ABSTRACT

The topical issue of religion is often inflamed by a biased media, personal ignorance, or simply naïveté, religion has become a negative force that is often perceived as the cause of all problems in a society. The importance of religion to Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is that ethnic minorities often demonstrate higher levels of religious adherence as a means of negotiating dissonance arising from cultural interactions. Issues surrounding product and adherence to religious needs are complicated by differing religions often having differing demands. Promotion can be particularly problematic for SMEs without wider complications of religion being included. Religion has been identified with how individuals perceive themselves, how it affects employees and potential benefits to SMEs and how it can be used within marketing strategy to increase market share and profitability. Religion has been described as one of the most important cultural forces and influences on human behaviour, reflecting an acceptance of another, superior being over humanity.