A Sociocultural Examination of Religiosity's Role in Coupon Proneness

ABSTRACT Coupons can help increase the revenues of a firm and are widely used by marketers to attract customers. Yet in practice, marketers face the challenge of low redemption rates, with Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) coupons having a redemption rate of less than 1%. Our research explores how religiosity, a sociocultural factor, affects consumers' coupon interests. Using both secondary data (Google Trends) and primary data (survey), the findings reveal that higher religiosity is associated with increased coupon use, as religious consumers make heightened benevolent inferences about coupons—specifically, they are more likely to view coupons as a legitimate tool offered by businesses to help reduce costs. The research further shows that, rather than generalized social trust, frugality‐based motivated reasoning better accounts for why religious consumers interpret coupons so benevolently. Alternative predictors and other potential underlying mechanisms are further tested to strengthen our theoretical framework. Taken together, these findings theoretically extend our understanding beyond the traditional demographic and marketing factors examined in prior studies. Practically, the segmentation variable suggests insights for marketers by addressing a prevalent issue and providing a framework for improved comprehension.