The influence of social crowding on consumers’ product tactile information preference: The mediating role of self-threat

This study aims to explore how social crowding affects consumer preferences for tactile information of products through the perception of personal and social self-threats, and further analyzes the moderating role of self-construal in this process. To this end, three experimental methods were systematically used to analyze the impact of social crowding on consumers' tactile preferences for products, its underlying mechanisms, and boundary conditions. The study found that social crowding can trigger perceptions of personal and social self-threat, thereby motivating consumers to adopt coping mechanisms, manifested as an increased preference for soft-tactile products to obtain psychological compensation. Additionally, different self-construals have a moderating effect on this mediating role. Specifically, for independent individuals, the compensatory benefit obtained through soft-tactile products is weakened when facing personal self-threat; however, their coping mechanisms are not activated when facing social self-threat. For interdependent individuals, regardless of the perception of social self-threat, their preference for soft-tactile products is enhanced due to the metaphorical representation of social connections and dependencies inherent in soft-tactile products. This study not only reveals the psychological mechanisms behind changes in consumer preferences for product tactile information in social crowding situations but also provides targeted strategic recommendations for marketing practices.