Many factors influence customer’s store patronage intentions. Most retailers think of merchandise, pricing, location, etc. There are, however, other, more subtle factors that can influence customers’ purchase intentions. Using videotape technology, this study experimentally manipulated number of visible store employees, number of customers and the presence or absence of music to determine their impact on perceived crowdedness, wait expectation, store atmosphere evaluation, and ultimately store patronage intentions.

Eight five-minutes videotapes were developed in a jewelry store setting. The tapes were viewed by respondents who were within the jewelry store’s target demographics and who had shopped for jewelry and gifts within the previous year. The videotapes simulated a real shopping experience by moving around the store showing merchandise, customers, and salespeople. Then the respondents completed a questionnaire that contained items measuring the constructs in question.

The results of the study are fairly robust. We found that customers were more likely to shop at a jewelry store and recommend it to friends if they did not expect to have to wait, and if they liked the store’s atmosphere. We also found that when customers perceive there are more (compared to fewer) employees visible in the store, their wait expectations were more positive. Customers have more negative expectations of the wait if they think the store is crowded, with men having more negative wait expectations than women. Finally, when customers' wait expectations are negative, their evaluations of the store's atmosphere are lower. Clearly, in the eyes of customers, there is nothing positive about having to wait.

To reduce wait expectations, it is important to have sufficient customer service employees, especially when the store is crowded. Of course, employees are relatively expensive, so retailers may seek other methods of reducing wait, such as having central checkout or kiosks to provide customer information.

Retailers can also reduce the perception of waiting, without necessarily reducing the actual wait. They can, for instance, make the store more entertaining, e.g., the Ferris Wheel in the Toys ‘R’ Us in New York’s Times Square. Since most stores can’t afford a Ferris Wheel, they must be creative. Stores can utilize a store’s layout or methods of displaying merchandise to alter customers’ perceptions of waiting. Additionally, they can enhance the store’s atmospherics through visual communications (signs and graphics), lighting, colors, and even scents.

Another important component of atmospherics is music. In this study, classical music had a positive effect on store atmosphere evaluations. Although classical music was thought to be appropriate for a jewelry store, it is important to match the music with the store’s image and interests of its target market.

Finally, perceptions of customer crowding had a negative effect on store atmosphere. Clearly, in a service intensive setting where customers must have help from salespeople throughout the shopping process, crowding needs to be proactively managed.