Stay in the Virtue, Go in the Vice: Social groups moderate the effect of human density on willingness to stay and vice-virtue choices

This research aims to understand the role of social groups in the relationships between human density and willingness to stay in the store and vice vs. virtue choices. We suggest considering not only how many customers compose the crowd (i.e., density), but also how they relate with the consumer identity (i.e., social groups). Through an experimental study, we demonstrate that higher human density increases willingness to stay when in-group and aspirational group members compose the crowd. We also show that higher human density leads to choose more vice and virtue products in presence of dissociative and aspirational groups members, respectively.