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Understanding perceived retail crowding: A critical review and research

agenda

Article  in  Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · November 2013

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2013.06.002

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Understanding perceived retail crowding: A critical review and

research agenda

To cite this article: Mehta, R. (2013). Understanding perceived retail crowding:

A critical review and research agenda. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services,
20, 642-649.

Abstract

Perceived retail crowding is an important, but under-researched construct in

marketing research. It has been found to influence a number of retail outcomes.

However, the limited empirical studies in this area have not just produced seemingly

contradictory results, but have also used different conceptualizations of the construct.

This paper provides an explanation of the construct of perceived retail crowding and

reviews the empirical studies in the area so as to integrate the knowledge that may

help in understanding of consumer behavior in crowded retail settings. The paper also

presents directions for future research and managerial implications.

Keywords: Perceived crowding; Store atmospherics; Empirical research; Emotions;

Evaluations; Consumer behavior

1. Introduction

Perceived retail crowding, also termed as perceived crowding or crowding in the

literature on retailing is an important element of store atmospherics (Baker 1986,

Turley and Milliman 2000). It has attracted attention under social factor or human

variable of store atmospherics (Turley and Milliman 2000). It has been shown to

influence a number of retail outcomes such as consumers’ satisfaction (Eroglu et al.

2005, Machleit et al. 2000), attitude towards the store (Mehta et al. 2012, Pan and

Siemens 2011), and behavioral responses (Hui and Bateson 1991, Pan and Siemens

2011), to name but a few. Aylott and Mitchell (1998) identified crowding and

queuing, a function of crowding, as the two major stressors for grocery shopping.

The fact that many retailers use a number of strategies for crowd management implies

that they too acknowledge the fact that consumers’ perceptions of crowding can

influence their behavior. Designing the layout of the retail space, specific placement

of different products, deciding on the number of sales-support personnel and check-

out counters are some of the ways adopted by retailers to control the level of

consumers’ perceived crowding

Harrell and Hutt (1976) introduced the concept of perceived crowding in the

retailing literature. Since then many studies have been reported that try to explore the

phenomenon of perceived crowding and understand its effects in the retail

environment. These studies, however, lack consistency on the use of the term, the

conceptualization of the construct, and seem to have produced contradictory results.

Lam (2001) and Turley and Milliman (2000) provide a review of the effects of

various atmospheric variables, including crowding, on shopping behavior. More than

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a decade has passed since these two reviews got published, and issues in the area of

retail crowding have advanced considerably.

The recent developments in the retail space also call for renewed attention in

the area of retail crowding. There has been a growth in the number of shoppers and

consumption especially from the emerging economies. Globally, retailers are

expanding their businesses in emerging markets to avail the opportunities arising from

the growing middle class and the rising disposable incomes in these regions. These

developments have led to greater importance to the issue of retail crowding. Another

interesting development during the last decade is the proliferation of social media and

online retailing. This phenomenon could imply that consumers feel lonelier now and

consumers’ preferred level of crowding might have changed over the period. All these

reasons stimulated this study and provided motivation to comprehensively review the

research in crowding till date.

This paper aims at achieving the following objectives: (1) providing a

conceptual clarification of the construct of perceived retail crowding, (2) synthesizing

the findings and methodologies of more than three decades of empirical investigation

in the area of crowding in the marketing literature, and delineate the possible sources

of discrepancy in the findings, (3) identifying possible avenues for future research.

Thus, the paper will serve as a comprehensive source of information for researchers as

well as marketers who are interested in understanding consumer behavior in crowded

retail environments.

The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. First, the paper discusses

the conceptual background of perceived retail crowding and differentiates between the

terminologies of perceived crowding, perceived density, and density that are

sometimes used interchangeably in crowding literature. Subsequently, based on the

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literature review, it discusses the findings and comments on the methods adopted in

the empirical studies on perceived retail crowding. Finally, it draws implications for

future research as well as practice.

2. Perceived retail crowding: the evolution of the concept and

conceptual clarification

Perceived crowding in the retailing literature attracted attention from researchers in

the 1970s when super stores and shopping centers became increasingly popular. The

rise in the number of recreational shoppers during that period (Bellenger et al. 1977),

along with growing number of working women having limited shopping hours, and

cluttered merchandising in stores contributed to the need for inquiry into the concept

of crowding in retail settings (Harrell and Hutt, 1976).

Prior to the introduction of the concept of crowding in retailing literature,

several theories from environmental psychology and social psychology provide

insights into the phenomenon of crowding.

2.1. Theories to explain the phenomenon of crowding

The stimulus overload theory suggests that crowding is experienced when

environmental stimulation exceeds one’s capacity to cope (Desor 1972, Milgram

1970). This theory emphasizes on cognitive overload associated with high density.

