The way that an atmosphere makes a consumer feel is actually determined by the consumer's perception of all of the elements in a given environment working together. The two factors that help merchandisers and retail designers create this atmosphere are the following:
Fit - Designates the appropriateness of the elements in a given environment.
Congruity - Designates how consistent the elements of an environment are with one another.
Odors are prominent environmental elements that affect both a consumer's cognitive processing and affective reaction. The industrial revolution museum in Manchester, U.K., has a sewer museum as a tribute to sewage systems.
Olfactory is a term that refers to a human's physical and psychological processing of smells. It is believed that when shoppers process ambient citrus odors, it makes them feel more relaxed and receptive to product information.
Music affects consumer shopping experiences. Whether the music is fast or slow, consumers will show either willingness or avoidance to shop based on this factor. For example, consumers who dislike rap or country music will likely have a difficult time shopping in a place playing loud rap or country music.
Foreground music is music that becomes the focal point of attention. Foreground music can have strong effects on a consumer's willingness to approach or avoid an environment. Background music is music played below the audible threshold that would make it the center of attention. Typically, service providers use this type of music for a retail setting. The effects of background music include the following:
The speed of background music determines the speed at which consumers shop. Slower music means slower shopping, and faster music means faster shopping.
The tempo of music affects the patience of consumers. Faster music makes consumers less patient.
The presence of background music enhances service quality perceptions relative to an environment with no background music.
Pop music used in the background contributes to discount store perceptions.
Incongruent music lowers consumers' quality perceptions.
Color affects both quality and price perceptions. The following are a few examples of how color affects consumers:
Consumers who perceive a product in a predominantly blue background tend to think the product is of higher quality, and they are willing to pay more for that product.
Warm colors like red and orange tend to promote expectations of poor quality and low price.
Merchandising's point is to provide the customer with the best opportunity to purchase something. This is done by the placement of goods and store fixtures along with the use of signage
The term crowding refers to the density of people and objects within a given space. Crowding actually exerts a nonlinear effect on consumers; meaning that a plot of the effect times the amount of crowding does not make a straight line. Exhibit 11.9 illustrates how crowding affects consumers. Crowding affects utilitarian shopping value less strongly than hedonic shopping value in part because of the negative affect caused by crowding. Also, an empty store might signal poor quality merchandise.
Salespeople and service providers are an important source of information and influence. Source attractiveness is the degree to which a source's physical appearance matches a consumer's prototype for beauty and elicits a favorable or desired response. Social comparison is a naturally occurring mental personal comparison of the self with a target individual. An upward comparison means the target is better and a downward comparison means the target is inferior.
Many effects that are evident in "bricks and mortar" shopping environments are also evident in the virtual shopping world. For example, the effects of color and sound work in much the same way. A website with a blue background can enhance quality perceptions just as easily as the background in a physical store.Some virtual retail sites have introduced avatars or images of real people playing the role of a salesclerk. Virtual salespersons have a positive effect on shoppers.