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Investigating the impact of service line formats on satisfaction with waiting

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  • Kumar, Piyush
  • Dada, Maqbool

Abstract

In this paper, we examine whether the format of service lines affects customers’ satisfaction with their queuing experience. Using a goal-theoretic approach, and data from a series of experimental studies, we show that the duration of the wait moderates the psychological tradeoff between the initial queue length and its rate of movement, such that customers prefer a single line format for shorter waits but a multiple line format for longer waits. We also show that satisfaction declines with an increase in the number of stages in service lines. This adverse effect of multi-staging can be mitigated by using information devices as well as orienting customers away from local, stage-specific, sub-goals towards the overall goal of receiving service and exiting the system. We synthesize these findings about the psychophysics of queuing to generalize a model of satisfaction with waiting that accounts for the effect of service line formats and can represent customers’ utility functions in models of queuing systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumar, Piyush & Dada, Maqbool, 2021. "Investigating the impact of service line formats on satisfaction with waiting," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 974-993.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ijrema:v:38:y:2021:i:4:p:974-993
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.12.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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