Exploring Design Thinking for Human-Centered Marketing in the Church
Faculty Advisor Name
Dr. William White
Department
Department of Learning, Technology and Leadership Education
Description
Abstract
Over the years, massive declination of church membership has prompted church management and leadership to effectively adopt and implement digital technologies and strategies such as design thinking to better cater to the churchgoing population. This study examines the prospect of the strategy of small to medium-sized churches adopting the design thinking strategy to cater to their members to achieve enhanced connection and church membership growth. The study adopts the mixed-method research design to ensure triangulation, complementarity, development, initiation, and expansion to achieve the aim. This study revealed that a more significant percentage of the small to medium-sized churches management are not familiar and do not have enough knowledge regarding design thinking. However, they are willing to adopt the design thinking strategy if proper process awareness is provided.
Keywords: Design Thinking, Digital Innovation, Human-Centered Design
Introduction
Church membership has been gradually decreasing over the years, and this declining trend might continue in the years to come (Gutmann & Peters, 2020). Several reasons are responsible for the steady decline in church membership, including church-specific factors and the changing attitudes toward church worship (Flatt et al., 2018; Strommen, 2020). Along with the threat to their membership, churches have had to transition to online modes of service in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, churches have turned to live-streaming worship songs, sermons, religious rites, and requests for tithes (Pillay, 2020). In this context, it is critical that church management and leadership effectively adopt digital technologies to better cater to the churchgoing population (Cooper et al., 2021).
Digital technology and innovation allow churches the opportunity to grow more strategically and flexibly, awarding the institution a new perspective and direction (Chow & Kurlberg, 2020; Crumpton, 2018). Specifically, the innovation strategy of design thinking has been shown to have several benefits in organizational contexts (Aho, 2021; Liedtka, 2018; Nylén & Holmström, 2019). Therefore, it is worthwhile to explore how design thinking can be applied in churches to address declining church membership.
The discovery of this study is expected to provide valuable insights regarding the strategies that churches can adopt to better connect with the churchgoing population and attract new members, thereby addressing the declining church membership population. The study findings are also expected to understand better the concept of design thinking, specifically visual design thinking, and how it can be efficiently applied in a religious institution. In addition, the study is expected to add to the existing literature on human-centered marketing and digital transformation. Finally, the study observations are expected to be beneficial for church management, church members, and people of faith by demonstrating potential practices and strategies that can help them connect better to the church, and by extension, to God.
Exploring Design Thinking for Human-Centered Marketing in the Church
Abstract
Over the years, massive declination of church membership has prompted church management and leadership to effectively adopt and implement digital technologies and strategies such as design thinking to better cater to the churchgoing population. This study examines the prospect of the strategy of small to medium-sized churches adopting the design thinking strategy to cater to their members to achieve enhanced connection and church membership growth. The study adopts the mixed-method research design to ensure triangulation, complementarity, development, initiation, and expansion to achieve the aim. This study revealed that a more significant percentage of the small to medium-sized churches management are not familiar and do not have enough knowledge regarding design thinking. However, they are willing to adopt the design thinking strategy if proper process awareness is provided.
Keywords: Design Thinking, Digital Innovation, Human-Centered Design
Introduction
Church membership has been gradually decreasing over the years, and this declining trend might continue in the years to come (Gutmann & Peters, 2020). Several reasons are responsible for the steady decline in church membership, including church-specific factors and the changing attitudes toward church worship (Flatt et al., 2018; Strommen, 2020). Along with the threat to their membership, churches have had to transition to online modes of service in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, churches have turned to live-streaming worship songs, sermons, religious rites, and requests for tithes (Pillay, 2020). In this context, it is critical that church management and leadership effectively adopt digital technologies to better cater to the churchgoing population (Cooper et al., 2021).
Digital technology and innovation allow churches the opportunity to grow more strategically and flexibly, awarding the institution a new perspective and direction (Chow & Kurlberg, 2020; Crumpton, 2018). Specifically, the innovation strategy of design thinking has been shown to have several benefits in organizational contexts (Aho, 2021; Liedtka, 2018; Nylén & Holmström, 2019). Therefore, it is worthwhile to explore how design thinking can be applied in churches to address declining church membership.
The discovery of this study is expected to provide valuable insights regarding the strategies that churches can adopt to better connect with the churchgoing population and attract new members, thereby addressing the declining church membership population. The study findings are also expected to understand better the concept of design thinking, specifically visual design thinking, and how it can be efficiently applied in a religious institution. In addition, the study is expected to add to the existing literature on human-centered marketing and digital transformation. Finally, the study observations are expected to be beneficial for church management, church members, and people of faith by demonstrating potential practices and strategies that can help them connect better to the church, and by extension, to God.
