Understanding consumer's responses to negative emotions related to crowding on satisfaction and impulse purchase in retail: the mediating role of coping

Ferreira, Marlette Cassia Oliveira; Brandão, Marcelo Moll; Bizarrias, Flavio Santino

doi:10.1016/j.rausp.2017.08.005

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Marketing • Rev. Adm. (São Paulo) 52 (4) • Oct-Dec 2017 • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rausp.2017.08.005 copy

Understanding consumer's responses to negative emotions related to crowding on satisfaction and impulse purchase in retail: the mediating role of coping

Entendendo respostas às emoções negativas de crowding na satisfação e compra por impulso no varejo: o papel mediador do Coping

Respuestas a las emociones negativas de crowding en la satisfacción y compra por impulso en el comercio minorista: el papel mediador del coping

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

The perception of crowding, understood as an individual's response to crowds, can be observed in retail environments and influences positive and negative emotions. In this research we test the mediating effect of coping – rational strategies adopted to deal with negative emotions – in the relationship between negative emotions (resulting from crowding perception) and consumer behavior (measured by impulse purchase and satisfaction). The findings related to coping explain to what extent there is a positive response to human density in the retail environment. For this, a theoretical model was developed which includes the relationships among perception of crowding, positive and negative emotions, and consumer behavior. The model enhances the understanding of the crowding phenomenon by including relationships mediated by an oppositional strategy (coping dimension) between negative emotions and consumer behaviors. To test the theoretical model, a survey was conducted with 456 respondents and hypothesis tests using structural equation modeling. It was evidenced that crowding perception has more robust effects on negative emotions than positive emotions. It is emphasized that with the inclusion of opposition mediation, the weak direct relationship between negative emotions and behaviors, becomes a positive relationship between negative emotion and impulse purchase, and negative emotion and satisfaction. In addition to the theoretical contributions of the tested model, future research and managerial implications are proposed at the end of the article.

Keywords:
Crowding and coping perception; Positive and negative emotion; Impulse purchase and satisfaction; Consumer behavior; Human density in retail

Items^a a 7 points Likert, 1 - totally disagree to 7 - totally agree.	Mean	Median	Standard deviation
1. The store seems to me too crowded; 2. There is a lot of traffic in this store; 3. There are a lot of customers in this store	5.581	6.00	1.471

Construct	AVE	Composite reliability	R ²	Cronbach's alpha
Impulse purchase	0.642	0.900	0.317	0.860
Negative emotion	0.604	0.858	0.145	0.783
Positive emotion	0.712	0.945	0.230	0.933
Opposition_coping	0.683	0.866	0.036	0.774
Crowding perception	0.716	0.883	0.000	0.806
Satisfaction	0.793	0.920	0.378	0.870
Crowding tolerance	0.572	0.800	0.000	0.622

Hypothesis	Relationship	Original coefficient	Mean of 500 sub-samples	Standard error	Test t	p-Value	Result
H1+	Crowding perception → Negative emotion	0.141	0.148	0.046	3.059	0.002	Supported
H1+	Crowding perception * Crowding tolerance → Negative emotion	-0.139	-0.160	0.065	2.135	0.033	Supported

H2-	Crowding perception → Positive Emotion	-0.099	-0.102	0.043	2.312	0.021	Supported
H2-	Crowding perception* crowding tolerance → Positive emotion	0.081	0.104	0.058	1.407	0.160	Supported

H3+	Negative emotion → Opposition_coping	0.190	0.195	0.053	3.602	0.000	Supported

H4+	Negative emotion → Impluse purchase	0.038	0.036	0.049	0.782	0.435	Supported
	Opposittion_coping → Impulse purchase	0.446	0.449	0.043	10.408	0.001
	Mediation EN → CO → CI	-	-	-	Sobel = 3.406	0.001

H5+	Negative emotion → Satisfaction	-0.046	-0.048	0.045	1.031	0.303	Supported
	Opposition_coping → Satisfaction	0.200	0.201	0.043	4.698	0.001
	Mediation: EN → CO → Sat	-	-	-	Sobel = 2.859	0.004

H6+	Positive emotion → Satisfaction	0.579	0.577	0.037	15.496	0.001	Supported

H7+	Positive emotion → impulse purchase	0.390	0.386	0.043	8.999	0.001	Supported

Variable	Q ²	f ²
Purchase impulse	0.175	-
Satisfaction	0.260	-
Positive emotion	0.125	0.566
Negative emotion	0.066	0.288
Opposition	0.019	0.358
Crowding perception	-	0.424
Crowding tolerance	-	0.167

