Int J Consum Stud. 2018;42:865–877. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ijcs | 865 © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1 | INTRODUCTION Religion and its practice are integral parts of culture, and they rep‐ resent key driving forces in a society that affect consumer behav‐ iors (Sasaki & Kim, 2011). The effect that religious beliefs and the associated practices have on a country and its culture helps explain the extent to which a dominant religion influences a society’s cul‐ tural belief systems; and researchers believe that this holds true re‐ gardless of the types of religion (or denomination) involved (Arli & Pekerti, 2017; El‐Bassiouny, 2016). It is also commonly observed that, in almost all cultures, religion affects rituals and symbolic features of human behavior that are linked to consumption of products and services both on a day‐to‐ day basis and at important transition points in the life of individuals. For example, religion plays an important role during key events in life, such as birth, marriage, and burial, in many nations across the world. The magnitude of the impact of religion on consumption behavior of individuals can be assessed by examining the amount of money spent on key events in life and the influence of religious beliefs on those events and expenditure items. For example, the av‐ erage amount of money spent on weddings in the United States in 2017 was $33,391 (Xo Group, n.d.). Related to this wedding expen‐ diture is the interesting fact that 31% of men and 38% of women choose their partners based on their religious beliefs (Pew Research Center, n.d.). Similarly, in terms of day‐to‐day consumption behavior of individuals, religion and the practice of religion have a very strong influence on peoples’ consumption of foods, drinks, and apparels. For example, in a survey reported in Dairy Foods (n.d.) about the influence of various certifications of foods on purchasing behavior of individuals in the United States in 2017 it was found that 34% of re‐ spondents reported Halal and 31% of respondents reported Kosher certifications made them much or somewhat more likely to purchase those items. It is estimated that the market value of Halal products worldwide will reach $58.3 billion by 2020 (Newschannel10.com, n.d.). In behaviors not directly related to any specific religions, but possibly related to spirituality, there has been a significant growth as well. For example, it is estimated that 26.27 million people in the United States practiced Yoga in 2016 (Outdoor Foundation, n.d.). Moreover, in a survey conducted by Statista (Statista Survey, n.d.), 24% of respondents indicated that they spent between $1 and $20, 23% indicted that they spent between $21–$50, 16% indicated that they spent between $51 and $100, and 7% indicted that they spent more than $100 every month on Yoga (excluding equipment). Given the prevalence of such behaviors, Sedikides (2010) ar‐ gues that organized religion, that is, beliefs and practices related to a supernatural agent, prevails worldwide. The 2016 Gallup surveys, Received: 24 September 2017 | Revised: 28 May 2018 | Accepted: 7 June 2018 DOI: 10.1111/ijcs.12464 SPECIAL ISSUE Global personal spirituality: Concept, measurement, and correlates across cultures Anil Mathur | Benny Barak | Yong Zhang | Keun S. Lee | Boonghee Yoo Department of Marketing and International Business, Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York Correspondence Anil Mathur, Department of Marketing and International Business, Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549. Email: Anil.Mathur@hofstra.edu Abstract The present study introduces a scale measuring a universal trait Global Personal Spirituality (GPS), which is independent of a person’s religion or religious belief. A series of confirmatory factor analyses with progressively more restrictive constraints were carried out to assess the GPS scale’s measurement invariance using subjects who were 30 to 69 years of age, and were from China (N = 453), Japan (N = 314), Korea (N = 350), and the United States (N = 436). The study also examines correlates of the GPS scale with selected related constructs to check for its validity. Results indicate that the GPS scale is both reliable and valid in these culturally and religiously diverse countries. Implications of the findings are discussed. KEYWORDS cross‐cultural, measurement, religiosity, spirituality