A jam-packed shopping mall is something few people enjoy.
But new research shows there might be formal evidence to back up our fear of teeming, crowded stores:
A researcher from the Queensland Institute of Technology conducting a study "instructed some relatively attractive people in their 30s to either briefly brush against shoppers or to just stand near them." When the shoppers left the store, he logged their shopping times and asked them their impressions of the store and the item they were considering.
And the results? It turns out none of us were fans of the "accidental" grazing:
The shoppers who were lightly touched spent less time in the store and reported more negative brand evaluations, more negative product beliefs, and less willingness to pay than the customers who were left in peace. The effect was especially detrimental when male strangers initiated the contact.
So stores who want to make shoppers linger, and therefore make more purchases, might do well to keep their stores as uncrowded as possible, which in New York, seems downright impossible.
But we totally agree: we spend way more time browsing -- and buying -- in stores where we can peruse sans smashing.