The Effects of the Service Environment on Affect and Consumer Perception of Waiting Time: An Integrative Review .and Research Propositions

Julie Baker University of Texas at Arlington

Michaelle Cameron St. Edwards University

The management of buyers' perceptions of waiting time by service businesses may be critical to customer satisfaction. Although reducing actual waiting time is important, what managers view as a short time to wait may feel too long to customers. Relevant literature from architecture, environ- mental psychology, psychology, physiology, operations management, sociology, and marketing is integrated to build a conceptual model of how the service environment may influence affect and, in turn, waiting time perception. Based on this model, propositions about how specific service environment elements (e.g., lighting, color, tem- perature) may influence affect and time perception are presented. Finally, a research agenda and implications for service facility design are proposed.

Customers frequently overestimate the amount of time they spend waiting in line (Hornik 1984; Katz, Larson, and Larson 1991), and as the perception of waiting time in- creases, customer satisfaction tends to decrease (Katz et al. 1991). The traditional approach firms have taken to mini- mize dissatisfaction with waiting is to manage actual wait- ing time through operations management. Although it may not always be feasible to control the actual wait duration, it may be possible to influence customers' subjective per- ceptions of waiting time. Subjective time is defined by how

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Volume 24, No. 4, pages 338-349. Copyright �9 1996 by Academy of Marketing Science.

individuals perceive and feel about the length of a time duration.

How subjective time is managed is particularly critical to service organizations. Services are processes, often produced, delivered, and consumed during a single en- counter occurring within the service firm's facility. In addition, because services cannot be inventoried and de- mand may be hard to predict (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry 1985), waiting before receiving a service is a com- mon experience. Even an efficient, courteous, and compre- hensive service transaction can be overshadowed by the frustration of a long wait (Maister 1985).

Prior research in marketing has supported the relation- ship between perception of wait time and service satisfac- tion (e.g., Maister 1985; Taylor 1994, 1995), has examined how attribution and degree of filled time are related to perception of wait time (e.g., Taylor 1994, 1995), and has explored several types of affective responses that influence perception of time (e.g., Hornik 1992; Kellaris and Kent 1992; Taylor 1994). However, little attention has been paid to how these relationships may be influenced by elements in the service environment, which can be controlled by managers.

The importance of the service environment is evi- denced by its inclusion as one of a few key components in widely recognized conceptualizations of the service en- counter, such as the Dramaturgy Model (Grove and Fisk 1983) and the "seven P's" framework (Booms and Bitner 1981). Environmental elements within the service setting have been found to influence individuals' affective states (e.g., Bitner 1992; Mehrabian and Russell 1974), which consist of an interaction of pleasure and arousal that has

Baker, Cameron / PERCEPTION OF WAITING TIME 339

FIGURE 1 Effects of the Service Environment on Affect and Consumer Perception of Waiting Time

I Service Delay

[

I 1

Service

NOTE: Shaded boxes represent the primary focus of the literature review and propositions.

positive or negative valence (Russell and Pratt 1980). In turn, research has shown that time perception may be influenced by internal states such as affect that are reac- tions to external stimuli in the physical environment (e.g., Levin and Zakay 1989). This article integrates these here- tofore diverse ideas by reviewing an extensive literature base to examine the linkages among the service environ- ment, affect, and consumer time perception.

The focus of this article is on services for which con- sumers experience waiting within the firms' facilities due to delays or queues (e.g., restaurant, supermarket, physi- cian's office). A conceptual model is developed that ex- plains how the service environment may influence waiting time perception through affect and thus influence overall evaluation of the service encounter. Based on this model, a set of propositions about the effects of specific environ- mental elements such as lighting, color, spatial layout, and temperature on affect and perception of waiting time is presented. The propositions offer guidance for future re- search on waiting time perception and to managers making service facility design decisions.

A MODEL OF THE SUBJECTIVE WAIT EXPERIENCE

Bitner (1992) proposed that the service environment can affect consumers' emotional, cognitive, and physi- ological responses, which in turn influence their evalu- ations and behaviors. Although understanding that the environment, in a general sense, affects consumer response

is helpful, it is necessary to go beyond general under- standing to help service marketers make specific decisions about the service environment. This article extends Bitner's work by exploring the effects of specific environ- mental elements on one intervening variable--perception of waiting time--that has been found to influence service evaluation (Clemmer and Schneider 1989; Taylor 1994). The model developed in this article also incorporates ele- ments from Taylor's (1994) wait experience model.

The model illustrated in Figure 1 is based on research that has consistently shown a negative relationship be- tween perception of waiting time and service encounter evaluation (Clemmer and Schneider 1989; Hornik 1984; Katz et al. 1991; Taylor 1994). Because these relationships are already established in the marketing literature, there are no propositions offered regarding these model linkages. Instead, as shown by the shaded parts of the model, we focus on how service environment elements may influence affect and consumer perception of waiting time during a delay.

