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Can social support alleviate stress while shopping in crowded retail environments?

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  • Lucia-Palacios, Laura
  • Pérez-López, Raúl
  • Polo-Redondo, Yolanda

Abstract

This paper aims to find out whether sales associates and shopping companions, as two factors of the social servicescape, can help customers alleviate their levels of stress while shopping in crowded retail scenarios. Social Impact Theory is used to build a theoretical framework that is tested on a sample of mall shoppers. The findings demonstrate that sales associates can reduce customers' level of stress in crowded situations by employing their task and interaction competences. Customers with shopping companions feel less stress while shopping. When the companions are similar to the customer in shopping preferences, they can create boundaries to stress created by crowding. Finally, this research offers important implications for store managers as well as for sales associates.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucia-Palacios, Laura & Pérez-López, Raúl & Polo-Redondo, Yolanda, 2018. "Can social support alleviate stress while shopping in crowded retail environments?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 141-150.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:90:y:2018:i:c:p:141-150
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.05.018
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    2. Eroglu, Sevgin A. & Machleit, Karen A. & Neybert, Emma G., 2022. "Crowding in the time of COVID: Effects on rapport and shopping satisfaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Rosenbaum, Mark S. & Friman, Margareta & Ramirez, Germán Contreras & Otterbring, Tobias, 2020. "Therapeutic servicescapes: Restorative and relational resources in service settings," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    4. Lucia-Palacios, Laura & Pérez-López, Raúl & Polo-Redondo, Yolanda, 2020. "How situational circumstances modify the effects of frontline employees’ competences on customer satisfaction with the store," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    5. Gui, Dan-Yang & Liu, Shixiong & Dai, Yu & Liu, Ying & Wang, Xiaoli & Huang, Huiying, 2021. "Greater patience and monetary expenditure: How shopping with companions influences purchase decisions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Shamim, Amjad & Abid, Muhammad Farrukh & Ahmad, Farooq, 2024. "S–O–R based experiential framework for measuring in-store customer satisfaction in non-fuel retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Stefan Hoffmann & Tom Joerß & Robert Mai & Payam Akbar, 2022. "Augmented reality-delivered product information at the point of sale: when information controllability backfires," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 743-776, July.
    8. Rosenbaum, Mark S. & Edwards, Karen L. & Malla, Binayak & Adhikary, Jyoti Regmi & Ramírez, Germán Contreras, 2020. "Street harassment is marketplace discrimination: The impact of street harassment on young female consumers’ marketplace experiences," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    9. Park, Soobeen & Zhang, Shaoqing, 2019. "A pilot study of circulation layout based on perceived retail crowding," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 305-315.
    10. Shuvam Chatterjee & Pawel Bryla & Mahmoud Ibraheam Saleh, 2024. "Cross-cultural differences in the effects of the ambient scent on in-store behavior: the role of companionship," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 51(3), pages 339-354, September.
    11. Herring Shava, 2024. "Unlocking Customer Happiness and Enhancing Quality of Life: The Potential of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise ICT Initiatives in Stress-Inducing Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-23, October.
    12. Tobias Benjamin Scholz & Sven Pagel & Jörg Henseler, 2023. "Shopping Companions and Their Diverse Impacts: A Systematic Annotated Bibliography," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    13. Waites, Stacie F. & Stevens, Jennifer L. & Hancock, Tyler, 2023. "Trauma's effects on shopper choice confusion: The role of psychological hardiness and retailer strategies as mitigating factors," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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