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 consumer's shopping basket. Specifically, as shoppers experience more crowding, their basket contains (a) relatively affect-rich (“hedonic”) products, and (b) national brands. We offer plausible dual-process explanation for this phenomenon: Crowding induced distraction limits cognitive capacity, increasing relative impact affective responses in purchase decisions. As are first to level relates what buy (at both product brand level), implications these effects retailers discussed.