The basic underlying theoretical framework for our model originated with Mehrabian and Russell (1974), who posited that affect mediates the relationship between the physical environment and an individual's response to that environment. This framework has received consistent em- pirical support in environmental psychology and market- ing (e.g., Baker, Grewal, and Levy 1992; Donovan and Rossiter 1982; Russell and Pratt 1980). Our model builds on Mehrabian and Russell's work by incorporating two. other aspects of consumer time perception--attribution theory and the cognitive timer model (e.g., Hornik 1992;

340 JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE FALL 1996

Taylor 1994, 1995)--that provide additional theoretical insights into how the service environment may influence consumer perception of waiting time:

A review of the literature suggests that affect mediates the influence of the service environment on perception of waiting time via four routes: (1) directly, (2) indirectly through queuing perceptions, (3) indirectly through attri- bution of the delay, and/or (4) indirectly through degree of filled time (i.e., the cognitive timer). In the sections that follow, the theoretical rationale for these routes are pre- sented and propositions about the effects of specific ser- vice environment elements on each route are developed.

To provide an inclusive view of the multiple elements that exist in a service environment, we use in the model a three-component typology of environmental elements pro- posed by Baker (1986). The three environmental compo- nents are as follows:

Ambient elements: These are intangible background con- ditions that tend to affect the nonvisual senses and in some cases may have a relatively subconscious effect. We develop propositions about the effects of lighting, temperature, and music.

Design elements: These represent the components of the environment that tend to be visual and more tangible in nature. We develop propositions about the effects of color, furnishings, and spatial layout.

Social elements: These are the people (customers and employees) in the service setting. We develop propo- sitions about the effects of employee visibility and customer interaction.

THE SERVICE ENVIRONMENT, AFFECT, AND TIME PERCEPTION

The central conceptual path in Figure 1 proposes direct relationships among the environment, affect, and time perception. Affect has been found to directly influence a number of consumer perceptions, evaluations, and behav- iors (e.g., Taylor 1994; Westbrook 1987) and is especially important in service encounters (Gardner 1985). A recent study found that affect was a key mediator operating between information about a service wait and service evaluation (Hui and Tse 1996).

Refining Mehrabian and Russell's (1974) original three-component conceptualization of affect (pleasure, arousal, and dominance), Russell and his colleagues (e.g., Russell and Pratt 1980) found that two correlated dimen- sions created from the interactions of pleasure and arousal were sufficient to represent affective responses, resulting in a circumplex model of affective response. This model results in a two-dimensional matrix that categorizes all affective responses as valenced combinations of pleasure and arousal. The valence of an affective state is evidenced by its position in the matrix. For example, the positive affective state "excited" consists of moderately high pleas-

ure and high arousal, whereas the negative affective state "discomfort" consists of low pleasure and moderately high arousal. Neutral affect would occur near the middle loca- tions in the model.

Hornik (1992) showed that positive and negative affect had an impact on consumers' subjective estimations of time. Specifically, those experiencing positive affect tended to underestimate the duration of recent activities, whereas those experiencing negative or neutral affect tended to overestimate them. Hornik argued that individu- als in bad moods experience a situation negatively and may wish for time to pass quickly, and so they pay more attention to the passage of time. People in positive moods who are enjoying the current situation may pay less atten- tion to the passage of time and thus may underestimate clock time when asked for time estimations.

By contrast, several recent studies have not found a rela- tionship between affect and time perception (Kellaris and Kent 1992; Kellaris and Mantel 1994). Two differences between these studies and Hornik's (1992) appear to explain the apparent inconsistencies. First, Hornik measured general affect of the subjects and found the same results under two different affect induction procedures, whereas Kellaris and Kent (1992) asked subjects to evaluate selections of music rather than measuring the general affect of the subjects. Second, the length of the affect induction and the periods of time duration that subjects estimated both were significantly longer in the Hornik study (71/2 to 9 minutes and 12 minutes, respectively) than they were in the Kellaris studies (21/2 minutes and 30 seconds).

The theoretical and empirical evidence (discussed so far and in literature reviewed in later sections) supports the direct link between affect and subjective time perception as shown in Figure 1. Environmental elements in the service setting may directly influence an individual's af- fective state in either a positive or a negative direction (Mehrabian and Russell 1974), which in turn may affect perception of waiting time. It is important to note that an individual's affective state can be altered by environmental factors that he or she may or may not be able to detect at a conscious level (Donovan and Rossiter 1982; Gardner 1985). Propositions about the effects of the ambient ele- ments of lighting, temperature, and music as well as the design elements of color and furnishings on affect and time perception are discussed next.

Lighting

Research indicates that there is a relationship between lighting level preferences, the social situation, and the amount of visual attention required for an activity. Across a wide variety of activities, brightness preferences are lower for situations involving a romantic partner, whereas lighting level preferences are higher for activities of a visual nature regardless of the social situation (Biner, Butler, Fischer, and Westergren 1989). This suggests that individuals prefer a base level of lighting adequate for the type of activity involved and that negative affect may result if the level of lighting is below the base level.

