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The Effects of the Service Environment on Perceived Waiting Time and Emotions
Author(s) -
Chien ShihYi,
Lin YingTung
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing and service industries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.408
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1520-6564
pISSN - 1090-8471
DOI - 10.1002/hfm.20542
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , service (business) , crowding , psychology , social psychology , applied psychology , business , marketing , communication , cognitive psychology
Because customers’ experience of waiting for service may negatively affect their behavioral approach toward the service organization, improving the service environment may also improve their waiting experience. This study examined the different effects of environmental elements on the perceived waiting time route and the emotional route. We surveyed 326 customers of a leading fast‐food chain restaurant in Taiwan during rush hour. We found that the emotional route is a stronger predictor of customer approach behavior than the perceived waiting time route. Moreover, the explained wait and perceived crowding directly affect both the perceived waiting time route and the emotional route. The effect of the design factor on the customer behavior approach is significant in the emotional route, but it is not significant in the perceived waiting route. In addition, perceived crowding has the strongest effect on the perceived waiting time route, and the explained wait has the strongest effect on the emotional route.