Social Crowding Research Articles

The Influence of Social Crowding on Consumers' Preference for Green Products.

With the increasingly crowded shopping environment, social crowding has become an important factor that affects consumers’ psychology and behavior. However, the impact of social crowding on consumers’ preference for green products hasn’t been focused on. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the influence of social crowding on consumers’ preference for green products. With four studies, the present research examines how social crowding influences consumers’ preferences and uncovers the underlying psychological mechanism. The research shows that consumers prefer green products more under the condition of high social crowding than low, and safety needs mediate the impact of social crowding on green products preference. However, the impact of social crowding on the preference for products is only significant in green products. It also demonstrates the moderating effect of introversion-extraversion personality traits between social crowding and green products preference. For extraverted consumers, social crowding won’t affect their preference for green products, while for introverted consumers, social crowding is more likely to increase their preference for green products. This study contributes to marketing research by proposing and testing a new mechanism that underlies social crowding.

No evidence that mask-wearing in public places elicits risk compensation behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

Face masks have been widely employed as a personal protective measure during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, concerns remain that masks create a false sense of security that reduces adherence to other public health measures, including social distancing. This paper tested whether mask-wearing was negatively associated with social distancing compliance. In two studies, we combined video-observational records of public mask-wearing in two Dutch cities with a natural-experimental approach to evaluate the effect of an area-based mask mandate. We found no observational evidence of an association between mask-wearing and social distancing but found a positive link between crowding and social distancing violations. Our natural-experimental analysis showed that an area-based mask mandate did not significantly affect social distancing or crowding levels. Our results alleviate the concern that mask use reduces social distancing compliance or increases crowding levels. On the other hand, crowding reduction may be a viable strategy to mitigate social distancing violations.

Maintaining the Order: How Does Social Crowding Promote Minimalistic Consumption Behavior

Maintaining the Order: How Does Social Crowding Promote Minimalistic Consumption Behavior

The Influence of Social Crowding on Consumer Creativity

The importance of consumer creativity is currently widely recognized, yet the examination of the influence of environmental elements on consumer creativity is still limited. Our research investigates the influence of social crowding on consumer creativity performance. While past research mainly focuses on extreme crowding conditions, our research examines the impact of a moderate level of social crowding, which is more commonly experienced in reality. From two lab experiments, our research shows that compared to consumers in crowded environments, consumers in uncrowded environments perform better on creativity tasks (e.g., designing promotion slogans and identifying solutions to problems). Furthermore, the effect of social crowding is mediated by approach motives. Consumers in an uncrowded (vs. crowded) environment are more likely to trigger approach-based motivation, which enhances their creativity performance. These findings extend our knowledge of social crowding and creativity and can help consumers and companies improve creativity performance in appropriate environments.

The Impact of Social Crowding on Consumers' Online Mobile Shopping: Evidence from Behavior and ERPs.

PurposeSocial crowding refers to the extent of social presence and proximity to others. A large number of studies have explored the effect of social crowding on consumers’ feelings and behaviours in real shopping scenes, whereas few studies have examined the potential marketing effect of social crowding on online mobile consumption behaviour despite mobile commerce’s increasing popularity in recent years. The current intends to explore the effect of social crowding on online mobile purchase and its underlying neural basis.MethodsThe current study employed a questionnaire survey and an implicit panic buying experiment, in which the participants were asked to press the button as soon as possible to buy the showed product. A 2-level social crowding (low vs high) × 2-level feedback of panic buying (success vs fail) design was employed to test the negative impact of social crowding on consumers’ online mobile purchase intention by using electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings.ResultsBehaviorally, participants showed higher purchase intention in low social crowding environment compared with the high crowding condition. The event-related potentials (ERPs) results indicated that consumers had a higher affective/motivational evaluation (reflected in a smaller feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitude) regarding the successful rather than the failing feedback in the low social crowding condition. However, this difference was not detected in the high social crowding condition. Meanwhile, more attentional resources (reflected in a greater P300 amplitude) were directed toward processing the feedback outcomes in the low rather than the high social crowding condition.ConclusionThe current study provided neurophysiological response that social crowding negatively influences consumers’ online purchase intention. Some implications for theory and practice were also discussed.

Stress Varies Along the Social Density Continuum.