Baker, Cameron / PERCEPTION OF WAITING TIME 341

It has also been demonstrated that higher levels of illumination are associated with increased physiological arousal (e.g., Kumari and Venkatramaiah 1974). Baron (1990) found that subjects reported more positive affect in conditions of low levels of lighting compared to that in high levels of lighting. The comfort of subjects was found to increase at relatively low levels of light, whereas com- fort decreased with high levels of light (Hopkinson, Peth- erbridge, and Longmore 1966).

Although these studies did not measure time percep- tion, the influence of lighting levels on affect can concep- tually be linked to research showing that lighting levels influence time perception. For example, experimental sub- jects estimated longer time duration under conditions of higher illumination compared to that under lower illumi- nation (Delay and Richardson 1981) and estimated longer time duration under higher intensity lights compared to that under lower intensity lights (Goldstone, Lahmon, and Sechzer 1978). This evidence suggests the following:

PI: Given a base level of lighting adequate for the task to be performed in the service environ- ment, the higher the level of lighting above this base level, the more negative the affect and the longer the perception of waiting time duration.

Temperature

Psychological research suggests that certain tempera- tures are associated with negative affect. Anderson and his colleagues (e.g., Anderson 1989) have found consistent evidence that aggression and the likelihood of riots in- crease as air temperature increases. A positive association between high effective ambient temperatures and antiso- cial behavior has also been demonstrated in laboratory experiments (e.g., Griffitt and Veitch 1971). Hoagland (1966) found that higher temperatures resulted in percep- tion of time passing more slowly. Bell and Baron (1977) argued that low temperatures (around 62 ~ F) are associated with negative affective states. Both heat and cold are more intense stimuli when compared to temperatures that are considered comfortable. This suggests that there is a "range of comfort" in service setting temperatures. Tem- peratures outside this range (too high or too low) are likely to result in a negative affective state:

P2: The greater a temperature's distance beyond the range of comfort in a service environment, the more negative the affect and the longer the perception of waiting time duration.

Music

Previous studies have found support for the relationship between time perception and music in the service environ- ment (e.g., Chebat, Gelinas-Chebat, and Filiatrault 1993). B runer (1990) reviewed literature supporting the relation- ship between music and affective reactions in listeners.

Integrating these ideas suggests that consumers' positive or negative affective responses to music may influence their subjective perceptions of waiting time.

Whether music is associated with positive or negative affective states depends on a complex interaction of musi- cal elements such as tempo, pitch, mode (major or minor), and genre (see Bruner [1990] for a review) as well as individual preference. For example, Kellaris and Kent (1992) observedthat when subjects listened to music in a preferred mode (i.e., increased pleasure), their perceptions of time increased rather than decreased. However, the music tempo in their study was faster (140 beats per minute) than the range of generally favored tempo (70-110 beats per minute [see Bruner 1990]), and this may have created a degree of negative arousal that made the time seem to pass slowly. Indeed, Holbrook and Gardner (1993) found that music tempo had differing effects on arousal and pleasure. Thus the interaction of music mode and tempo appears to have resulted in complex effects on affective response.

The complexity of affective response to music is exem- plified in the mixed results found in research on music tempo. Some researchers have found that slow tempo music reduced anxiety (Jacobson 1956), whereas faster tempo music was associated with increased worry and emotionality (Smith and Morris 1976). However, Bruner (1990) reviewed literature that suggested faster tempo music was associated with positive affective states (such as happy and exciting), whereas slow tempo music was associated with feelings of sadness. Clearly, given the complexities that result from different combinations of musical elements, identifying the positive and negative affective responses to different types of music for specific customer segments and specific service contexts would require testing. The evidence reviewed, however, does suggest that music may affect subjective time perception:

P3: Music in a service environment that creates positive affect in consumers will decrease perception of waiting time duration, whereas music that creates negative affect in consum- ers will increase perception of waiting time duration.

Keeping a music selection constant, the volume at which music is played can also influence consumers' af- fective reactions. Smith and Curnow (1966) discovered that study participants spent significantly less time in a supermarket when the music was loud than they did when the music was soft, supporting their hypothesized link between music volume and negative affect. In another study, musical loudness was found to increase perceived time duration in female subjects (Kellaris and Altesch 1992). Kellaris and Rice (1993) found that music played at 60 decibels was rated as having more affectively positive properties than was music played at 90 decibels. Although music volume has not been studied at very low levels of volume, it seems logical that consumers may prefer music at a moderate volume level. Music that is played at a volume too soft to hear may be ignored. This suggests that

342 JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE FALL 1996

affective reactions to music volume may be represented by a nonlinear function, with very low volume music being ignored and very high volume music generating negative affect. Within this range, consumers are likely to have varying volume level preferences. The evidence that links music volume, affect, and time perception thus suggests the following:

P4: The higher the volume of music above a range of preference, the more negative the affect and the longer the perception of waiting time duration.

