Delay and Gratification: How Waiting For Service Can Spur Increased Consumption

This research investigates the effect of waiting for service on subsequent consumption and spending. We find, in contradiction to consumers’ lay beliefs, that the longer consumers had to wait before their consumption, the more they consumed and the more money they spent. This effect was observed only for products that the consumer was intrinsically motivated towards, and was not caused by signaling, inferences about quality, or value from queuing. It was mediated by the level of psychological cost, and could be eliminated if consumers were compensated from other sources before consumption.



Citation:

Yuwei Jiang and Anirban Mukhopadhyay (2011) ,"Delay and Gratification: How Waiting For Service Can Spur Increased Consumption", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Zhihong Yi, Jing Jian Xiao, and June Cotte and Linda Price, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 192-193.

Authors

Yuwei Jiang, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Anirban Mukhopadhyay, HKUST



Volume

AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9 | 2011



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