Interference theories suggest that crowding is a result of dysfunctionally dense

environment (Stokols et al. 1973, Sundstrom 1975). When the level of density

interferes with an individual’s activities and achievement of goal, crowding is

experienced. Control model attributes crowded feeling to loss of perceived control in

high-density conditions (Sherrod 1974). This loss of control can be due to excessive

unwanted interactions or lack of behavioral freedom in the environment. Social

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intrusion perspective views invasion of privacy as the cause of feeling crowded

(Altman 1975). Thus, the construct of crowding is generally associated with negative

evaluation of too many people in the same environment. Whether these effects are

salient or not depends on a number of personal, situational, and social variables

(Stokols 1972).

The above stated approaches help to explain the phenomenon of crowding in

the context of retail settings.

2.2. Conceptual clarification: Density, perceived density, perceived crowding

Most of the empirical work on crowding in retail settings makes use of three

interrelated terms of density, perceived density, and perceived crowding. These terms

have been used interchangeably in many of these studies, but it is important to

differentiate between these concepts. These concepts have been derived from

literature in psychology (Rapoport 1975, Stokols 1972). Stokols (1972) contended

that while density is a physical state involving spatial limitation, crowding is an

experiential state that refers to the restrictive nature of the limited space as perceived

by the individuals. Crowding is experienced when restrictive aspects of spatial

limitation become prominent and aversive. McGrew (1970) suggested that there are

two types of density: social and spatial. Social density refers to the actual number of

people in a given space and spatial density refers to the amount of space per person.

Rapoport (1975) used the term perceived density to refer to the subjective estimate of

the number of people, the space available, and the organization of the space. He

termed perceived crowding as the subjective experience of certain density levels.

Thus, density is an objective measure, perceived density is subjective and neutral as it

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does not have any positive or negative connotation, while perceived crowding is

subjective and evaluative in nature.

The above discussion leads us to adopt the following definitions on the three

constructs for the purpose of this article. “Density” is a function of number of

individuals and amount of space available. One can examine “human density” by

varying the actual number of individuals keeping the retail space constant, or look at

“spatial density” by varying the space available through the amount and placement of

objects and merchandise keeping the number of individuals constant. There is only

one study (Harrell et al. 1980) that uses the construct of density and uses actual

number of shoppers in the store as a measure of density. Alternative ways to capture

shopper density are number of transactions in a given duration, sales in a given

duration, or actual waiting time at the checkout counter (Harrell and Hutt 1976).

“Perceived density” is the respondents’ assessment on the number of shoppers

(termed as perceived human density) or space available to the shoppers (termed as

perceived spatial density). The human and spatial aspects of perceived density can be

captured using statements on respondents’ assessment about absolute number of

people in the store or number of people per unit area, and amount of space available

per person, respectively (Hui and Bateson 1991, Machleit et al. 2000).

The third construct, most frequently used in the literature on retail crowding,

“perceived crowding” is a consumer’s evaluative assessment of the restrictive aspects

of the retail space. It is a complicated construct because the same density or

perceived density level may or may not result in same discomfort for all individuals.

A person can feel crowded even in a less dense store and vice versa. It depends on a

number of factors, including personal (Machleit et al. 2000), situational (Eroglu and

Machleit 1990, Machleit et al. 2000), and cultural variables (Pons et al. 2006, Pons
 7

and Laroche 2007). There has also been an issue with the dimensionality of the

construct of perceived crowding with some researchers treating it as a unidimensional

construct (Eroglu and Machleit 1990, Hui and Bateson 1991), while others as a two-

dimensional construct (Eroglu et al. 2005, Harrell et al. 1980, Machleit et al. 1994,

Machleit et al. 2000). Machleit et al. (1994) through a series of laboratory experiment

and field studies identified two dimensions of perceived retail crowding: human and

spatial dimensions. The two-dimensional approach is consistent with the

environmental psychology literature that suggests two types of density: spatial and

social density (McGrew 1970) as discussed earlier in the section. Many of the

subsequent studies on retail crowding recognize the importance to distinguish

between the two dimensions (Eroglu et al. 2005, Machleit et al. 2000, Pan and

Siemens 2011). The operationalization of the two dimensions is discussed next.

2.3. Operationalization of perceived retail crowding

Harrell et al. (1980) developed a six-item, seven-point semantic differential scale

based on the literature on crowding from different disciplines. The scale items were:

too many shoppers–too few shoppers, restricts movement–allows free movement, can

move at my own pace–must move at a pace set by others, crowded–uncrowded,

spacious–confined, gives an open feeling–gives a closed feeling. The study by

Machleit et al. (1994) developed and validated an alternative seven-point Likert scale

with a few more items added to the Harrell et al. (1980) scale and based on content

validity, recommend the use of two-dimensional Likert scale over the semantic

differential scale. The items on perceived spatial crowing include the following three

items: the store seemed very spacious, I felt cramped shopping in the store, the store

felt confining to shoppers. The items on perceived human crowding include the
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following four items: the store seemed very crowded to me, the store was a little too

busy, there wasn’t much traffic in the store, and there were a lot of shoppers in the

store. Subsequent studies have adopted or adapted the items from these two scales or

have added a few items based on the literature in the area of crowding. The next

section provides a comprehensive literature review of retail crowding.

