UNIT 20

1	Some years ago, executives at a Houston airport faced a troubling customer-relations issue.  Passengers were making an inordinate number of complaints about the long waiting times at baggage claim.  In response, the executives increased the number of baggage handlers.  The plan worked: the average wait time fell to eight minutes, well within the industry standard.  Yet the complaints persisted.
2	Puzzled, the airport executives undertook a more careful analysis.  They found that it took passengers one minute to walk from the arrival gates to the baggage claim area and at least seven more minutes to pick up their bags.  In other words, about 88 percent of their time was spent just standing around.  So the airport decided on a novel approach: instead of trying to reduce wait times, it moved the arrival gates further away from the main terminal.  Passengers now had to walk six times longer to retrieve their luggage.  Complaints dropped nearly to zero.
3	This story hints at a general principle: the experience of waiting is defined only partly by the length of the time we wait.  In the airport case above, eoccupied timef (walking to baggage claim) feels shorter than eunoccupied timef (waiting for the baggage to come out).  Research shows that people tend to believe they spend much more time in lines than they do in reality.
4	This is also why we often find mirrors next to elevators.  The idea was born after World War II, when the spread of high-rise buildings led to frustration over frequent elevator delays.  The rationale behind the mirrors is similar to the one used at the Houston airport: give people something to occupy their time, and the wait will feel shorter.  With the mirrors, people can check their hair, etc.  This strategy succeeded: the complaints ceased almost overnight.
5	Our expectations often affect how we feel about waiting in a line.  Uncertainty magnifies the stress of waiting, while feedback in the form of expected wait times and explanations for delays tends to improve the experience.  And beating expectations improves our mood.  That is why Disney, the acknowledged master of human psychology, overestimates wait times for rides, so that guests are pleasantly surprised when they get on a popular attraction ahead of schedule.
6	Perhaps the biggest influence on our feelings about lines has to do with our perception of fairness.  Usually, the first in line should get to go first.  At the same time, fairness also dictates that the length of a line should be commensurate with the value of the product or service sought.  The more valuable it is, the longer one is presumably willing to wait.  Hence, the express line in a supermarket exists on the assumption that no reasonable person would agree a child buying a single candy should wait behind a couple buying groceries for the next two weeks.
7	Americans spend roughly 37 billion hours each year waiting in line.  The dominant cost of this experience is an emotional one: stress, boredom, and the sensation that onefs life is slipping away.  As our lives get busier, the last thing we want to do is to spend our limited leisure time doing nothing.  Obviously, we will never be able to eliminate lines altogether, but a better understanding of the psychology of waiting can help make these inevitable delays a little more bearable.