Ecological approaches to understanding human crowding

Reuben M. Baron

doi:10.1007/bf00972539

The Impact of Crowding on Calorie Consumption

Journal of Consumer Research ◽

10.1093/jcr/ucx088 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 44 (5) ◽

pp. 1123-1140 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Stefan J Hock ◽

Rajesh Bagchi

Keyword(s):

Consumer Behavior ◽

Food Item ◽

Affective Processing ◽

Environmental Cues ◽

Calorie Consumption ◽

Managerial Implications ◽

The Impact ◽

Specific Reason ◽

Human Crowding ◽

Rule Out

Abstract Consumer behavior is often influenced by subtle environmental cues, such as temperature, color, lighting, scent, or sound. We explore the effects of a not-so-subtle cue—human crowding—on calorie consumption. Although crowding is an omnipresent factor, it has received little attention in the marketing literature. We present six studies showing that crowding increases calorie consumption. These effects occur because crowding increases distraction, which hampers cognitive thinking and evokes more affective processing. When consumers process information affectively, they consume more calories. We show the specific reason for the increase in calories. When given a choice between several different options, people select and eat higher-calorie items, but when presented with only one option, people eat more of the same food item. We document this process, rule out alternative explanations, and discuss theoretical and managerial implications.

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Effects of human crowding and the physical attractiveness of others on customers in stores

Journal of Global Fashion Marketing ◽

10.1080/20932685.2016.1255854 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 69-82

Author(s):

Hyein Jung ◽

Eunsoo Baek ◽

Ho Jung Choo

Keyword(s):

Physical Attractiveness ◽

Human Crowding

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The effect of atmospheric harmony on re-patronage intention among mall consumers: the mediating role of hedonic value and the moderating role of past experience

Journal of Consumer Marketing ◽

10.1108/jcm-09-2018-2847 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 37 (5) ◽

pp. 547-557 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Zahra Afaq ◽

Amir Gulzar ◽

Shahab Aziz

Keyword(s):

Sensation Seeking ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Past Experience ◽

Content Type ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Hedonic Value ◽

Patronage Intention ◽

Human Crowding

Purpose This study assessed the roles of atmospheric harmony, human crowding and sensation seeking towards hedonic value to determine re-patronage intention amongst mall consumers. Additionally, this study aims to investigate the moderating roles of past experience amidst mall consumers within the context of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach The study data were collected from 334 mall consumers of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi by using the judgemental sampling technique. Data analysis was performed using SmartPLS 3 via partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings This study revealed that atmospheric harmony and human crowding displayed positive and adverse impacts, respectively, on hedonic value. The sensation seeking tendencies exerted by the consumers displayed no significant impact on hedonic value in light of mall habitat. The hedonic value exhibited a mediating role for the relationships of re-patronage intention with atmospheric harmony and human crowding. Besides, a significant interaction was noted between hedonic value and past experience in light of re-patronage intention. Originality/value The proposed model embeds hedonic value as a second higher-order construct, apart from amalgamating environmental and psychological factors of the mall shoppers to determine their re-patronage intentions. The study outcomes posit that mall re-patronage intention is built on several factors that offer mall managers an opportunity to enrich the hedonic consumption experience among mall consumers, aside from ensuring their re-patronage intention.

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Examining the Differential Impact of Human Crowding Versus Spatial Crowding on Visitor Satisfaction at a Festival

Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing ◽

10.1080/10548408.2015.1024914 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 293-312 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Dohee Kim ◽

Choong-Ki Lee ◽

M. Joseph Sirgy

Keyword(s):

Differential Impact ◽

Visitor Satisfaction ◽

Human Crowding

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Store disorderliness effect: shoppers' competitive behaviours in a fast-fashion retail store

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management ◽

10.1108/ijrdm-06-2019-0193 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 48 (7) ◽

pp. 763-779

Author(s):

Merve Coskun ◽

Shipra Gupta ◽

Sebnem Burnaz

Keyword(s):

Significant Relationship ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Retail Store ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Factorial Experiment ◽

Fast Fashion ◽

Content Type ◽

Atmospheric Factors ◽

Practical Implications ◽

Human Crowding

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of store messiness and human crowding on shoppers' competitive behaviours, in-store hoarding and in-store hiding, through the mediating effect of perceived scarcity and perceived competition.Design/methodology/approach2 (store messiness: messy × tidy) × 2 (human crowding: high × low) between-subject factorial experiment was conducted online to manipulate retail store atmospheric factors. A total of 154 responses were collected through Amazon MTurk. The hypotheses were analysed using ANOVA and PROCESS (Hayes, 2013) procedure.FindingsResults suggest that store messiness and human crowding within a fast-fashion store lead to perception of scarcity and competition that further affects competitive behaviours. When consumers experience store messiness, they are likely to hide merchandise in store, thus making it inaccessible for other consumers. Further, when they experience human crowding in the store, they feel that the products will be gone immediately so they have a tendency to hoard them.Research limitations/implicationsThis study examined the effects of scarcity perception by studying the case of fast-fashion retailers; generalizability needs to be established across different contexts.Practical implicationsRetailers by manipulating human crowding and store messiness can create a perception of scarcity in their stores, thus enhancing sales. However, they should also pay attention to deviant behaviours such as in-store hoarding and in-store hiding as these behaviours may decrease the store sales.Originality/valueThis research contributed to the retailing literature by finding a significant relationship between human crowding, store messiness and competitive behaviours through perceived scarcity and competition.

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