Abstract

BRANDAO, Marcelo Moll; PARENTE, Juracy  and  OLIVEIRA, Beatriz Bastos. Perceived retail crowding: an exploratory investigation in the Brazilian market. RAE electron. [online]. 2010, vol.9, n.2, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1676-5648.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1676-56482010000200007.

The objective of this study is to investigate in an exploratory manner and by means of semi-structured interviews, the perception of Brazilian consumers regarding crowding in "discount stores", and how this perception affects the satisfaction and buying behavior of these customers. Part of the results corroborates the conclusions of previous studies. Analysis of the empirical data, however, suggests the possibility of the existence in the Brazilian market of differences in the way that antecedents, like culture, income, store format and buying motivation (utilitarian or hedonic) operate in the perception of crowding. It also shows that this set of variables affects buying behavior indicators, such as discomfort level, degree of satisfaction and intention to repurchase. The results not only contribute to enriching the theoretical framework related to this theme, but also identify managerial and practical implications so that retailers can better deal with this situation better

Keywords : Perceived crowding; buying behavior; store environment; retail marketing; discount store.