Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Queues are a ubiquitous phenomenon. This research investigates consumers' affective experiences in a queue and their decisions to leave the queue after having spent some time in it (reneging). In particular, we find in our first two studies that, as the number of people behind increases, the consumer is in a relatively more positive affective state and the likelihood of reneging is lower. While a number of explanations may account for this effect, we focus on the role of social comparisons. In particular, we expect consumers in a queue to make downward comparisons with the less fortunate others behind them. We propose that three types of factors influence the degree of social comparisons made and thus moderate the effect of the number behind: (a) queue factors that influence the ease with which social comparisons can be made, (b) individual factors that determine the personal tendency to make social comparisons, and (c) situational factors that influence the degree of social comparisons through the generation of counterfactuals. Across three studies, we find support for each moderating effect. We conclude with a discussion on theoretical implications and limitations, and we propose avenues for future research.

Abstract
We examine how construal levels affect wait duration judgments through two different routes: one based on consumers' subjective feelings (an affective route) and the other based on mental markers (a cognitive route). We further identify the conditions under which the affective versus the cognitive route operates. We theorize that low-level construal people generate more wait-unrelated thoughts during the wait than high-level construal people. This difference in turn affects duration judgments in opposite directions depending on the judgment strategy that people use. People spontaneously rely on their subjective feelings—how long they feel they have waited. In this case, low- (vs. high-) level construal consumers, who are more distracted by their wait-unrelated thoughts, find the wait to be less boring and hence judge it to be shorter. However, when subjective feelings become less accessible (after a delay) or diagnostic (perceived as less trustworthy), or when mental markers become more accessible, people resort to the number of thoughts they had during the wait to infer the duration—the more thoughts they had, the longer it must have been. In this case, low- (vs. high-) level construal people perceive the wait to be longer. Results from five studies support the proposed framework.