Color

Color researchers generally have categorized colors as being either warm (e.g., red, orange, yellow) or cool (e.g., blue, green). Studies have shown that warm colors are psychologically and physiologically arousing and some- times stressful, whereas cool colors are relaxing and tend to decrease feelings of stress (e.g., Bellizzi, Crowley, and Hasty 1983). These effects have been found to persist over 10- to 15-minute time periods (e.g., Jacobs and Suess 1975). Moreover, it has been observed that the passage of time tends to be overestimated in a room painted with warm colors and underestimated in a cool-colored room (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Spacecraft Center 1976).

There are three perceptual dimensions of color: hue, brightness, and saturation. The categorization of a color as warm or cool needs to be based not only on its hue but also on its brightness and saturation. A high degree of bright- ness and a high degree of saturation can produce feelings of agitation (Arnheim 1954), whereas weak colors can give an impression of calmness (Acking and Kuller 1976) regardless of hue. Saturation may also influence judgment of a color's "temperature"; for example, a light pink may be perceived as cooler than a deep red.

Additionally, the effects of color will vary with its amount and location. Small amounts of a bright or satu- rated color used as an accent in an otherwise neutral room will not have the same effect as that same color on large areas. With the caveat that the color in question covers a relatively large portion of a room, the available evidence indicates that warm colors create more negative affective reactions than do cool colors. However, regardless of whether a color is warm or cool in hue, highly saturated colors and bright colors tend to increase negative affect:

P5: The warmer (defined in terms of hue, bright- ness, and/or saturation) the color in a service environment, the more negative the affect and the longer the perception of waiting time duration.

Furnishings

Furnishings in a service setting encompass the objects and materials that are used within the environment (e.g.,

furniture, paintings, window coverings, rugs). The influ- ence of furnishings can be manifested through the affective response of comfort. Seating comfort has been found to influence pleasure in football and baseball stadium facili- ties (Wakefield, Blodgett, and Sloan 1996). Stress caused by poor seating has been found in workplace settings (e.g., Nevin 1991). A high rate of blinking and increased mus- cular and nervous tension have been associated with glare (Birren 1952), and so the use of poorly designed window treatments that do not protect waiting customers from the sun may result in negative affect. Consumers who are comfortable, on the other hand, should experience more positive affective states:

P6: The higher the level of discomfort of furnish- ings in a service environment, the more nega- tive the affect and the longer the perception of waiting time duration.

THE SERVICE ENVIRONMENT, AFFECT, AND QUEUING PERCEPTION

Queuing perception means that consumers perceive that they are waiting in some order for service whether or not they are physically standing in a line. The literature suggests that two aspects of queuing perception may me- diate the service environment-affect relationship: queuing progress and social justice. The design element of spatial layout affects these consumer perceptions.

Spatial Layout and Queuing Progress

Spatial layout refers to the manner in which objects (e.g., furniture, equipment, doors) are situated within the environment. Spatial layout can be an effective way to manage perceptions of progress in a queuing situation (Haynes 1990). Frustration and time distortion can result without feedback that one is making progress in a queue (Spivak 1967). For example, lines at the Disneyland and Disney World theme parks are designed to continually provide feedback that customers are making progress.

Compare the difference between the multiple-line sys- tem at McDonald's (where each server has a separate line of people waiting) and the multistage system at Wendy's (where there are multiple employees serving a single cus- tomer in stages). With the multiple-line system, the line is shorter, but it moves only sporadically. In the multistage system, the line is longer, but it moves continuously and customers can see signs of progress (Maister 1985), and this likely would generate more positive affect. This evi- dence suggests that perception of queuing progress medi- ates the relationship between the service environment and affect:

P7: Spatial layout in a service environment that is designed to provide perception of queuing progress will be associated with more posi- tive affect and lower perception of waiting

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time duration than will spatial layout that does not provide perception of queuing progress.

Spatial Layout and Social Justice

Spatial layout may also be designed to manage percep- tion of fairness or social justice in the waiting process. Social justice, measured by adherence to first-in/first-out, is an important element of customer satisfaction with the experience of waiting (Larson 1987). Unfairness in a wait- ing situation causes negative affective states (Haynes 1990; Malster 1985). For example, first-class check-in counters at airports (which usually move faster) may be viewed as unfair by other customers, making them angry and making their wait seem longer. Queue jumping is also considered unfair by customers (Mann 1969).

An example of how social justice was "served" by changing the spatial layout was provided by Martin (1983). Business passengers disembarking from early-morning airline flights complained about delays in luggage han- dling. The airline responded by reducing the wait for luggage to 8 minutes or less, but customers continued to complain. Closer analysis revealed that the walt for lug- gage consisted of a 1-minute walk from the aircraft to the luggage carousel and a 7-minute walt at the carousel. Passengers waiting for luggage observed those with hand luggage queuing up at the taxi stand before them. The solution was to insert delays in the system by changing the spatial layout. The aircraft landed farther from the main terminal and the most distant carousel was selected for delivery of luggage. The total walk time for everyone was increased, luggage was ready by the time passengers ar- rived, and those with only hand luggage no longer were perceived as having a "head start." Passenger complaints dropped substantially.

