Keep them busy, keep them flowing? The effects of actively versus passively occupied wait time

IF 10.5 1区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

Journal of Business Research Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115216

Sebastian Böddeker , Caroline Rothert-Schnell , Gianfranco Walsh , Markus Groth

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Having to wait for services is both inevitable and annoying. To mitigate the negative effects, customers can be engaged passively (e.g., watching TV) or actively (e.g., completing forms) while waiting. However, the effectiveness of each approach remains unclear. We investigate how different forms of wait time occupation (non-occupied versus occupied; passively versus actively occupied) affect customers’ intentions to return through their experience of flow and wait time satisfaction. We also investigate whether actual wait time moderates this relationship. A scenario-based (Study 1) and a simulated service (Study 2) experiment confirm the mediating roles of flow experience and wait time satisfaction, such that active, compared to passive, waiting increases the flow experience, enhancing wait time satisfaction and intentions to return. But longer actual wait times weaken the positive effect of the flow experience. Thus, our results suggest that actively occupying wait time effectively enhances service customers’ wait time perceptions.

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来源期刊

Journal of Business Research BUSINESS-

CiteScore

20.30

自引率

10.60%

发文量

956

期刊介绍： The Journal of Business Research aims to publish research that is rigorous, relevant, and potentially impactful. It examines a wide variety of business decision contexts, processes, and activities, developing insights that are meaningful for theory, practice, and/or society at large. The research is intended to generate meaningful debates in academia and practice, that are thought provoking and have the potential to make a difference to conceptual thinking and/or practice. The Journal is published for a broad range of stakeholders, including scholars, researchers, executives, and policy makers. It aids the application of its research to practical situations and theoretical findings to the reality of the business world as well as to society. The Journal is abstracted and indexed in several databases, including Social Sciences Citation Index, ANBAR, Current Contents, Management Contents, Management Literature in Brief, PsycINFO, Information Service, RePEc, Academic Journal Guide, ABI/Inform, INSPEC, etc.