Mafia religious symbolism functions as advertising to borrow reputation

Evidence

In the promotion of ordinary commodities, the deployment of catchy slogans, enticing characters, striking images, and tunes of the most diverse provenance does not surprise us. There is no reason why it should be any more surprising in the context of protection. Only unconditional disbelief—perhaps based on an unfounded ontological opposition between criminal and legal economic endeavors—could make it so. Otherwise the association between mafia symbology and, for instance, religious paraphernalia and can be explained as a simple case of advertising (see Chapter 2): protectors parade through town beneath the banner of a saint, a protector par excellence whom they are sponsoring here on earth. This message is not substantially different from advertisements on billboards or on television: cornflakes voraciously consumed by cowboys, soapsuds cascading in refreshing waterfalls, sweets recommended by gangsters, and washing machines rotating to a Strauss waltz. In all such instances, including protection, a feature of the symbolic entity will—one hopes—rub off on the product and make it more attractive. This mechanism exploits the aura which blesses those who come close enough, or—as an economist would put it—the externality of reputation: to be seen associated with a powerful symbol enhances one’s credibility. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 335

Categorization

• XREF: Extends the reputation-externality logic from Milgrom, and parallels Gambetta’s own provider-credibility argument; also links to Schelling’s commitment-through-signaling.
• DEFINE: Defines the ‘externality of reputation’ mechanism — juxtaposing a charismatic symbol with a product transfers credibility by association.