Emotions and Purchasing Satisfaction in a Situation of Crowding: Capital City Versus Small City

Abstract

This study aims to investigate consumer behavior under retail crowding conditions, related to crowding perception, emotions, and consumer satisfaction in two cities with different cultural aspects. A research was performed with 401 consumers in real store environments and the results showed, as was expected, the influence of culture on the constructs of crowding perception, emotions, and shopper satisfaction. In the small city, where the human and spatial agglomerations are seen positively, the crowding perception was lower, satisfaction and positive emotions, higher. In the big city, where the negative aspects of high density are more intense, there was higher crowding perception, lower shopper satisfaction, and more negative emotions.