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Shoppers’ neural responses to the mere social presence of others: insights from an enclosed mall

ABSTRACT This research evaluates enclosed mall shoppers’ neural activation in response to the social presence of other people. The study draws on social impact theory to show how the mere presence of other people in an enclosed shopping mall influences six different emotions, including excitement, interest, stress, engagement, focus, and relaxation, within a focal shopper. We evaluate shoppers’ emotions by employing the Emotiv EPOC+ headset to obtain electroencephalogram recordings. The data obtained from mall shoppers reveal that the mere presence of other shoppers in an enclosed mall evokes high levels of stress, decreases excitement, and impedes a shopper’s ability to focus on a task. These findings imply that shoppers may avoid malls because of their cognitive responses to the social presence of other people, which promotes negative attitudes toward enclosed malls.