PROSUMERISM AND COMMERCIALISATION OF RELIGION

Rintle Mathew; Deepa Ittimani

Rintle Mathew Loyola Institute of Business Administration
Deepa Ittimani Loyola Institute of Business Administration

Keywords: Crowdfunding, Information Technology, Religious Communities, Social Media, User-Generated Content

Abstract

With the development of digital technology and social media, prosumerism, the merging of consumption and production, has gained popularity. Due to this, there are more active online religious groups and user-generated religious material now. However, there is still much-untapped ground regarding prosumerism’s ethical implications for religious communities. This essay addresses the ethical issues and opportunities raised by the coexistence of prosumerism and religious cultures and the historical and cultural environment in which they have arisen. We look at how social media and digital technology affect religious practices, the place of user-generated material in religious expression, and how prosumerism could affect interfaith discussion and social justice advocacy. We contend that prosumerism offers religious cultures ways to express themselves more freely and creatively via their religious practices and build new religious communities. In contrast, it could promote individualism and consumerism at the expense of established religious authority structures, which might impact how religious groups engage with the rest of society. Having a sophisticated and thorough grasp of the ethical ramifications of prosumerism for religious cultures is crucial. We may learn more about the shifting place of religion in society and the potential problems that digital technologies and social media bring by analysing the junction of these two phenomena.

Author Biography

Deepa Ittimani, Loyola Institute of Business Administration

Dr. Deepa Ittimani Tholath is a university gold medalist at the MBA level. Her doctoral thesis is on Knowledge Management and its Implementation Possibilities in the Service Sector. She began her career as a banker at IDBI Bank and later shifted to teaching by introducing Knowledge Management as an elective at LIBA in 2001. Her research interests include Consumer Behaviour, Pricing, Knowledge Management, Influencer Marketing and Services Marketing. She has published papers in national peer- reviewed journals and presented papers at national and international conferences. She is a research guide registered with the University of Madras.

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