The influence of perceptions of other consumers on consumer responses and the mediation of crowding tolerance: a study on tourism, hotels and the Olympics

Abstract

During service encounters, consumers perceive each other. This includes at sporting events where many human interactions occur. Large crowds of people tend to arouse negative emotions, even if the experience promotes positive emotions. This paper investigates the influence of consumer's perceptions of each other and the mediating role of crowding tolerance in consumer responses. Research is lacking to demonstrate the effect of interactions between consumers and findings are even scarcer for tourism. This study addresses the global sports entertainment industry and the hotel environment for tourists. A survey targeting the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 was conducted with students and then we applied structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicate that the perception that a consumer has of other consumers (in a hotel) has a strong relationship with word of mouth and satisfaction and that such a relationship is mediated by the negative perception generated by the agglomeration.