HOW DO CROWDED SHELVES IMPACT CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARD MINIMAL DESIGN?

Abstract

This research aims to understand consumers' motivation to purchase products in retail stores when retail shelves are either crowded or not crowded. Existing research has mostly focused on social crowding. There is limited research on the phenomenon of retail shelf-based crowding and its influence on consumer behavior. How crowded shelves of products trigger consumers to prefer products with minimal or maximal packaging design? subsequently, how does it impact the evaluation of the product? In the current research, we investigate how different levels of shelf crowdedness impact consumer attitudes and intentions toward products in different packaging designs. We conducted an experiment where we manipulated shelf crowdedness and packaging design (maximal vs. minimal) to test our predictions. Our findings revealed that the minimal packaging elicited a more positive attitude and higher purchase intentions towards the product.