“That must be good!”: discovering and analyzing consumer crowding effect in Hedonic consumption

This paper investigates the effect of crowded ambience in a hedonic consumption context and its influence on potential consumer’s choice where such cues are evident. The extant literature suggests that, a crowded environment can influence customers’ emotions (Sherman, Mathur & Smith, 1997), satisfaction (Oliver & Westbrook, 1993) and behavior (Tombs, & McCollKennedy, 2003). In addition, a crowded ambience can influence both a potential consumer’s anticipated satisfaction (Blackweel, Miniard & Engel, 2006) and their purchase intention (Noone & Mattila, 2009). The reasons for these influences have never been addressed. Because the service industry is a dominant sector of the Australian economy the study of the “crowding effect” in a service context is valuable.Since crowding is an under-researched phenomenon, this study exploratory, and it used a phenomenographic methodology. The research boundary was limited by the hedonic consumption context and the physical existence of the service provider at the service venue. The two research questions within this hedonic service consumption context were RQ1) Why does a crowded environment influence consumer's intention to purchase the service?, and RQ2）To what extent is a crowded environment more attractive to the consumer? To answer the two research questions, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted using a ’mildly hedonic’ restaurant choice scenario. Scenario control of the consumption occasion assisted the generalisability of the study by excluding specific agendas and extreme cases.The study found that a crowded ambience would affect the consumer’s confidence in their choice of the consumption venue because he or she perceives crowding cues as more than a positive indication of popularity, but rather as a matter of service capacity and hence the perceived likelihood of achieving a satisfactory consumption experience. A critical contribution of this study, was the development of an original definition of “crowding”. In addition, a crowding effect sense-making model was iteratively developed to answer the first research question A second major finding was that a positively perceived crowded venue should create a joyful atmosphere and consumption confidence, but still guarantee the personal space of the consumers and their functional movement, while maintaining a standard level of service performance. An explanatory “crowding attractiveness” curve was also presented. The findings of this research are significant in relation to the management of service capacity and service ambiance while providing directions for future studies on the crowding phenomenon.