3. Review of empirical studies on perceived retail crowding

The following section reviews empirical studies on perceived retail crowding right

from the introduction of the concept in 1976 to 2012. These studies are from

marketing and services journals including Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of

Consumer Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal

of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management,

Marketing Letters, Journal of Services Marketing, International Journal of Hospitality

Management, and The Service Industries Journal. To be included in the review, the

studies had to meet the following criteria: (1) perceived retail crowding being the

dominant subject in the study, (2) the article to have appeared in a peer-reviewed

journal, (3) empirical studies with quantitative research approach were considered.

Table 1 provides a comprehensive overview of the literature on perceived

retail crowding. On the basis of the literature review, this section discusses the

findings and the methodological approaches used in different studies, and identifies

possible reasons for the inconsistent findings of the previous research.

3.1. Findings of the empirical studies on perceived retail crowding

The earlier studies focus both on the antecedents and consequences of perceived retail

crowding, while the latter studies focus mainly on its consequences.

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3.1.1. Antecedents of perceived retail crowding

Earlier studies demonstrate that perceived retail crowding increases with shopper

density (Harrell et al. 1980) and perceived density (Eroglu and Machleit 1990).

Spatial as well as human density perceptions affect both spatial and human crowding

perceptions (Machleit et al. 2000). However, there are other variables that mediate or

moderate the relationship between perceived density and perceived crowding.

Perceived density affects perceived crowding directly as well as indirectly through

perceived control (Hui and Bateson 1991). Factors such as task orientation, perceived

risk, and time pressure were found to affect crowding perceptions under high-density

conditions (Eroglu and Machleit 1990). Gender differences were found with men

reporting higher crowding perceptions than women under high-density conditions

(Eroglu and Machleit 1990). Culture influences perceived crowding with a dense

shopping situation triggering higher perceived crowding for Canadian consumers than

for Mexicans (Pons and Laroche 2007).

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Table 1. Summary table of past studies on perceived retail crowding

Study Sample Setting Method Independent Dependent Main findings

Variables Variables
Harrell et 600 shoppers Supermarket Field study Shopper Perceived Retail density positively affects
al. (1980) density crowding, crowding perceptions. Perceived
adaptation crowding negatively affects satisfaction.
strategies, Task orientation, perceived risk, and
outcomes time pressure, intensify crowding
perceptions under high-density
conditions.
Eroglu & 112 adults Mall Laboratory Perceived Perceived Retail density positively affects
Machleit experiment: retail density, crowding, crowding perceptions. Perceived
(1990) slides motive, time shoppers' crowding negatively affects satisfaction.
constraint, satisfaction with Task orientation, perceived risk, and
perceived risk, the retail time pressure, intensify crowding
shopping environment perceptions under high-density
motives, conditions.
gender
Hui & 115 adults Bank, bar Laboratory Perceived Perceived Perceived control mediates the effects
Bateson between the age experiment: consumer control, of consumer density and consumer
(1991) 25 and 40 slides density, perceived choice on pleasantness and behavior.
choice, service crowding,
setting pleasure,
approach-
avoidance
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Machleit 76 students, 140 Bookstore, Laboratory Dimensionality Satisfaction Perceived crowding has two distinct
et al. bookstore grocery store, experiment: of perceived human and spatial dimensions that
(1994) shoppers discount store videotapes, crowding, affect satisfaction differently. The effect
(mainly field studies crowding of human crowding on satisfaction is
students), 232 expectation moderated by expected level of
store shoppers crowding.
Machleit 722 students Variety of Field studies Perceived Emotions, Perceived crowding negatively affects
et al. (field study), stores like with take- crowding, satisfaction shopping satisfaction. Emotions mediate
(2000) 153 non- mall, home expectation the crowding-satisfaction relationship.
students, 231 department, questionnaire, about Expectation, store-type, and personal
students (lab grocery store laboratory crowding, tolerance moderate the crowding-
study) etc. experiment: store-type, satisfaction relationship.
videotapes personal
tolerance,
gender
Tse et al. 300 adults Restaurant Laboratory Perceived Food quality, Perceived crowding is associated with
(2002) experiment: crowding food price, high food quality, low food price, and
pictures reputation of good reputation of the restaurant.
restaurant
Eroglu et 153 adults, 296 Variety of Field studies Perceived Emotions, Perceived crowding affects shopping
al. (2005) students stores like with take- crowding shopping value, value via emotions. Emotions and
grocery home and satisfaction shopping value completely mediate the
department, questionnaire spatial crowding-satisfaction
hypermart, relationship. However, for human
mall etc. crowding there exists a positive direct
effect on shopping satisfaction.
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Pons et al. Canadian Disco Laboratory Perceived Affective The density manifestations produce
(2006) undergraduates experiment: density, evaluation, positive responses from consumers in
and 244 videotapes personal space, satisfaction crowded hedonic service. Culture
Lebanese privacy, affects perceptions of density
undergraduates territoriality, manifestations and moderates
freedom of consumers' reactions to a crowded retail
movement environment.
Pons & 861 Canadian Bookstore Laboratory Perceived Perceived Consumers perceive and react to
Laroche undergraduates, experiment: density, crowding, crowded situations differently,
(2007) 862 Mexican videotapes density affective depending on their culture. Expectations
undergraduates expectation, evaluation, affect the way consumers evaluate
culture shopping crowded settings.
satisfaction
Mattila & 138 shoppers Variety of Field study Perceived Impulse buying Perceived crowding and employee
Wirtz outlets like crowding, assistance jointly affect impulse buying.
(2008) book and environmental Over stimulation has a positive effect on
music store, stimulation, impulse purchases.
cosmetics, employee
clothing store assistance
Li et al. 554 shoppers Hypermarket Field study Perceived Emotions, Perceived human crowding positively
(2009) crowding satisfaction, impacted emotions, while perceived
behavioral spatial crowding negatively affected
outcomes emotions. Retail crowding affects
shopping behaviors through emotions
and satisfaction.