Therefore, it is proposed that spatial layout influences affect by managing perception of social justice, suggesting the following:

P8: Spatial layout in a service environment that is designed to provide perception of social jus- tice will be associated with more positive affect and lower perception of waiting time duration than will spatial layout that does not provide perception of social justice.

Weiner (1985) identified three dimensions of causal attributions: locus, control, and stability. Consumers' affective states are likely to be more negative if they attribute a long wait to the service organization (locus). Further, if customers perceive that the organization has control over the cause of a service failure, including a long wait or delay, they become more angry and dissatisfied than when they perceive that the cause is out of the orga- nization's control (Bitner 1990; Folkes, Koletsky, and Graham, 1987; Taylor 1994). Viewing delays or long waits as relatively stable may also contribute to negative affect (e.g., Folkes et al. 1987; see Taylor 1994 for an exception).

The service environment may influence customers' at- tributions about the cause of the wait. Bitner (1990), for example, found that more control was attributed to the firm when a service failure occurred in a disorganized environ- ment than when it occurred in an organized environment. Subjects also felt that the causes of failure were relatively stable in the disorganized environment. Other elements in the service environment that may invite unwelcome attri- butions are the design element of spatial layout and the social element of employee visibility.

Spatial Layout

Spatial layout may lead consumers to attribute the cause of a delay to the service organization. For example, bank customers were angry at delays they attributed to the bank when they observed tellers waiting for their computers to respond. After the bank installed partitions concealing computer terminals from customers, tellers were perceived to be busy throughout the entire transactions and com- plaints declined (Martin 1983). Spatial layout thus contrib- uted to consumers' affective responses, and this led to lower perception of waiting time duration. Similarly, if consumers attribute delays to an organization's illegible spacial layout, then negative affect and increased time perception may result:

P9: Spatial layout in a service environment that is designed to minimize attributions of delay to the organization will be associated with more positive affect and lower perception of wait- ing time duration than will spatial layout that encourages attribution of delay to the organi- zation.

THE SERVICE ENVIRONMENT, ATTRIBUTION, AND TIME PERCEPTION

The service environment may indirectly influence af- fect through attribution of the delay. Attribution theory suggests that customers make judgments about cause-and- effect relationships that influence their subsequent emo- tions, attitudes, and behaviors (e.g., Weiner 1985); thus attribution for a delay has affective consequences for wait- ing consumers.

Employee Visibility

Social elements in the service environment may influ- ence affect through attribution of the delay. A situation that may invite attribution to the service organization is the sight of what appears to be available service personnel sitting idle while customers wait. Even if such personnel are in fact occupied (such as bank personnel processing paperwork), customers may view this as a service failure and attribute the failure to the firm because they perceive that they were made to walt longer than necessary (Maister

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1985). This attribution to the firm may then increase negative affective reactions in the waiting customers. Clemmer and Schneider (1989) found that bank customer satisfaction was strongly associated with perceptions of whether all tellers were serving customers:

PIO: A service setting in which employees assist- ing customers are made as visible as possible will be associated with more positive affect and lower perception of waiting time duration than will a service setting in which employees are visible but not serving customers.

THE SERVICE ENVIRONMENT, FILLED TIME, AND TIME PERCEPTION

The model in Figure 1 proposes that the service envi- ronment can indirectly influence affect through con- duciveness to social interaction and distraction, which represent two ways in which time can be filled for waiting consumers. Degree of filled time is a construct based on the cognitive timer model. This model proposes that indi- viduals possess cognitive timers that use attentional re- sources to process temporal information (Zakay 1989) and predicts that the more people pay attention to the passage of time, the slower it seems to pass (Hornik 1984). Thus "empty time" with no distraction will seem longer than time filled with something interesting. For example, Tay- lor (1995) reported that not only were customers' service evaluations higher when their waiting time was filled during a delay than when the time was not filled, but customers in the filled time condition did not even perceive the 10-minute delay that occurred.

The degree to which an individual's time is filled influ- ences affective reactions to the wait. Taylor (1994) found that when airline passengers' time was filled during a delay, they reported less anger than did passengers who experienced unfilled time. Katz et al. (1991) and Folkes et al. (1987) also found support for the linkages between filled time and affect. Taylor (1995) failed to find a rela- tionship between filled time and affect but speculated that the delay used in the study may have been too short to induce negative affect. Additionally, the reliability of the affect scale used in the study was low.

It is proposed that the service environment can influ- ence degree of filled time through the distraction provided by furnishings and through conduciveness to social interaction.

Furnishings and Distraction

Furnishings may provide one type of time-filling dis- traction in the form of information. For example, Katz et al. (1991) found that when a bank provided a newsboard, customers were more relaxed and tended to overestimate waiting time duration by a marginally smaller amount than was the case for customers in the bank without a news- board. The authors speculated that their time perception

results may not have been statistically significant because waiting times were relatively short and because customer satisfaction was very high before the installation of the newsboard. An alternative explanation may be that the electronic newsboard was not sufficiently distracting to effectively fill the time for waiting customers.

