Not All Open Minds Think Alike: How Rational and Intuitive Open-Mindedness Shape Responses to Religious Advertising

This study examines how consumer responses to religious advertising are influenced by two dimensions of open-mindedness: rational and intuitive. Across three experiments, participants viewed ads that varied in the strength of their religious cue. Study 1 finds that intuitive open-mindedness enhances brand attitude, while rational open-mindedness diminishes it. Study 2 shows that ad involvement mediates the intuitive, but not rational, pathway. These results help resolve inconsistencies in past research by demonstrating that open-mindedness is multidimensional, not uniform. Study 3 extends these insights by testing whether these effects generalize to different types of symbols (Christian, Muslim, or neutral). The results replicate Study 2 and demonstrate that the symbol itself did not yield significant differences. These findings highlight the nuanced role of symbolic cues and the distinct influences of rational versus intuitive open-mindedness in marketing with religious cues.