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Pan & 270 Clothing store, Laboratory Perceived Store attitude, Perceived crowding exhibits an inverted
Siemens undergraduates, salon experiments: crowding, time behavioral U-shaped relationship with shoppers’
(2011) 403 faculty, photographs pressure intentions store attitudes and behavioral intentions
staff and in a goods setting. The relationship is
students linear in a service setting except under
high pressure.
Mehta et 201 adult Hypermarket Field study Perceived Emotions, The effects of perceived crowding on
al. (2012) shoppers crowding, evaluations, patronage intention is curvilinear and is
optimal patronage mediated by pleasure and store-
stimulation intention evaluation. The effects of perceived
level crowding on emotions and evaluations
appear to be moderated by optimal
stimulation level.
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3.1.2. Consequences of perceived retail crowding

There are emotional, cognitive, and behavioral consequences of perceived retail

crowding as discussed in the following sub-sections.

Perceived crowding, emotions, and satisfaction. So far as the consequences of

perceived retail crowding are considered, most of the empirical studies investigate the

impact of perceived crowding on consumers’ satisfaction. Past studies have

consistently produced negative effects of spatial crowding perceptions on satisfaction

(Eroglu et al. 2005, Li et al. 2009, Machleit et al. 2000). However, the effects of

human crowding perceptions have produced mixed results. Some studies report

negative effects of perceived human crowding on shopping satisfaction (Machleit et

al. 1994, Machleit et al. 2000), while a few others report positive effects (Eroglu et al.

2005, Li et al. 2009, Pons et al. 2006). The relationship between perceived crowding

and shopping satisfaction is affected by a number of mediating and moderating

variables. Emotions mediate the effect of crowding on shopping satisfaction (Eroglu

et al. 2005, Li et al. 2009, Machleit et al. 2000). Factors such as expectations of

crowding, personal tolerance for crowding, and store type moderate the crowding–

satisfaction relationship (Machleit et al. 2000). Shopper satisfaction was higher when

perceived crowding is short of or meets crowding expectations, and lower when

perceived crowding exceeds expectations. For individuals with high tolerance of

crowding, human crowding did not significantly affect shopping satisfaction as it did

for those with a low tolerance level for crowding. For discount stores, relationship

between human crowding and satisfaction was non-significant. Pons and Laroche

(2007) demonstrated that culture moderates the density-satisfaction relationship. A

comparison of consumers' reactions to crowd in two different countries (Canada and

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Mexico) suggested that high density affected Mexicans less negatively than their

Canadian counterparts. Gender was not found to significantly affect emotions (Mehta

et al. 2012) or shopping satisfaction (Machleit et al. 2000), though a pattern of

stronger negative effects of crowding on satisfaction was observed for females than

for males (Machleit et al. 2000). Store-familiarity too was not found to affect

crowding–satisfaction relationship (Machleit et al. 2000, Mehta et al. 2012). Negative

(Eroglu and Machleit 1990) as well as non-significant effects have been reported for

interaction of time-pressure and crowding on satisfaction (Machleit et al. 2000).

The effect of perceived crowding on emotions was found to be curvilinear in a

recent study by Mehta et al. (2012) and the effects were moderated by shoppers’

optimal stimulation level with the effect being stronger for individuals with high

optimal stimulation level than for individuals with low optimal stimulation level.

Perceived crowding and evaluations. The effect of perceived crowding on

store attitudes and evaluations were found to be curvilinear in more recent studies.