Another type of distraction may result from the enter- tainment value of the furnishings. Hotels that placed floor- to-ceiling mirrors near elevators in high-rise hotels were found to receive fewer complaints about elevator delays than were competitors that did not (Ackoff, as cited in Larson 1987). Waiting consumers were distracted by the mirrors because they spent their time adjusting their hair or clothing. Maister (1985) suggested that looking at memorabilia (e.g., Victoria Station, Hard Rock Care) can shorten the perception of waiting time. Similarly, furnish- ings such as interesting artwork or sculpture or beautiful outside views may arrest waiting customers' attention enough to fill their time.

Finally, if consumers who are waiting for service can engage in distracting tasks that require their attention, then time may seem to be filled and to pass more quickly. Service providers could design the environment to encour- age engagement in tasks. For example, Kaufman, Lane, and Lindquist (1991) suggested that physicians could pro- vide a few small desks or chairs with writing arms so that patients could do paperwork while waiting. Taylor (1995) found that magazines provided to waiting consumers were effective time fillers.

The valence and collative dimensions of the service environment furnishings are important issues. Berlyne's (1971) model predicts that the fluctuation of an individ- ual's arousal is determined by a number of stimulus prop- erties such as complexity, novelty, and uncertainty, referred to as collative dimensions. This model proposes that the pleasantness of stimulation is an inverted U func- tion of the arousal potential of the stimuli. Empirical evidence has shown that stimuli in the higher ranges of the collative dimensions tend to raise arousal levels more than do stimuli in the lower ranges (e.g., Berlyne, Craw, Sala- patek, and Lewis 1963). An excessively high level of arousal is aversive; therefore, individuals should prefer a moderate level of complexity, novelty, and uncertainty.

Berlyne's (1971) model would suggest that the furnish- ings in the service environment be not only moderately arousing but also positively valenced to both capture at- tention and influence affect in a positive direction. How- ever, although most consumers would agree that fish tanks or memorabilia are positively valenced and that shrunken heads are not, some consumers may be drawn to the macabre that is distasteful to others. One example in the authors' experience is the display of torture instruments in the Tower of London. It seems logical that this display would be distasteful, but the crowd in this area exceeded any other display on the site. However, in general, it seems prudent that service providers avoid furnishings that would be controversial or offensive to a significant number of consumers. The preceding discussion suggests the following:

Baker, Cameron / PERCEPTION OF WAITING TIME 345

Pl l : Positively valenced, moderately distracting furnishings in a service environment will re- sult in more positive affect and a lower per- ception of waiting time duration.

Social Interaction

The social environment includes other customers who share the service experience with the focal consumer. Because customer-to-customer interactions can influence satisfaction with the service experience, managers need to be sensitive to this issue (Martin and Pranter 1989). To examine the affective impact of filled time due to custom- ers sharing the service environment, it is necessary to look at the moderating effect of their desire for social interac- tion. If service customers desire interaction with others, then social facilitation effects that lead to positive affect should occur. However, if there is no desire for social interaction or if the interaction is unpleasant, then the result may be feelings of intrusion and negative affect.

Social Facilitation

Social facilitation assumes that the presence of other people in the setting will result in positive affect because others fill the time in distracting and entertaining ways. Maister (1985) argued that promoting group waiting will increase customers' tolerance for waiting time because it distracts people from paying attention to the time. Mann (1969) observed that the queuing process for football tickets became an adventure, with people lining up as much as a week ahead of time and often bringing tents and sleeping bags. Even in less extreme situations, people waiting in line sometimes will interact by discussing the wait, sharing frustration, and consoling each other.

The concept of social facilitation may explain this be- havior. Social facilitation suggests that, other things being equal, groups will remain longer in a setting than will lone individuals and will engage in more activities positively associated with duration (Sommer and Sommer 1989). We can speculate that when there are other people in a setting, time is filled for customers, creating more positive affect, and less attention is paid to the passage of time. Social facilitation research has found, for example, that people in groups remained significantly longer in coffeehouses than did lone individuals (Sommer and Sommer 1989) and that the size of the drinking group determined time spent in the pub (Graves, Graves, Semu, and Sam 1982). People who shop in groups tend to spend more time in retail stores than do those who shop alone (Granbois 1968). Whereas these groups may be preselected (e.g., friends, professional col- leagues), groups of strangers may also form to spend time more pleasantly when they have to wait, as in the queuing for football tickets example cited earlier. Therefore, the social facilitation framework predicts the following:

P12: The more other customers in a service envi- ronment are welcomed by consumers as con- tributing to the degree of filled time, the more positive the affect and the lower the percep- tion of waiting time duration.

