How Do Customers Alter Their Basket Composition When They Perceive the Retail Store to Be Crowded? An Empirical Study

Using data from a large-scale field study, we show that (perceptions of) crowding change(s) the composition of a consumer's shopping basket. Specifically, as shoppers experience more crowding, their shopping basket contains (a) relatively more affect-rich (hedonic) products, and (b) relatively more national brands. We offer a plausible dual-process explanation for this phenomenon: Crowding induced distraction limits cognitive capacity, increasing the relative impact of affective responses in purchase decisions. As we are the first to show that level of crowding relates to what shoppers buy (at both product and brand level), the implications of these effects for retailers are discussed. (c) 2020 New York University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, it is demonstrated through a large-scale field study that perceptions of crowding influence the composition of a consumer's shopping basket. Specifically, increased crowding leads to a shopping basket containing more affect-rich products and national brands. The dual-process explanation offered suggests that crowding-induced distraction limits cognitive capacity, amplifying the role of affective responses in purchase decisions.