ABSTRACT
America possesses a free market economy par excellence. The mechanisms of the market extend not only to goods and services, but far into the sphere of culture, affecting even the realm of religion itself. Just as goods and services emerge and change in response to market forces, growing affluence, recession, the appearance of new consumer groups and new consumption desires, so too does the religious commodity. Existing suppliers seek to develop a new brand image, or continue to survive on the retained brand loyalty of old customers and sometimes their families, while forceful, even aggressive, marketing by new suppliers of salvation may lead to the capture of some section of the existing market, or the formation of new consumers from groups and strata hitherto ignored.