Social stress is ubiquitous in the lives of social animals. While significant research has aimed to understand the specific forms of stress imparted by particular social interactions, less attention has been paid to understanding the behavioral effects and neural underpinnings of stress produced by the presence and magnitude of social interactions. However, in humans and rodents alike, chronically low and chronically high rates of social interaction are associated with a suite of mental health issues, suggesting the need for further research. Here, we review literature examining the behavioral and neurobiological findings associated with changing social density, focusing on research on chronic social isolation and chronic social crowding in rodent models, and synthesize findings in the context of the continuum of social density that can be experienced by social animals. Through this synthesis, we aim to both summarize the state of the field and describe promising avenues for future research that would more clearly define the broad effects of social interaction on the brain and behavior in mammals.

Service robots or human staff: How social crowding shapes tourist preferences

Abstract Service providers in tourism and hospitality are beginning to welcome robots as a customer service option. Given this trend, it is important to explore the factors driving tourists' willingness to adopt such new technology. This study focuses on the role of crowding, an environmental factor widely observed in destinations susceptible to over-tourism, in shaping tourists' willingness to adopt service robots. Based on one survey and two experiments, the present research demonstrates that a destination which is more (vs. less) crowded generally motivates tourists to favor robot-provided services rather than those from human staff. Furthermore, findings reveal that this pattern manifests because more (vs. less) social crowding reduces tourists’ motivation to interact with others, as evidenced by social withdrawal tendency.

An integrated model of social crowding and tourists’ environmental responsibility behaviour: mediating effects of sense of control and self-efficacy

ABSTRACT Based on the theory of environmental psychology, this study tries to explore the impact of social crowding on tourists’ environmental responsibility behaviour. We built a double-mediation structural equation model, collected 365 valid data through questionnaires, and used AMOS24.0 software to test the hypothesis model, found that: (1) social crowding has a positive impact on tourists’ environmental responsibility behaviour; (2) both sense of control and self-efficacy mediate this process.

Icarus and Sports After COVID 19: Too Close to the Sun?

Icarus and Sports After COVID 19: Too Close to the Sun?

The interplay between social crowding and power on solo diners’ attitudes toward menus with popularity and scarcity cues

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the interactive effect of social crowding and solo consumers’ sense of power on attitudes toward the restaurant menu with popularity and scarcity cues.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 181 US consumers were recruited. Using a quasi-experimental design, social crowding and promotional cues on a restaurant menu were manipulated and solo consumers’ sense of power was measured.FindingsLow-power individuals exhibited more favorable attitudes toward the menu with a popularity cue at a crowded restaurant. High-power individuals’ attitudes toward the menu were equally favorable across the two promotional cues and crowding levels.Practical implicationsRestaurant managers might want to leverage popularity cues on the menu during peak hours to appeal to solo diners. After diners indicate their dining type (alone vs with others) in kiosks and tablets, restaurants can tailor promotional cues accordingly. Restaurants can also embed more popularity cues in dinner (vs lunch) menus because dinner is more hedonic and social in nature.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the crowding literature by examining promotional cues on the menu and sense of power as moderators of consumer responses to crowding. This study further adds to the solo consumption literature by extending the notion of power and social crowding to ethnic dining contexts.

社会拥挤对自我提升类产品偏好的影响

社会拥挤对自我提升类产品偏好的影响

Chronic Isolation Stress Affects Subsequent Crowding Stress-Induced Brain Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS) Isoforms and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis Responses

The nitric oxide (NO) pathway in the brain is involved in response to psychosocial stressors. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of nNOS and iNOS in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus (HIP), and hypothalamus (HYPO) during social isolation stress (IS), social crowding stress (CS), and a combined IS + CS. In the PFC, 3 days of CS increased iNOS but not nNOS protein level. In the HIP and HYPO, the levels of nNOS and iNOS significantly increased after 3 days of CS. In the PFC, IS alone (11 days) enhanced iNOS protein level following 3 days of CS and increased nNOS level in the HIP and HYPO after 14 days of CS. By contrast, in the HIP, IS abolished the subsequent CS-induced increase in nNOS in the HIP and strongly elevated iNOS level after 7 days of CS. In the HYPO, prior IS inhibited nNOS protein level induced by subsequent CS for 3 days, but increased nNOS protein level after longer exposure times to CS. Isolation stress strongly upregulated plasma interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels while corticosterone (CORT) level declined. We show that the modulatory action of the NO pathway and ACTH/CORT adaptation to chronic social isolation stress is dependent on the brain structure and nature and duration of the stressor. Our results indicate that isolation is a robust natural stressor in social animals; it enhances the NO pathway in the PFC and abolishes subsequent social CS-induced NOS responses in the HIP and HYPO.