Social Intrusion

An alternative perspective to social facilitation is the view that the presence of other people in a service setting can be intrusive, generating negative affect. The research on social facilitation deals with voluntary groups in pre- sumably pleasant situations that are not time bound. When customers are waiting for many services, the groups that form are not always voluntary. If others are unwelcome, then a negative affective state may result. Models of over- stimulation (Baum and Paulus 1987) have suggested that environments that expose individuals to unwanted or un- controlled intrusions are associated with negative affect. Customers may feel intruded on when others are engaging in behaviors such as smoking or loud talking or when a setting is perceived to be crowded (Hui and Bateson 1991).

Elements of spatial layout have been found to influence feelings of being crowded. The use of partitions, rectangu- lar rather than square rooms, and L-shaped rooms has been shown to reduce feelings of crowding (Baum and Davis 1980; Desor 1972). Worchel and Teddlie (1976) reported that placing pictures on the walls of a room reduced the experience of crowding and significantly reduced subjects' time estimations.

Therefore, service customers who perceive the pres- ence of others in the service setting within the context of social intrusion may experience negative affective states, suggesting the following:

P13: The more other customers in a service envi- ronment are viewed by consumers as intrusive, the more negative the affect and the higher the perception of waiting time duration.

RESEARCH AGENDA

Further research is necessary to test the model relation- ships proposed in this article and to determine the effects of specific environmental elements in specific service settings. Although the preponderance of the literature re- viewed supports our position that affect mediates the rela- tionship between the service environment and time perception, no research has been reported that tests all aspects of our model. There may be situations, for instance, in which a direct link between the environment and time perception exists. Efforts to test the model should include structural equation models or mediation analysis to empiri- caUy examine the viability of the linkages proposed.

To determine how service environment elements influ- ence perceived waiting time and overall service evalu- ation, it is important that researchers be careful about how they operationalize and measure perception of waiting time, which is a multifaceted construct. For example, one goal of the research would be to investigate whether the setting can help customers to underestimate the time they spend waiting, and so actual waiting time is needed to provide a point of reference for waiting time perception. Therefore, data should be collected using a combination of

346 JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE FALL 1996

observation techniques to measure actual waiting time and survey techniques to measure perceived waiting time. In addition, even though respondents may underestimate waiting time as measured in minutes, they still may per- ceive it as too long. Thus respondents' evaluations of the length of the wait should also be measured.

Because the links among the service environment, af- fect, and consumers' perceptions of waiting time duration and overall service encounter evaluations are both a com- plex and a relatively unexplored topic, a variety of methods will be necessary to test the propositions offered in this article. Field studies, field experiments, and laboratory experiments all can make important contributions. Factors that influence the choice of research strategies include the researchers' access to field sites, cost, ability to provide adequate experimental control, and ease of manipulating environmental conditions. For example, music is a vari- able that is easy and inexpensive to manipulate in a field experiment, and it has been studied repeatedly in actual service settings (e.g., Milliman 1986; Smith and Curnow 1966). By contrast, variables such as lighting, color, and temperature are more difficult to control and manipulate in actual service settings, and service providers may be less likely to allow systematic manipulation of these elements in their facilities. This may explain why many environ- mental studies are limited to either laboratory experiments (e.g., Baron 1990; Bdlizzi et al. 1983) or correlation of behavior with naturally occurring events (e.g., the correla- tion of aggressive behavior and hot temperatures in the summer [Anderson 1989]).

For the researcher who does not have access to a natu- rally occurring experiment and does not have the resources to construct actual environments, other methods are avail- able. Several forms of simulated environments such as photos, slides, scale models, and videotapes have been used in experimental studies (e.g., Baker et al. 1992; Bitner 1990; Hui and Bateson 1991). The advantages of simula- tion are convenience, low cost, and the opportunity for systematic manipulation of the environment. Studies indi- cate a high degree of correspondence between responses to color photographs, color slides, color film, videotapes, and actual on-site evaluations (e.g., Hershberger and Cass 1974). Because subjects cannot actually "wait" in simu- lated environments, researchers could use a scenario ap- proach in conjunction with this method to explore some of the relationships proposed by the model.

The service environment is composed of multiple ele- ments that operate on affect and time perception simulta- neously. Thus it will be necessary to look at the combined effects that may occur among environmental dements to determine whether these effects are additive or interactive or whether one element overshadows another. For exam- ple, Parrott (1982) found that the emotional effects of music and paintings were additive; happy music and a happy painting produced a high rating of happiness in subjects, whereas sad music and a sad painting produced high ratings of sadness.

There also may be interactions between various ele- ments in the service environment, such as between color and light or between light and temperature. For example,

Birren (1967) noted that the combination of bright light and warm colors may cause negative affect, whereas dim light used along with cool colors have the opposite effect. An interaction between color and temperature was noted by Porter and Mikellides (1976), who described a Norwe- gian study in which people set a thermostat 4 ~ higher in a blue room than they did in a red room.

Another possible effect of multiple elements in a ser- vice setting is that one element may be so salient to consumers that it overshadows another element that is known to have fairly strong effects when used alone. For example, Kdlaris and Rice (1993) found that loud music was associated with significantly less positive affect, whereas the various levels of tempo had no significant influence on positive affect. This finding was unexpected given that strong tempo effects had been reported in other studies (e.g., Milliman 1986). The authors speculated that although both tempo and loudness were successfully ma- nipulated, the loudness factor overshadowed the tempo effects.

