We've all done it: let out a groan when entering a grocery store packed with people. Ugh. But did we ever consider how a crowded shopping situation might affect our purchases? One group of researchers recently did, and their results are intriguing. In a number of experiments, both controlled and real-world, they studied shopper "confinement" and its effect on buying decisions.

In the controlled experiments, the researchers constructed "wide" and "narrow" aisles, then recorded participants' choices of a range of candy bars offered at the end of the aisles as a reward for filling out questionnaires.

The results? Those participants who felt the most confined in the narrow aisles chose the widest variety of candy bars.

In the real-world experiment, the researchers obtained data of actual purchases over the course of a month in a "select number of grocery stores belonging to a large US-based supermarket chain."

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