Yokukansan, a Herbal Medicine in Japan, Buffers Social Crowding Stress via Ameliorating Glucocorticoid Secretion Response to Vasopressin.

On the basis of the data that yokukansan (YKS), a herbal medicine, ameliorates aggressive behavior and abnormal glucocorticoid secretion of socially isolated mice under zinc deficiency, we tested whether YKS preventively buffers crowding stress-induced attenuations of glucocorticoid secretion response and long-term potentiation (LTP), an index of cognition. YKS-containing water was administered during the period of exposure to social crowding stress for 3 weeks. Serum corticosterone level was not significantly modified by administration of YKS-containing water and was also not increased after social-crowding stress. When vasopressin was injected into crowding-stressed rats to assess corticosterone secretion via pituitary-adorenocortical axis activation, vasopressin-induced increase in serum corticosterone was significantly attenuated compared to non-stressed control rats, indicating that the pituitary-adrenocortical response to vasopressin is affected after exposure to crowding stress. Interestingly, administration of YKS-containing water rescued attenuation of vasopressin-induced increase in serum corticosterone. LTP at Schaffer collateral-CA1 pyramidal cells synapses was attenuated in the hippocampal slices from crowding-stressed rats, while administration of YKS-containing water rescued the attenuation. The present study demonstrates that intake of YKS rescues crowding stress-induced impairments of glucocorticoid secretion response to vasopressin and hippocampal LTP. The intake of YKS may be benefit to buffering chronic stress.

Social Crowding and Individualss Risk Taking: A Life-History Theory Perspective

Drawing from the social crowding literature and life-history theory, this research examines the effect of social crowding on consumer risk taking. The results of two experimental studies and a correlational study show that the effect of crowding on risk taking depends on a non-intuitive individual-level moderator: childhood socioeconomic status. For individuals who originate from relatively poor early-life environments the experience of crowding leads to a significant increase in risk taking, in terms of rejecting a safe reward and gambling for a larger one. For individuals from relatively wealthy early-life backgrounds, however, the experience of crowding leads to lower levels of risk taking. The results of this research further indicate that people who grew up in relatively poor environments are less likely to take risk when they experience a moderate level of crowding than when they experience a low or a high level, thus pointing to a non-linear functional relationship. In summary, these findings contribute to a better understanding of consumers’ reactions to social cues and elucidate the role of childhood socioeconomic status as a novel moderator for the effects of crowding.

Should Anthropomorphized Brands Engage Customers? The Impact of Social Crowding on Brand Preferences

Anthropomorphizing a brand (i.e., imbuing a brand with humanlike features) serves as an important brand positioning strategy for marketing managers. This research identifies a key brand anthropomorphization strategy—positioning a brand as either oriented to interact with consumers or not. Managers generally rely on this brand interaction strategy to enhance consumer brand engagement regardless of the social context. However, given that consumers often experience brands in a social context, this research demonstrates that social crowdedness moderates the positive impact of interaction-oriented anthropomorphized brands on consumer brand preferences. Specifically, the authors show that consumers’ inferences of an anthropomorphized brand's intentionality to interact with them in a socially crowded context trigger greater social withdrawal, thereby resulting in lower preferences for the brand. The authors further demonstrate that the core negative effect of social crowdedness is contingent on the type of crowding (goal-related vs. goal-unrelated). In particular, a goal-related crowding decreases social withdrawal reactions, which, in turn, leads to greater preferences for interaction-oriented anthropomorphized brands relative to brands with other positioning strategies. In contrast, the effect of social crowdedness on consumer preferences for interaction-oriented anthropomorphized brands remains negative in goal-unrelated crowded settings.

Chronic social isolation in adaptation of HPA axis to heterotypic stress.

