Shopping experiences in visually complex environments: a self-regulation account

Abstract

Purpose Providing satisfying shopping experiences is a major goal in retail management because satisfaction guides re-patronage behavior. This study aims to demonstrate that the visual complexity of an environment’s interior design (i.e., the overall amount of visual information in an environment) influences the shopping experience by impairing customers’ information processing and self-regulation resources. Design/methodology/approach Two quasi-experimental field studies were conducted in two different cultural contexts (i.e., Germany and Singapore) to enhance the external validity and robustness of the findings. Findings Both studies provide evidence that an environment’s visual complexity impairs the shopping experience. Study 1 shows that visual complexity places a perceptual load on customers which mediates the complexity-experience relationship. Study 2 replicates this finding in a different setting and extends it by showing that load relates to lower self-control, which in turn, mars the experience. Furthermore, the negative effect of complexity on the experience is more pronounced with shoppers pursuing utilitarian rather than hedonic shopping goals. Research limitations/implications Our findings in a supermarket context may not transfer to environments in which the visual design is an important component of the value proposition and where shopping goals are largely hedonic in nature. Practical implications Our findings advance theory by showing that it is perceptual load and its outcome, reduced perceived self-control, which are largely responsible for the negative effect of visual complexity on the shopping experience. This finding should encourage managers to proactively manage and reduce the complexity of their service environments. Originality/value This study is the first to show HOW the visual complexity of a retail environment influences a customer's shopping experience. It offers novel insights into the underlying mechanism of perceptual load and self-control as process mediators of visual complexity on the shopping experience.

Human crowding and store messiness: Drivers of retail shopper confusion and behavioral intentions

“…Orth and Wirtz () found that disorganization and complexity in a grocery retail store negatively influences the information processing fluency of the environment, which in turn affects pleasure, attractiveness of environment, and response behaviors. Orth et al () further demonstrated that processing load in a grocery retail store with visual complexity and subsequently reduced perceived self‐control are responsible for the lower level of processing fluency of the environment. Also, Chae and Zhu () found that environmental orderliness in a primed setting can affect self‐regulation as a disordered environment enhances information overload and threatens the individual's sense of personal control, which leads to resource depletion and consequently impairs self‐regulation.…”

“…Such environments negatively affect the anticipated benefits derived from the efficient fulfillment of shopping task than it would in a hedonic shopping situation (Garaus & Wagner, ; Orth et al, ). Orth et al () also suggest that the effect of cognitive load derived from visual complexity on shopping experience is significant and negative for individuals with utilitarian shopping orientation. Therefore, the following is proposed:H6 In a highly crowded retail store, the negative effect of retail shopper confusion on (a) revisit intention, (b) in‐store exploration, (c) spending time, (d) store patronage intention, and (e) unplanned expenditure will be stronger when consumers pursue task‐oriented rather than recreational shopping motivations.H7 In a highly messy retail store, the negative effect of retail shopper confusion on (a) revisit intention, (b) in‐store exploration, (c) spending time, (d) store patronage intention, and (e) unplanned expenditure will be stronger when consumers pursue task‐oriented rather than recreational shopping motivations.…”

“…Some recent studies have investigated the relationship between environmental disorder and perceived self-control (Chae & Zhu, 2014;Orth, Wirtz, & McKinney, 2016;Van Rompay, Tanja-Dijkstra, Verhoeven, & van Es, 2012). The messiness and disordered nature of the environment are likely to make people feel that they have restricted personal control over their environment and their life (Chae & Zhu, 2014).…”

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Nonconsciously Processed Ambient Scents in a Servicescape: Findings From Two Field Experiments

“…The perceptual fluency concept builds on the processing fluency theory (Schwarz 2004), according to which consumers constantly monitor the effort required to process information cues prevalent in an environment. This effort decreases when the sensory stimulation in a servicescape is simple instead of complex and if consumers process a situation repeatedly (Orth, Wirtz, and McKinney 2016). As fluency per se feels positive (Landwehr, Golla, and Reber 2017), repeated exposure to a simple scent stimulus should translate into improved situational service evaluations.…”

Lost in the Store: Assessing the Confusion Potential of Store Environments

“…Prior research also demonstrates that conflict and complexity are highly relevant properties in predicting consumers' responses to shopping environments (Deng and Poole 2010;Nasar 1987;Orth et al 2016), while variety and novelty do not appear to reflect the confusion potential of store environments. From an index construction viewpoint, Bollen (2011, p. 362) point out: "removal of a causal indicator might change the nature of the latent variable."…”