Great thread that I missed.
+1 on everyone needing something to believe in
bngi: I thought of sports teams too.
Urban v. rural: Does anyone have an stats looking at the relation of these factors to the urban / rural divide? It seems to me that brand loyalty and sports fans are mostly an urban development. Religion is rural. Could this be a driving factor?
In fact, it kind of makes sense from a marketing perspective. Brands are driven by ads, buildings and seeing the brand in use. That means walking by an ad, building or someone using the product. That stuff makes sense in a city where I know a large amount of people will run into my ad. Religion is driven by proselytizing. I know a few christian churches that send people to rural areas of South America and Africa to try and get converts. This works when you have a large population of volunteers (the children of your followers) and the means to send them out.