Social crowding and isolation are recognized as major stressors and risk factors for development of psychiatric disorders. Chronic isolation stress (IS) and crowding stress (CS) activate neuroendocrine and neurochemical mechanisms, that activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Changes of the plasma level of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), ACTH and corticosterone (CORT) after chronic psychosocial IS and CS were investigated. Control rats were kept 5 per cage and not stressed. Stressed groups were subjected to either CS for 3, 7, 14days+restraint stress (RS) or IS for (11days) before this treatment was applied. Crowded rats were remained (24 in one cage) and RS rats were restrained for 10min. Total CORT, ACTH and IL-1β levels were measured using commercially available kits. Social CS for 3days significantly increased plasma IL-1β level. Social IS increased plasma IL-1β level after longer period of subsequent CS 7 and 14days, than ACTH and CORT, after 3 and 7days. Prior IS significantly increased plasma IL-1β level induced by subsequent combined CS for 3days+acute RS, but significantly or totally inhibited the acute stress-induced increase of plasma IL-1β level after 7 and 14days of combined stress. IS, by contrast, strongly inhibited the increase of plasma ACTH and CORT level induced by combined CS+acute RS. Chronic IS augments the changes of IL-1β level induced by a longer crowding period than ACTH and CORT. Modulatory action of IL-1β and pituitary-adrenocortical hormones adaptation to chronic social stress is asynchronous.

The Influence of Social Crowding on Brand Attachment

Abstract Feeling crowded in a shopping environment can decrease consumers’ evaluations of a product or service and lower customer satisfaction. However, the present research suggests that a crowded environment can sometimes have a positive impact on consumer behavior. Although feeling crowded motivates consumers to avoid interacting with others, it leads them to become more attached to brands as an alternative way of maintaining their basic need for belongingness. The effect does not occur (a) when the crowding environment is composed of familiar people (and, therefore, is not considered aversive); (b) when individuals have an interdependent self-construal (and consequently, high tolerance for crowdedness); (c) when people are accompanied by friends in the crowded environment; (d) when the social function of the brands is made salient; (e) when people have never used the brand before; or (f) when the brand is referred to as a general product rather than a specific brand.

The crowd in mind and crowded minds: an experimental investigation of crowding effects on students’ views regarding tuition fees in Germany

In higher education, just amounts of tuition fees are often a topic of heated debate among different groups such as students, university teachers, administrative staff, and policymakers. We investigated whether unpleasant situations that students often experience at university due to social crowding can affect students’ views on the justified amount of tuition fees at universities. We report two experiments on whether conditions that lead to experienced crowding in higher education can affect how students cognitively deal with a given topic. Experiment 1 (N = 80) showed that the mere cognitive activation of crowdedness in text stories about situations related to student activities influenced prospective students’ estimates of what are justified university tuition fees. In Experiment 2 (N = 72), student participants wrote an essay on tuition fees in a small versus large room in groups of three versus six persons. Here, results showed that students together with relatively many others in a small room estimated higher tuition fees to be justified than participants in all other experimental conditions. We discuss the implications of the present findings for the configuration of classes in higher education.

No Space for Others? On the Increase of Students’ Self-Focus When Prodded to Think About Many Others

In the present experiment, participants read about the presence of many versus few others in typical student-life situations. They subsequently wrote an essay about their perspectives on learning in groups. Using the program Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count to analyze these essays signified that participants who read prompts that involved many (vs. few) other students used more first-person singular pronouns and fewer words related to others. We interpret this increase in self-focus as a consequence of induced social crowding.

Effects of Spatial Crowding on Store Loyalty: Roles of Store Size

Spatial crowding and social crowding are mutually distinctive dimensions of perceived crowding. This study investigates the sole effects of spatial crowding on store loyalty and the roles of store size in spatial crowding-store loyalty relationships. Two video clips which display different store size were recorded for the purpose of the study. An internet survey was conducted with 400 fashion brand consumers. A multiple group analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling. This study consists of three stages. The first stage tested the general effects of spatial crowding. Test results showed that, when social crowding was controlled, spatial crowding did not show negative impacts on pleasure, rather the relationship was positive. Pleasure showed positive impact on expectation and, subsequently, it led to store loyalty. Such results are opposed to a prevailing belief that retail store crowding results in negative retail outcomes. The second stage tested the role of store size. Density and social crowding were controlled as the same level in both small and large stores. In the large store, spatial crowding effected on pleasure positively, whereas, the effect was negative in the small store. The third stage revealed the mediating effect of perceived control, albeit partially. In the small store, the negative effects of spatial crowding on pleasure dropped in magnitude when perceived control was included as a mediator. Implications for practice and future research opportunities are discussed.