Religious Publishing: An Analysis of Marketing Measures by German Religious Publishers

The German religious book market is a small market segment that is dominated by small publishers. Because the number of companies and overall turnover in the market segment show a negative trend, the German religious book market can be described as a mature saturated market. Also, the classic and professional customer groups are decreasing or at least changing due to changes in the role of religion in society. However, the population still has an interest in religious topics, which is why it is important for religious publishers to target them with specific marketing measures. Content analysis of the bi-annual publishing program brochures reveals which titles religious publishers attribute the greatest sales potential to and which product, price and communication measures are used to support their top titles. The results of the analysis show that German religious publishers choose non-fiction books, but also practical guidebooks and gift books as top titles, which take up current topics and trends from church and society. Books with authentic content by authentic authors are favored. The analysis also indicates (somewhat unsurprisingly) that marketing decisions that are made depend on the financial capabilities of religious publishers. Measures related to the price are therefore hardly offered, and cost-intensive communication measures are only taken at a low level.