What to Tell Consumers in Waits of Different Lengths: An Integrative Model of Service Evaluation

TLDR

The study examines how waiting‑duration versus queuing information affects consumer reactions to waits of varying lengths. They test a model where perceived waiting duration, wait acceptability, and affective response mediate the effect of waiting information on service evaluation. Only acceptability and affective response mediate the link between waiting information and service evaluation; perceived duration does not, and while neither information type affects short waits, waiting‑duration information outperforms queuing information in intermediate waits and has a smaller effect in long waits.

Abstract

The authors conduct an experimental study to examine the impact of two types of waiting information—waiting-duration information and queuing information—on consumers' reactions to waits of different lengths. The authors test a model that includes three different constructs—perceived waiting duration, acceptability of the wait, and affective response to the wait—as mediators between waiting information and service evaluation. Results show that though acceptability of the wait and affective response to the wait have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between waiting information and service evaluation, perceived waiting duration does not. Moreover, neither type of information has significant impact in the short-wait condition, whereas waiting-duration information has greater impact than queuing information in the intermediate-wait condition and a smaller impact in the long-wait condition. The authors conclude with a discussion of research and managerial implications.