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Understanding how changes within service experiences impact prospective vs. retrospective time judgments

  • Original Empirical Research
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Abstract

Through six studies set in a range of service contexts, we show that consumers perceive the passage of wait time through intrinsic changes in the service experience. Changes, either in service progress speed or in activities within service experiences, consistently influence the perception of wait time. Further, the effects of change on time perception depend on whether the judgment is made prospectively or retrospectively. Results relating to change in progress speeds (Studies 1–3) demonstrate that faster progress during the start of an event shortens prospective time judgments; conversely, quicker progress at the end of a service experience shortens retrospective time judgments. We also demonstrate that prospective time judgments decrease, and retrospective judgments increase, when there is greater change in activities during the service experience (Studies 4–5). Extending this line of inquiry, we explore how within-experience activity change—in terms of the number of segments and how similar the segment activities are—impact retrospective time judgments (Study 6). Taken together, our findings therefore suggest a means (by managing changes in speed or activity within a service experience) of prolonging or quickening time perceptions that can be applied to service contexts to manage consumers’ wait time judgments.

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Notes

  1. We would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for his/her comments that led us to this further inquiry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Marketing and International Business, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, S3-B1B-73, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Elison Ai Ching Lim

  2. Institute on Asian Consumer Insight (ACI), Nanyang Business School, 50 Nanyang Avenue, S3-B1C-121, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Elison Ai Ching Lim

  3. Department of Marketing, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, Mochtar Riady Building, 15 Kent Ridge Drive, BIZ 1, 8-18, Singapore, 119245, Singapore

    Doreen Kum

  4. Department of Marketing, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, Mochtar Riady Building, 15 Kent Ridge Drive, BIZ 1, 8-27, Singapore, 119245, Singapore

    Yih Hwai Lee

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  1. Elison Ai Ching Lim
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  2. Doreen Kum
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Correspondence to Yih Hwai Lee.

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Lim, E.A.C., Kum, D. & Lee, Y.H. Understanding how changes within service experiences impact prospective vs. retrospective time judgments. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 43, 730–745 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0415-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0415-4

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