Future Research Directions

Social impact theory, in combination with the video tracking data and hierarchical Bayes framework reported herein, provide a rich set of insights about the influence of social and other contextual factors on shopper engagement and purchase in a retail setting. Although these initial findings are enlightening, they could benefit from experimental vali- dation with laboratory or field research. In particular, the implications of the observed interactions between salesperson contact and other social and environmental factors could be tested by manipulating whether a salesperson approached a shopper in various contexts (varying shopper density, group size, product category, and demographic similarity) and measuring the shopper’s response elasticity. In addition to the demographic variables studied herein (gender, age, and ethnicity), other physical attributes of the salesperson and customer could be coded, such as general attractiveness, style of dress, and similarity of appearance (e.g., Argo, Dahl, and Morales 2008). With the shopper’s consent, the actual comments of the salesperson could be recorded, coded, and analyzed to determine their influence on shopper behavior (see Burke and Leykin 2014).

The strong, lagged effects of shopper density on product touch and purchase are also provocative and could be con- firmed through experimental research. One approach would

TABLE 4 Standardized Coefficients for Social Influence Variables

Variables Coefficients Touch Frequency

Sales contact .402 Sales contact ¥ group size –.291 Group size –.288 Crowding .269 Crowding ¥ clearance .163 Crowding ¥ accessories –.162 Talk frequency .161 Talk frequency ¥ group size .144 Crowding ¥ group size –.132

Crowding 2 –.107

Crowding ¥ new arrivals .099 Sales contact ¥ clearance .073 Talk frequency ¥ new arrivals .052 Talk frequency ¥ clearance –.044 Crowding ¥ talk frequency –.028 Sales contact ¥ accessories .026 Crowding ¥ sales contact –.023 Sales contact ¥ new arrivals .005

Purchase

Crowding –7.305 Talk frequency ¥ group size 3.437 Group size –2.744 Sales contact ¥ group size –1.607 Crowding ¥ clearance 1.429 Talk frequency 1.292 Crowding 2

1.031 Sales contact .921 Sales contact ¥ clearance .898 Crowding ¥ talk frequency –.651 Crowding ¥ new arrivals .613 Sales contact ¥ new arrivals .491 Crowding ¥ accessories –.471 Talk frequency ¥ clearance –.318 Talk frequency ¥ new arrivals –.297 Crowding ¥ group size –.225 Sales contact ¥ accessories –.183 Crowding ¥ sales contact .173 1.031 Sales contact .921 Sales contact ¥ clearance .898 Crowding ¥ talk frequency –.651 Crowding ¥ new arrivals .613 Sales contact ¥ new arrivals .491 Crowding ¥ accessories –.471 Talk frequency ¥ clearance –.318 Talk frequency ¥ new arrivals –.297 Crowding ¥ group size –.225 Sales contact ¥ accessories –.183 Crowding ¥ sales contact .173

For apparel and other infrequently purchased products, impact on shopper touch frequency and purchase conver-

shoppers may visit the store several times before making a sion (see Argo, Dahl, and Manchanda 2005). It would also

purchase decision, and a conversation with a friendly sales

be worthwhile to examine the impact of social influence assistant on one shopping trip may lead to a large basket of factors on the shopper’s other decisions throughout the

purchases on a future visit. By the same token, a shopper course of the store visit, including timing of walking up to a

who is discouraged from shopping due to weekend crowds product, consideration time, and touch duration, among oth-

may return to buy on a weekday when the store is less busy. ers. The findings will lead to more detailed and robust mod-

Consequently, sales contact may have a greater impact on els of the social influence process.

purchase than crowding when observed over a sufficient It would also be valuable to track shopper behavior over

time period. As video tracking and other location-sensing

a longer period of time to measure the time course of these tools become more sophisticated, it may be possible to “rec- effects. We observed all of the predicted main effects of

ognize” shoppers who revisit stores and more accurately social influence on product touch and purchase during a

estimate the effects of social influence and other contextual single store visit (Table 3), but the shopping process for

variables on both short- and long-term retail performance.

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Future Research Directions