The effects of social density on consumers’ channel selection

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how crowding without violating personal space influences consumers’ channel selection and the underlying mechanism of this process. Crowded environment is ubiquitous and affects consumers’ behaviors. However, less attention has been paid to whether and how crowding influences consumers’ preference for purchasing channels. Design/methodology/approach There were three studies to test the validity of the theorized model, including two laboratory experiments and a field study. The variance analyses and mediation analyses were used to give more insights into the analytical process. Findings This study proposes that crowding makes consumers lose their perceived control, leading them to form certain compensatory behavior through the conversion between online and offline purchasing channels – the type of goods moderates the process of compensatory behavior. Practical implications The results of this study are helpful for retailers to design effective strategies to allocate resources into online or offline channels and to choose the appropriate types of product to promote. Originality/value Environmental clues have been widely studied in previous marketing research. Crowding, as a common environmental clue, has only been noticed in recent years. This study examines the impact of crowding on consumers’ channel preference. The results of three studies have confirmed that consumers have higher preference for offline shopping when they are in a crowded environment and found the intrinsic mechanism and the marginal scenario of this process.