A national study by West Virginia University and other researchers concludes that consumers are less likely to buy from a business which does not serve certain persons because of the business owner’s religious beliefs. The study began in August 2015 following the reaction of for-profit businesses to the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana.
The research was conducted by Paula Fitzgerald at WVU’s College of Business and Economics, Karen Russo Donovan, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and Alison Mora, the Eugene P. Beard Research Fellow at Duquesne University. In late February, Fitzgerald presented findings of the research at the Winter Educators Meeting of the American Marketing Association, as well as to Morgantown City Council.