Medium level of crowding was associated with more favorable store attitudes (Pan

and Siemens 2011) and merchandise evaluations (Mehta et al. 2012). Store attitudes

were assessed through impressions about the store at an aggregate level

(unfavorable/favorable, bad/good, unlikable/likable). Merchandise evaluations were

based on perceptions of merchandise quality (low/high), style (outdated/up-to-date),

and selection (in-adequate/adequate). In the context of restaurant, Tse et al. (2002)

found that the level of perceived crowding is positively associated with high-quality

food, low price, and good reputation of the restaurant. Similarly, Pan and Siemens

(2011) found linear effects of perceived crowding on store attitudes in case of service

setting (salon), but an inverted U-shaped trend for individuals who were pressed for
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time. In the context of services, Giebelhausen et al. (2011) demonstrated that in

situations where quality is important or wherein the customer is not familiar with the

service provider, perceived wait manipulated through the presence of a crowd

increases perceived quality.

Perceived crowding and shopping value assessment. Perceived retail crowding

negatively affects shopping values and the effects appear to be moderated by factors

such as personal tolerance for crowding, time spent shopping, shopping intention, and

whether purchase was made (Eroglu et al. 2005). For individuals with low tolerance

for crowding, and with purchase-directed intention of visit, there were strong effects

of human crowding perceptions on both utilitarian and hedonic types of shopping

value. For those who spent less than an hour in the store, there were strong negative

correlations between human and spatial crowding perceptions and both the types of

shopping values. Adaptability to the high-density stimuli was possibly at play for

individuals who spent more time in the store. The effect of perceived crowding on

shopping value is mediated by emotions experienced by the shopper. The emotions

and shopping value reactions, in turn, completely or partially mediate the effects of

spatial and human crowding perceptions on satisfaction respectively (Eroglu et al.

2005).

Perceived crowding, coping, and behavioral responses. Perceived crowding also

affects consumers’ shopping behavior and behavioral intentions. Shoppers may use a

number of adaptation strategies such as adjustment in shopping time and deviation

from shopping plan to cope with perceived crowding (Harrell et al. 1980). Mattila and

Wirtz (2008) found that employee assistance could reduce the negative effects of
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perceived human crowding on unplanned purchases. Perceived human crowding also

affects consumers’ store patronage intentions, but the relationship follows an inverted

U-shaped trend (Mehta et al. 2012, Pan and Siemens 2011). Consumers’ emotional

dimension of pleasure, and store evaluation mediate these effects (Mehta et al. 2012).

The effect of crowding on behavioral intentions like entering the store and

recommending the store for a service setting was not found to be inverted U-shaped,

but linear except under conditions of time pressure (Pan and Siemens 2011).

3.1.3. Summary of the findings

To summarize, the perceptions of human and spatial densities affect both the

dimensions of consumers’ perceived crowding. Individual variables like personal

tolerance for crowding and situational variables such as task orientation, perceived

risk, and time pressure may affect perceived crowding levels. Giving some control to

the consumers can minimize the experience of crowding and its negative effects.

Consumers’ emotions, cognitive evaluations of the store, shopping value, and coping

mechanisms seem to mediate the effects of perceived crowding on retail outcomes.

The differential effects of perceived human crowding observed in the

empirical studies might be explained in the context of choice of the retail setting. For

instance, negative effects of crowding are more prominent in utilitarian settings such

as grocery stores (Machleit et al. 1994), book stores (Pons and Laroche 2007), and

banks (Hui and Bateson 1991). Crowded hedonic settings like discos (Pons et al.

2006) and restaurants (Tse et al. 2002) have produced positive responses from

consumers. In neutral settings, the effects were found to be inverted U-shaped (Mehta

et al. 2012). A possible explanation for the positive effects of human crowding found

in the study by Eroglu et al. (2005) wherein respondents report their responses after
 18

their visit to any of the retail outlets like grocery, hypermarket, or departmental stores

could be due to overall moderate level of perceived crowding at the time the

respondents chose to visit these stores.

The effects of perceived crowding also appear to be contingent on several

other factors as expectations of crowding, personal tolerance for crowding,

individual’s optimal stimulation level, store-type, time spent in the store, and

shopping intention. Gender has produced non-significant, or at best inconclusive

moderating effects on consumer responses. Interactive effects of time pressure and

crowding are mixed with some studies reporting non-significant effects (Machleit et

al. 2000) and others negative effects (Eroglu and Machleit 1990, Machleit et al. 2000)

in retail store setting. Interestingly, the same study by Machleit et al. (2000) reports

non-significant effects with the student sample, and significant effects with non-

student sample. Possible reasons for this conflicting finding could be the confounding

variables not accounted for, such as tolerance for crowding and expectation of

crowding.

