How Does Waiting Duration Information Influence Customers' Reactions to Waiting for Services?1

Waiting duration information (i.e., how long customers are expected to wait) is commonly provided by service organizations as a means to reduce customers' dissatisfaction with waiting. Results obtained from an experimental study indicate that the information has no effect on perceived waiting duration (how long subjects believe they have waited). On the other hand, with the information, subjects appear to maintain a sense of control during the wait, which in turn affects service quality judgment directly or indirectly through acceptability of perceived waiting duration.

[1]  R. W. White.  Motivation reconsidered: the concept of competence. , 1959, Psychological review.

[2]  D. Stokols.  On the distinction between density and crowding: some implications for future research. , 1972, Psychological review.

[3]  J. Averill.  Personal control over aversive stimuli and its relationship to stress. , 1973 .

[4]  A. Rapoport.  Toward a Redefinition of Density , 1975 .

[5]  E. Langer,et al.  Crowding and cognitive control. , 1977 .

[6]  J. Lynch.  On the External Validity of Experiments in Consumer Research , 1982 .

[7]  K. Ahmadi,et al.  Effects of Social Influences and Waiting on Time Judgment , 1984, Perceptual and motor skills.

[8]  J. Hornik.  Subjective vs. Objective Time Measures: A Note on the Perception of Time in Consumer Behavior , 1984 .

[9]  E. E. Osuna.  The psychological cost of waiting , 1985 .

[10]  Richard C. Larson,et al.  OR Forum - Perspectives on Queues: Social Justice and the Psychology of Queueing , 1987, Oper. Res..

[11]  S. Folkman.  [Personal control and stress and coping processes: a theoretical analysis]. , 1988, Kango kenkyu. The Japanese journal of nursing research.

[12]  Richard P. Bagozzi,et al.  On the Use of Structural Equation Models in Experimental Designs , 1989 .

[13]  Dan Zakay,et al.  Chapter 10 Subjective Time and Attentional Resource Allocation: An Integrated Model of Time Estimation , 1989 .

[14]  M. Hui,et al.  Perceived Control and the Effects of Crowding and Consumer Choice on the Service Experience , 1991 .

[15]  M. Hui,et al.  The Ecological Validity of Photographic Slides and Videotapes in Simulating the Service Setting , 1992 .

[16]  L. Parker,et al.  When to fix it and when to leave: relationships among perceived control, self-efficacy, dissent, and exit. , 1993, The Journal of applied psychology.