SHOPPERS � PERCEPTIONS OF CROWDING IN SHOPPING CENTRES

Abstract

Perceived retail crowding has been found to influence shoppers’ responses in both negative and positive ways. This includes affecting their re-patronage intentions, satisfaction and purchasing decisions. Hence, studies on retail crowding have significant implications for the shopping centre management, especially in a city with a high population density such as Singapore. However, a majority of the existing studies have been conducted overseas in the context of individual retail stores; few studies have been conducted in the context of shopping centres or in Singapore. This study aims to fill the research gap by investigating shoppers’ perceptions towards retail crowding in the context of Singapore’s shopping centres. The overall objectives were to examine whether these perceptions of retail crowding would affect shoppers’ shopping centre patronage intentions. In order to achieve this, the relationships among shoppers’ perceived retail crowding, emotions, satisfaction and patronage intentions were examined. Surveys were conducted at three shopping centres located in Orchard Road during peak shopping periods when the human traffic was high. The results revealed that although many respondents perceived retail crowding, they still evoked positive emotions of pleasure and arousal, resulting in increased satisfaction levels and in turn leading to positive patronage intentions. These findings possibly suggest that the people living in Singapore have relatively high tolerant levels towards crowding and are already accustomed to living in high population density environments in their daily lives. The study concluded that perceived retail crowding may not yet be a major problem in Singapore, specifically for these three shopping centres yet. However, the same may not be said for other shopping centres in Singapore.