3.1.4. Managerial implications of the findings

Research indicates that perceived crowding is an important yet a difficult variable to

control for managers. It presents a challenge for retailers as to how to maximize

density without triggering the negative effects of perceived crowding (Harrell and

Hutt 1976, Harrell et al. 1980). Managers should anticipate crowd levels and

consumers’ shopping patterns under different levels of crowding. Accordingly they

should make arrangements and devise their product and promotion strategies (Harrell

et al. 1980). Designing architectural features of the store and the store environment

can help alleviate feeling of crowding (Eroglu and Machleit 1990). For example,
 19

adjustments in store atmospheric variables like music and temperature can help

reduce feeling of human crowding. Likewise, arrangement of merchandise and layout

of the store can mitigate the feeling of spatial crowding (Machleit et al. 1994).

Retailers can have extra staff and extra check-out counters to handle the large number

of shoppers during peak shopping times (Machleit et al. 2000, Mehta et al. 2012).

Since the negative effects of high consumer density can be minimized by providing

some control to the consumers, retailers can provide information, a form of cognitive

control, to shoppers as to the length of the queue so that they are prepared for the wait

(Hui and Bateson 1991). Similarly, designing the store so that shoppers have a choice

to move around and alter their directions if needed, would provide them behavioral

control to mitigate the negative consequences of crowding (Li et al. 2009). Retailers

should manage expectations of density to reduce consumers’ dissatisfaction with the

shopping experience (Pons and Laroche 2007). They should also try to figure out how

shoppers react to the strategies they design to avoid the negative effects of crowding

(Machleit et al. 2000). Since shoppers’ reactions to different levels of crowding vary

with culture, international retail organizations should aim at recognizing and

understanding the cultural differences in assessment and dealing of crowded retail

settings (Pons et al. 2006, Pons and Laroche 2007). Managers should have a dynamic

approach to crowd management so that they are able to maintain the optimal level of

crowding for their stores (Mehta et al. 2012).

3.2. Perceived retail crowding and waiting research1

The previous section presented findings of studies with perceived retail crowding as

the primary focus of the study. Since crowding is related to wait expectation and

1 We thank the referee for suggesting to add this issue.
 20

waiting time, this section establishes the link between crowding literature and waiting

time literature.

Grewal et al. (2003) demonstrated that higher perceived consumer density

leads to longer wait perception that negatively affects evaluation of the store’s

atmosphere and patronage intention in a service-intensive store setting. Prior research

in waiting literature too reports negative effects of waiting time on affective reactions

and evaluations (Dube, Schmitt, & Leclerc 1991, Taylor 1994). Moreover, earlier

studies suggest waiting to be associated with economic (time and effort) and

psychological (stress) cost (Baker et al. 2002, Osuna 1985).

A recent study by Giebelhausen et al. (2011) manipulated wait by the presence

or absence of crowd in different service settings. The study found that the presence of

a wait resulted in significantly lower purchase intentions for shoppers with

convenience as the primary motivation. However, for shoppers motivated by quality

the presence of a wait significantly increased purchase intentions. Additionally, after

accounting for the mediating effect of quality perceptions, the effect of wait on

purchase intentions was found to be negative. The study highlights the need to control

for variables such as shopping motivation and perceived quality in studies on waiting

and perceived crowding in order to capture their true effects. The study also presents

evidence that there might be curvilinear effects (inverted U-shaped) of wait on

shopping outcomes as found in recent studies on crowding (Mehta et al. 2012, Pan

and Siemens 2011).

3.3. Method of the studies

Research in perceived retail crowding makes use of either or both of field and

laboratory studies, as seen in Table 1. Field studies have the advantage of external and
 21

ecological validity. But many of the other environmental elements that can influence

the studies on perceived crowding are not controlled for, and thus the causal nature of

the relationships is not clear. Laboratory studies use slides or videotapes to provide a

simulated store environment. These studies may suffer from experiential realism and

individuals may not behave the same in actual retail environments. Bateson and Hui

(1992) demonstrated that slides and videotapes used as environmental simulation

provide ecological validity. Also, experimental design gives better control over

confounding variables. But the disadvantage is that certain dimensions like

temperature, smell, and noise are eliminated (McClelland and Auslander 1978). These

dimensions go hand in hand with the number of shoppers and therefore consumer

responses may differ in actual retail setting and laboratory conditions. For example,

Machleit et al. (1994) found in a laboratory simulation that human crowding has more

effect than spatial crowding on store satisfaction. Contradictorily, the correlation

between human crowding and satisfaction was not found to be significant in the field

study. The authors subsequently found that consumers’ expectations about the number

of shoppers moderates the relationship between human crowding and store

satisfaction, and since expectation may be missing in the laboratory conditions it

resulted in different findings on the effects of human crowding on satisfaction.

The field and laboratory studies both have been conducted with student as well

as non-student sample. The study by Machleit et al. (2000) resulted in almost similar

responses to perceived crowding from student and non-student respondents. For the

field studies, intercept surveys with actual shoppers have been carried out (Harrell et

al. 1980, Li et al. 2009, Machleit et al. 1994, Mehta et al. 2012) or the respondents

were asked to fill out a retrospective questionnaire after their next shopping trip

(Eroglu et al. 2005, Machleit et al. 2000). All field studies, except for Harrell et al.
 22

(1980) have used convenience sampling.