Research is needed to refine and operationalize some of the variables discussed in the propositions. Of special concern are environmental elements such as lighting or temperature that are expected to act in a nonlinear fashion. This issue can be dealt with by testing a wide range of treatments to discover the proposed range of comfort for temperature or the base level of lighting for a task. It is important to understand not only the effects of the warmth or coolness of colors but also the effects of the brightness and saturation of colors. We need to learn what forms of information or entertainment in the environment provide diversions strong enough to influence affect and time perception (e.g., would other forms of media be more engaging than a newsboard in a bank setting?).

Finally, the effects of consumer characteristics on how the service environment influences affect and time percep- tion need to be examined. Demographics such as age, gender, and ethnicity may moderate the relationships pro- posed in the model. For example, Delay and Richardson (1981) found gender differences in the effects of lighting levels on time estimation.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

The model and propositions presented in this article provide some guidelines on ways in which elements in the service environment can be managed to decrease consum- ers' perceptions of waiting time duration. Several sugges- tions are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Learning what levels of ambient elements (lighting, temperature, music volume, and tempo) are most appro- priate and comfortable for their customers should be a priority for some service managers. Managers should also understand what affective responses specific music selec- tions create in their target markets (rather than looking strictly at what music is liked).

There are many important considerations in choosing colors for a service facility, but managers need to be sensitive about how colors might influence customers'

Baker, Cameron / PERCEPTION OF WAITING TIME 347

perceptions of waiting time. Although studies suggest that warm colors in combination with bright lighting would increase perceived waiting time, they would also suggest that some of the potentially negative effects of warm colors could be mitigated by using dimmer lighting. Also, tem- peratures might need to be adjusted to complement the colors of the setting to manage perception of wait time (e.g., setting the thermostat lower in a warm-colored setting).

If distractions provided by furnishings result in de- creased perception of waiting time, as proposed, then service managers should determine what sort of distraction would be attention getting in a positive way. In some service settings, distraction could be related to the service being provided; for example, videotapes in a bank lobby might present information about the various services of- fered by the bank, interspersed with current financial mar- ket information. In other situations, distraction could be related to the target market; for example, a large fish tank with brightly colored fish would provide an entertaining diversion in the office of a pediatrician.

A customer's perceptions of social justice may also need to be explicitly managed to reduce perception of waiting time. For example, it may be preferable to keep facilities for premium services out of sight of other cus- tomers or to provide physical barriers to discourage queue jumping. Perceptions of a customer's progress in a queue may be managed by eliminating multiple queues in favor of a multistage single queue.

Service managers should consider making the service environment as comfortable as possible for the waiting customer to influence time perception. This may mean replacing hard chairs with upholstered ones, using window treatments that can be adjusted to eliminate glare, or pro- viding places to sit where customers have to wait.

It is important to determine the appropriateness of designing the environment to facilitate social interaction or to provide privacy. Under appropriate conditions (e.g., target market, service type, goals of the organization), marketers may want to promote a sense of group waiting. This may entail changing seating arrangements in a wait- ing area so that people are seated in configurations that encourage interaction. To accommodate customers who may feel intruded on by social contact, the setting can be designed so that seating areas reduce chances for commu- nication and provide more privacy. To simultaneously accommodate needs for communication and privacy, both group and individual seating arrangements are possible, or lightweight furniture could be used that could give this control to the customers.

Service managers can also make design decisions to minimize the potential intrusiveness of any customer, or group of customers, on others. Noise reduction can be accomplished by using sound-absorbing materials, soft lighting, and soft music. Clear boundaries and queue de- marcation may decrease the impressions that those waiting are intruding. Allowing enough space between the queue and the service stations may also help by keeping the waiting customers a comfortable distance from those being served.

Finally, managing employee visibility may be one of the easiest ways to help decrease perception of waiting time. Employees who are available to help customers should be clearly and immediately visible (e.g., not stock- ing shelves or in the back answering the phone) to the customer. Employees who are not responsible for helping customers, or who are momentarily unavailable, should be kept out of sight of waiting customers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank Roger Dickinson, Charles W. Lamb, Jr., Erika Matulich, James Munch, and three reviewers for their detailed and constructive comments. Thanks also go to William L. Reeb for help on the graphics.

NOTE

1. A more extensive bibliography is available from the authors.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jul ie Baker is an assistant professor of marketing at the Univer- sity of Texas at Arlington. She received her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Her areas of interest include the retail/service environment, internal marketing, and service quality. She has published articles in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, and International Journal of Re- search in Marketing, among others.

Michaelle Cameron currently is teaching at St. Edwards Uni- versity in Austin, Texas. She received her Ph.D. from the Univer- sity of Texas at Arlington. She formerly was in sales and marketing planning at IBM, where she was involved in bringing numerous products to market.

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