Consumer Responses to For

Two judgments are at the heart of the controversy surrounding state-level religious freedom legislation and for-profit firms. For some, firms choosing to limit product/service access due to the owner's religious beliefs are viewed as appropriately asserting their First Amendment rights to religious freedom. Others posit that such laws legalize discrimination. The authors offer a theory in which homophily mediates consumers' perceptions of a firm that chooses to exercise its religious convictions in the for-profit market, and an orthodox worldview moderates this relationship. When these practices are perceived to be discriminatory, there is a strong negative effect on behavior intentions; however, perceptions that the firm is appropriately asserting religious freedoms are unlikely to increase customer traffic. The authors examine the policy implications from these investigations for states and local municipalities