Finally, studies have been conducted in different settings, ranging from a mall

to different types of retail stores such as grocery stores, departmental stores, and

bookstores, as well as service settings such as banks, salons, and restaurant bar. As

mentioned in the review section, the effects of perceived crowding have been found to

vary with the type of store (Machleit et al. 2000, Pan and Siemens 2011), thus the

findings should be extrapolated to other settings with caution.

4. Conclusions

The empirical studies in this review highlight that perceived retail crowding is a

complex process that results from a combination of many personal, cultural,

situational, and environmental factors. The studies also underline the innumerable

ways in which perceived crowding can affect consumer behavior and shopping

outcomes in retail settings. In spite of the growth in the literature on perceived retail

crowding over the years, there are issues that still need attention. The implications for

research, including method and practice are presented below.

4.1. Implications for research: Issues

There is sufficient evidence for the mediating role of emotions on the response to

perceived retail crowding. However, the gamut of emotions induced by perceived

retail crowding is still not clear. Most studies make use of the pleasure and arousal

dimensions of Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) PAD (Pleasure–Arousal–Dominance)

scale to measure emotions. Machleit and Eroglu (2000) suggest that the emotional

dimension of dominance may be of critical significance in studies on crowding where

control over the retail environment is a concern. Yet most studies do not include the
 23

emotional dimension of dominance (e.g., Hui and Bateson 1991, Mehta et al. 2012).

Other scales, such as PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Watson et al.

1988) may be used instead of or in addition to the PAD scale.

The effect of perceived crowding on store image has not been tested

sufficiently. A few studies investigate the effect of perceived crowding on store

attitude (e.g., Pan and Siemens 2011) and evaluations (e.g., Mehta et al. 2012),

however these studies have looked at the overall impression of the store. The effects

of perceived retail crowding on specific attributes such as perceptions of service-

quality and price range, and discount or exclusive image of the store have not been

studied. We anticipate that perceived retail crowding should be negatively related to

service-quality, price perceptions, and exclusive store-image.

Additional research is necessary to unravel the mechanisms consumers use to

cope with the negative effects of perceived retail crowding and the precise role of

coping mechanism in the relationship between perceived crowding and retail

outcomes. For example, Harrell et al. (1980) found that certain coping mechanisms

like deviation from planned shopping time mediate the effects of perceived crowding

on satisfaction. However, such a deviation may not always be possible, especially

with growing working class of population. Thus, it would be interesting to know

about other coping measures frequently undertaken, whether there is an alteration in

behavior with other shoppers, and whether these have immediate effects or have long

term implications as on consumers’ store-loyalty and patronage intentions.

The interactive effects of perceived density and other atmospheric variables on

perceived crowding and shopper responses have received little attention. Extant

research suggests that congruency of different environmental stimuli affects

consumers’ responses. For instance, Mattila and Wirtz (2001) demonstrated that
 24

congruency between ambient scent and music in terms of their arousing qualities

results in enhanced perceptions of the store environment. Spangenberg et al. (2006)

found that consumers’ evaluations in a Christmas shopping context are more

favorable when the Christmas scent is in the presence of Christmas music. Likewise,

perceived crowding may interact with other atmospheric variables to influence

congruency and thereby consumer responses. Baker et al. (1994) found that classical

music, soft lighting, and green/peach color scheme are associated with prestige-image

store environment. It would be interesting to see how these prestige-image store

elements interact with perceived crowding, i.e., whether they help in alleviating the

negative connotations associated with an over crowded store such as low-quality

merchandise (Mehta et al. 2012) or whether they lower the evaluations of the overall

prestige-image store environment.

The effects of demographic variables and personality traits have not been

sufficiently explored in the context of retail crowding. An individual’s optimal

stimulation level (OSL) was found to moderate the effects of perceived human

crowding (Mehta et al. 2012). Studies have shown that gender, age, education, and

employment status are correlated with OSL (Raju 1980, Zuckerman et al. 1978)

Studies have also demonstrated that crowding affects task performance of extraverts

significantly more than that of introverts (Khew and Brebner, 1985). Thus,

demographic and personality variables can play an important role in retail crowding

research.

Studies in environmental psychology suggest that the architecture of a space

can result in feeling of invasion of personal space. For example, lowered ceiling

height (Savinar 1975) and reduction in lighting (Adams and Zuckerman 1991) can

cause an increase in personal space requirements. Thus, it would be interesting to test

 25

the effects of different architectural designs on perceived crowding and shopping

behavior.

