Enjoyable queuing and waiting time

Abstract

Time theory studies abstractly argue that, depending on the customer experience, time spent waiting may be positive, negative, or even neutral, and it can affect the perceived passing of time and enjoyment of the overall customer experience. However, a company can manipulate customer perceptions of waiting time. Positive perceptions of waiting time can then be used for marketing purposes. Customer perceptions of waiting time can be reduced by making the queuing process enjoyable, by improving the waiting environment, and by making promotional activities enjoyable. To validate the aforementioned factors and develop the enjoyable queuing model, this study surveyed 1571 customers queuing at service companies in Taiwan, including 409 customers of upscale restaurants, 430 customers of restaurants, 439 customers of food stands, and 293 customers queuing at consumer electronics shops to purchase newly released iPhones. The applicability of the enjoyable queuing model was evaluated by partial least squares structural equation modeling, and group differences were evaluated by partial least squares multi-group analysis. The analytical results for each case and managerial implications are presented.

Waiting in organisations

“…The subjective interpretation of time’s passing can be purposefully controlled by individuals, for example, by taking part in particular activities or social situations in order to create certain types of temporal experience (Flaherty, 2003). Equally, the experience of time passing is influenced by external factors, such as the nature of the environment or social norms (Liang, 2017). Labianca et al.’s (2005) experimental study revealed how altering the start time of a task from prototypical ‘clock time’ starts, e.g.…”

“…Research in related areas of scholarly interest such as customer queuing (e.g. Lee et al., 2015; Liang, 2017), operations management (e.g. Schwartz, 1975), sociology (e.g.…”

“…Rotter, 2016; Turnbull, 2016) has, nevertheless, revealed the importance and prevalence of waiting both as an organisational process and as an individual experience. Waiting is sometimes regarded as undesirable, as a waste of time, and as something that needs to be eliminated in the name of efficiency and effectiveness (Liang, 2017; Rotter, 2016; Schwartz, 1975). It is also from the individual’s perspective an interstitial period associated with powerlessness (Auyero, 2011; Khosravi, 2014) and with lost opportunity (Turnbull, 2016).…”

The Psychology of Queuing

“…Organisations can use this to their advantage by managing queues, developing promotional activities, and improving the waiting environment, all of which have a positive effect on time perception (Liang, 2019).…”

“…Through his work on studying queues, Liang (2016Liang ( , 2019 Katz et al (1991) tried to influence consumers' perceptions and emotional response to waiting in line by providing distractions. The first was a news board, displaying live news bulletins.…”