Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • May 2011
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

Think Customers Hate Waiting? Not So Fast...

By: Ryan W. Buell and Michael I. Norton
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Managers typically look for ways to reduce wait time to increase customer satisfaction. New research suggests there's a better approach: showing customers a representation of the effort, whether literal or not, being expended on their behalf while they wait. (The prototypical example is the travel website Kayak, which shows customers each airline it searches.) Studies show that customers prefer waiting when the work being done is transparent-even when the waits are longer or the results are no better than those obtained with shorter waits.

Keywords

Customer Relationship Management; Service Delivery; Consumer Behavior; Performance Effectiveness; Customer Satisfaction

Citation

Buell, Ryan W., and Michael I. Norton. "Think Customers Hate Waiting? Not So Fast..." Harvard Business Review 89, no. 5 (May 2011).
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Authors

Ryan W. Buell

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

Michael I. Norton

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • February 2021
    • Management Science

    How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice

    By: Ryan W. Buell and Basak Kalkanci
    • November 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Improving Access at VA (Update)

    By: Ryan W. Buell
    • 2020
    • Faculty Research

    'Repayment-by-Purchase' Helps Consumers to Reduce Credit Card Debt

    By: Grant E. Donnelly, Cait Lamberton, Stephen Bush, Zoe Chance and Michael I. Norton
More from the Authors
  • How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice By: Ryan W. Buell and Basak Kalkanci
  • Improving Access at VA (Update) By: Ryan W. Buell
  • 'Repayment-by-Purchase' Helps Consumers to Reduce Credit Card Debt By: Grant E. Donnelly, Cait Lamberton, Stephen Bush, Zoe Chance and Michael I. Norton
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College