Perceived retail crowding may result in waiting time as discussed earlier. We

briefly investigate the links between the two issues in Section 3.2, but there is a need

to integrate the findings further. Also, since crowding implies greater exposure to

other shoppers present in the same environment, crowded environments are likely to

boost customer-to-customer effects that exist in the social influence research. For

instance, Argo et al. (2008) found that the attractiveness of other shoppers and their

gender affects evaluations of touched products. Thakor et al. (2008) found that young

consumers’ evaluation of the service was negatively affected in the presence of older

consumers. Thus, the role of other shoppers in influencing consumptions needs to be

further investigated in crowded retail settings.

4.2. Implications for research: Method

Field experiments have not been conducted in the existing studies on perceived retail

crowding. Field experiments that would allow manipulation of the level of perceived

crowding through control over number of shoppers or arrangement of merchandise

can be especially useful for studies on crowding. Thereby participants’ emotions and

behaviors can be captured more naturally. However field experiments can be more

expensive and more time-consuming than laboratory experiments. Also control over

the environment may be difficult. One important reason for this is the researcher’s

ability to control and manipulate conditions shown in pictures such as height and size

of space, details in drawings, an elimination of other environmental features.

There is some concern with having a homogenous sample as that of students

in studies on crowding as they may exhibit similar responsiveness to crowding and

 26

bias the results. Therefore, it may be a good idea to supplement the results obtained

from student sample with a more representative group of respondents that takes into

account the age factor.

The field studies make use of a single survey to measure all variables,

including the independent, dependent, mediating, and/or moderating variables. A

common problem with this type of a design is common method variance that may

cause systematic measurement error and inflate or deflate observed relationships

between constructs. When using such a design, common method variance should be

assessed and accounted for, in case there are biases. The results of field studies may

also suffer from self-selection bias because of the use of convenience sampling.

Random sampling may be used to improve the generalizability of the results. Another

issue with field studies using store-intercept surveys is the timing of the intercept.

Some studies conduct it before the respondents enter the check stand (e.g., Mehta et

al. 2012) while a few others carry it out as the consumers exit the store (e.g., Machleit

et al. 1994, Mattila and Wirtz 2008). When data is collected at the point of exit, the

responses to perceived crowding can be mingled with other experiences such as the

time one had to spend at the check-out counter, and therefore, should be avoided.

Moreover, a concern with retrospective surveys is that the results may be distorted

because of reliance on memory about the shopping episode (Barrett and Barrett 2001).

Empirical studies on perceived retail crowding should also ensure that there is

enough variability in the independent variable before concluding for linear or

curvilinear effects. If the entire range of the variable is not represented, one might find

a linear relationship simply because of range restriction.

Observational method can also be used to enrich the understanding of

consumer behavior in crowded environments. For example, one can make note of the
 27

number of items examined, time spent viewing the items, shoppers’ reliance on pre-

planned list of items to be purchased, and the kind of interactions customers have with

each other or the sales staff. One can also examine the path undertaken under crowded

situations– do shoppers get attracted to crowds and exhibit bandwagon effect or do

they prefer to avoid it.

4.3. Implications for practice

Perceived crowding in retail settings, both human and spatial, can influence consumer

behaviors. Since the optimal level of crowding that maximizes positive shopping

outcomes may vary with the store-type, managers should try to figure out the optimal

level for their stores. Adjusting the timing of promotions, and extending the operating

hours of the store on weekends can help to shift crowds from peak to non-peak hours.

Managers can primarily control perceived spatial crowding by concentrating on store

design and layout. For instance, ceiling height should be considered while designing

the store. Similarly, placement and arrangement of racks, merchandise, and displays

can also be worked upon to eliminate the feelings of over-crowdedness in the stores.

Managers can also take the help of other atmospheric cues such as choice of store

color and brightness of light to alleviate the negative effects of perceived crowding.

Managers should also help consumers to cope with crowding. Playing music,

dispersing the right kind of scent, adjusting the temperature of the store, providing

seating arrangement, and having play zone for kids are some of the measures that can

help to ease out the stress resulting from feeling of crowdedness. The dispersed

placement of various items on promotions and strategically installing televisions can

also help to spread out the crowds.

Disney is a good example of crowd management (Borrie 1999). Visual

 28

magnets, such as castles, are placed at the end of thoroughfares to motivate customers

to keep moving on. Disney characters move in different directions to scatter the

crowds. Disney arranges shows and parades during busy seasons as an additional

attraction to disperse the crowds, and as a compensation for the busy conditions. It

also adjusts the operating hours of the parks depending on the anticipated crowd

levels. The parks generally open earlier and stay open for longer hours during those

times of the year when it witnesses huge number of visitors than when there is a

modest level of crowd.

Cross-cultural studies on perceived retail crowding have established that

different cultures perceive and react to crowded environments differently. Depending

on the expectations of appropriate distance for communication and interactions

between strangers within different cultures, the same space can produce different

reactions from customers. Multi-national retailers should keep these cultural

differences in mind so as to design their stores to meet the customers’ expectations.

Acknowledgments

We thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for providing valuable comments

and suggestions on this paper.

 29

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