Push, scream, or leave: how do consumers cope with crowded retail stores?

Purpose – The paper examines coping strategies that consumers use within crowded retail stores. Specifically, this study explores and identifies coping strategies that consumers use, investigates whether the Folkman or Duhachek coping frameworks adequately capture all of the ways consumers cope, and looks at the implications these coping strategies may have on consumers and retailers. Design/methodology/approach – A three‐stage qualitative study was conducted. Stage One consisted of informal interviews with customers. Stage Two was a pilot study of airport passengers. Stage Three was an online qualitative survey. Findings – Many of Duhachek's and Folkman's coping strategies were operative within a crowded retail setting. The coping strategies that were frequently used were distancing, avoidance, social support, rational thinking, action, escape, positive thinking, emotional venting, and confrontive. The study also found that further refinement of coping strategies and scales is needed. Research limitations/implications – An understanding of consumer coping strategies can help retailers to promote beneficial consumer coping strategies and avoid or limit detrimental coping strategies. The limitation of the study is that it is exploratory in nature. Originality/value – The paper provides a rich and vivid understanding of how consumers cope in a crowded environment, and demonstrates the importance of crowds and consumer coping and how these variables affect retailers. The study identifies new coping strategies, relabels existing coping strategies with more descriptive and comprehensive titles, and confirms established coping strategies.