When Shorter Waits Increase Stress

[Guest guest]

When Shorter Waits Increase Stress

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108134110.htm

People hate to wait, says common customer service insight. Marketers

will hype their earnest attempts to shorten waiting times or at

least promise to provide customers with information or distractions

to make the waiting time more palatable. However, when it comes to

waiting for stressful events, such as a doctor's appointments or a

job interview, these types of well-meaning wait management

strategies may backfire. New research shows that the effectiveness

of wait-related customer service depends upon the nature of the

waited-for event.

" Wait management strategies that are effective in Disney World may

cause more stress if implemented in a hospital waiting room, "

explain Gelfand (Boston College), Barbara E. Kahn

(University of Miami), and Frances Luce (Duke

University). " Given that waiting has historically been viewed as

negative and that it is likely the only stressor during many

(positive) service encounters, shorter waits are generally viewed as

better than longer waits. However, we propose that the wait itself

can facilitate coping with negative events, and thus, that longer

waits may result in less stress. "

For example, one study in the paper involved college students

waiting to participate in a group discussion about an undisclosed

topic. Some students were informed that they were expected to give

an impromptu speech as part of a Career Services exercise and would

be judged on demeanor and appearance. Others were told they would

merely observe. In the follow-up questionnaire, students who had

been in the neutral waiting condition were far more likely to rate

the waiting duration as their biggest source of annoyance. In

contrast, those who had been told they had to give a speech used the

waiting time to mentally prepare for the discussion group.

" When the waited-for event is negative, [we] found that consumers

were less concerned about potential stress that came from waiting.

In fact, in some cases consumers actually preferred extra waiting

time so that they could cope with the impending event, " the

researchers explain. " In an experiment where participants were

required to wait before engaging in a specific task, shorter waiting

times and information about how long the wait would be reduced total

stress for those waiting for neutral events, but increased total

stress for those waiting for negative events. "

In another experiment, college students were asked to rank several

short films. The experiment was designed so that participants in the

negative condition were really watching a film they found difficult

to watch, and the aversive choices included the descriptions: " a

video of the Twin Towers collapsing on 9-11-01 " and " a video of a

missile hitting a passenger train in Kosovo killing 14 civilians. "

They were then asked to wait as the film they least liked or a

neutral film was loaded on to their computer. Some students simply

saw the words " film loading . . . " for three minutes while others

were given a countdown of how much time was left. Those who received

a countdown while waiting to watch a film they did not want to see

reported significantly greater stress. Notably, there was no

difference in stress between the two groups when no information

about the time left was provided. Participants were given the option

to discontinue watching the film at any time, and several did so.

" Our work provides a new perspective on managing waits. While the

waiting literature has historically viewed waits as something

negative that should be reduced, we demonstrate that the validity of

this assumption is contingent on the situation, " write , Kahn,

and Luce. " Traditional strategies that focus only on the wait and

not the overall experience may result in wait management strategies

that can exacerbate overall customer satisfaction rather than

improve it. "

Journal reference: Gelfand , Barbara E. Kahn and

Frances Luce, " Consumer Wait Management Strategies for Negative

Service Events: A Coping Approach. " Journal of Consumer Research:

February 2008.