selecting and creating identities for
themselves. One can create their
own profile and craft an identity based on what they buy, wear and
consume. This raises the
importance of a renewed and vigorous emphasis on Christian formation and an
intentional theological exploration of what it means to help adolescents form an
identity rooted in Jesus Christ. I
believe a theology
that focuses on what it means to live a cruciform life is
essential in the midst of our consumerist cultural realities.
I think this study is very interesting for those of us who
are involved in ministry to adolescents and young adults as we engage in
dialogue about what brings meaning to our lives. The researchers claims that those who are identified as
“religious minded” people are less likely to be enslaved by major status brands
is encouraging to me. Embracing an
ethos that Jesus Christ is enough will
help us counter the script that suggests we find meaning through the creed I consume, therefore I am.
My article was originally published in Slant33.
[i] "Brands: The Opiate of the Non-Religious Masses?"
Ron Shachar, Tülin Erdem, Keisha M. Cutright, Gavan J. Fitzsimons, Marketing
Science, articles in advance, Sept. 24, 2010. DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1100.0591
[ii] Gavan J. Fitzsimons; R. David
Thomas Professor of Marketing and Psychology; F.M. Kirby Research Fellow; Duke
University
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