Should I stay or should I go? Benefits of crowd-checking technology for a face-to-face shopping experience

Purpose: Long sales periods (i.e. Christmas time, Black Friday, etc.) and the risk of contagion while shopping (i.e. during pandemics like COVID-19) showed the extent to which crowded shopping environments have negative effects on consumers’ behavior. Hence, using terror management theory (TMT) and stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) approach, the authors aims to develop a new model to investigate the effect of crowd-checking technology on shopping anxiety, the perceived value of shopping experience and willingness to pay. Design/methodology/approach: Using a cross-sectional research design and with a help of an independent research company, the authors collected 1,000 valid responses from individuals residing in the UK. Findings: Results showed that crowd-checking technology cues reduce shopping anxiety, improve value perceptions and increase willingness to pay. In addition, the efficacy of technology in reducing shopping anxiety is moderated by customers’ shopping orientation. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first one investigating crowd monitoring systems used at the initial stage of consumers’ journey to show the number of consumers in-store in real-time. It contributes to the literature on technology applications in retailing by providing evidence that technology cues reduce shopping anxiety, which in turn enhances customer-perceived value from the shopping experience and increases the willingness to pay in stores with embedded crowd-checker technology. The study also extends the application of TMT in a new context.