Construct	Theory	Authors	Results
Crowding perception	An emotional reaction caused by high-density stress, often generating negative emotions	^{Stokols (1972)}Stokols, 1972 Stokols, D. (1972). On the distinction between density and crowding. Psychological Review, 79(3), 275-277., ^{Dion (2004)}Dion, 2004 Dion, D. (2004). Personal control and coping with retail crowding. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 15(3), 250-263., ^{Eroglu et al. (2005)}Eroglu et al., 2005 Eroglu, S. A., Machleit, K., & Barr, T. F. (2005). Perceived retail crowding and shopping satisfaction: The role of shopping values. Journal of Business Research, 58, 1146-1153.	Great relevance in the model (f² = 0.288), leading to negative responses
Crowding tolerance	Characteristic trait of people who can withstand crowding more	^{Machleit et al. (2000)}Machleit et al., 2000 Machleit, K., Eroglu, S. A., & Mantel, S. P. (2000). Perceived retail crowding and shopping satisfaction: What modifies this relationship?. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 9(1), 29-42., ^{Pan and Siemens (2011)}Pan and Siemens, 2011 Pan, Y., & Siemens, J. (2011). The differential effects of retail density: An investigation of goods versus service settings. Journal of Business Research, 64, 105-112.	It exerts a moderating role, reducing the negative influence of perceived crowding
Negative emotions	Path expected when in high density, leading to negative responses from the consumer	^{Baker and Wakefield (2012)}Baker and Wakefield, 2012 Baker, J., & Wakefield, K. (2012). How consumer shopping orientation influences perceived crowding, excitement, and stress at the mall. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, (40), 791-806., ^{Li et al. (2009)}Li et al., 2009 Li, J. G. T., Kim, J. -O., & Lee, S. Y. (2009). An empirical examination of perceived retail crowding, emotions, and retail outcomes. The Service Industries Journal, 29(5), 635-652., ^{Jones et al. (2010)}Jones et al., 2010 Jones, M. Y., Vilches-Montero, S., Spence, M. T., Eroglu, S. A., & Machleit, K. A. (2010). Do Australian and American consumers differ in their perceived shopping experiences?: A bi-cultural analysis. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 38(8), 578-596.	Greater expected relevance, which was not proven in the model, due to the moderating role of crowding tolerance
Positive emotions	Alternative path, even at high density, increasing positive consumer responses	^{Li et al. (2009)}Li et al., 2009 Li, J. G. T., Kim, J. -O., & Lee, S. Y. (2009). An empirical examination of perceived retail crowding, emotions, and retail outcomes. The Service Industries Journal, 29(5), 635-652., ^{Jones et al. (2010)}Jones et al., 2010 Jones, M. Y., Vilches-Montero, S., Spence, M. T., Eroglu, S. A., & Machleit, K. A. (2010). Do Australian and American consumers differ in their perceived shopping experiences?: A bi-cultural analysis. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 38(8), 578-596.	Greater relevance than the expected path (f² = 0.566), leading to more favorable responses
Coping (opposition)	Consumer strategy to deal with stress	^{Luce et al. (2001)}Luce et al., 2001 Luce, M. F., Bettman, J. R., & Payne, J. W. (2001). Emotional decisions: Tradeoff difficulty and coping in Consumer Choice. Monographs of the Journal of Consumer Research Chicago: University of Chicago Press., ^{Skinner et al. (2003)}Skinner et al., 2003 Skinner, E. A., Sherwood, H., Edge, K., & Altman, J. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category system for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 216-269., ^{Duhachek (2005)}Duhachek, 2005 Duhachek, A. (2005). Coping: A multidimensional, hierarchical framework of responses to stressful consumption episodes. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(June), 41-53., ^{Duhachek and Oakley (2007)}Duhachek and Oakley, 2007 Duhachek, A., & Oakley, J. (2007). Mapping the hierarchical structure of coping: Unifying empirical and theoretical perspectives. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 3(17), 218-233.	Good relevance in the model (f² = 0.358), acting as mediator between negative emotions and consumer responses, reducing the negative effect of these emotions

Departamento de Administração da Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade da Universidade de São Paulo Avenida Professor Luciano Gualberto, 908, sala F184, 05508-900 São Paulo / SP Brasil, Tel./Fax 55 11 3818-4002 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: rausp@usp.br

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[1] * Corresponding author at: Avenida Rio Grande do Norte, 450, CEP 11661-000, Caraguatatuba, SP, Brazil. E-mail:marlette@ifsp.edu.br (M.C. Ferreira).