Sensory overload in a shopping environment: the negative effect of too much stimulation

Abstract

Retailers increasingly use atmospheric cues to trigger an emotional sensory reaction that enhances consumer behavior. However, introducing more sensory cues into a store environment may also trigger sensory overload, due to too much stimulation. This study aims to examine the effects of adding high arousal sensory cues in a store environment on affective reactions, evaluations and approach behavior by making use of different methods (i.e., two lab experiments and one field experiment), various types of atmospheric cues and the order in which they are added to the store environment, and different types of stores (i.e., groceries and clothing). Results reveal that adding extra high arousal cues to the store environment indeed led to more experienced arousal. Moreover, three high arousal cues led to less pleasure, less positive evaluations, and less approach behavior than only one (low or) high arousal cue or two high arousal cues. No differences were found between one high arousal cue and two high arousal cues. Thus, too much arousal can backfire and result in more negative consumer responses. Our research extends previous findings by determining the cut-off point at which perceived pleasantness, evaluations and approach behavior decrease due to overstimulation and by confirming this cut-off point in various settings and with different atmospheric cues.