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The purpose of this paper is to highlight both the contribution and the present need to reconfigure the literature on “queue culture” as a precursor of the sociology of waiting.

The study employs a legal-structural lens in comparing the initial conceptual treatment of the archetypal “waiting line” with the “line” modifying sociology of waiting that results in waiting rooms, number and telephone queues and in the experience of online waiting.

The initial conception of the culture of the queue understates the importance of three factors: first, the role of third parties in the design, management and inculcation of rules binding those experiencing thick time; second the degree to which communication technology and its attachment to the “mobilities” paradigm has thinned the experience of thick time and lastly the degree to which the increasing commodification of the wait has resulted in the creation of waiting time as a form of pay as you go flexitime.

The social construction of waiting and the experience of thick time are shown to be increasingly part of the privatized market experience where queue management innovations not only are commercialized but have strong implications for the egalitarian social assumptions imbedded in the initial queue culture based sociology of waiting. Policy implications support the present pay for use philosophy increasingly applied in the transition from public to private management of space.

The self-policing “fairness” of the waiting line is now open to scrutiny given the proliferation of the newly shaped distributional logics imbedded in the management, design and use of waiting spaces.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of waiting lines on customers’ decisions between using a self-service alternative and using a service employee. As self-service technologies are expensive and time-consuming to design and implement, service providers need to understand what drives customers to use them. Service operators have the most control over waiting lines and flexibility in expanding capacity, either by adding service employees or by adding self-service kiosks.

The study used online scenario-based surveys following a 4 (number of customers waiting for the self-service technology) × 4 (number of customers waiting for the service employee) design. A binary dependent variable was used to record participants’ choice of service delivery alternative.

Using logistic regression, the authors found that customers are increasingly motivated to use self-service technology as the waiting line for the service employee grows longer. This effect is influenced by perceived usefulness, anticipated quality of the self-service technology, need for interaction and technology anxiety.

This study should be replicated in a real-world setting where actual behavior, and not only intention, can be measured.

The study provides guidance on how service providers can design their service to take advantage of the motivating effect of waiting lines on usage of self-service technology.

The present study is the first to combine a scenario-based experiment with a binary dependent variable to isolate the impact of waiting lines on the choice between using a self-service technology and using a service employee. The use of the binary dependent variable overcomes the ambiguity of extrapolating from a continuous measure of intention to draw conclusions about behavior, a binary variable.

Waiting for service by customers is an important problem for many financial services marketers. The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach proposing that customer evaluation of the service can be increased with an ambient scent. The paper also aims to identify a cognitive variable which differentiates customers by the way they value time.

Pre‐tests included focus groups which highlighted financial services and a pilot test of 105 subjects. These were followed by a main sample of 607 subjects. Structural equation modelling and multivariate analysis of covariance were used for analysis.

Two environmental interventions, music and scent, can increase customer satisfaction among customers kept waiting in a line and reduce queue rage.

Service contact points can reduce incidence of “queue rage” and enhance customer satisfaction by either or both of two simple modifications to the service environment or a preventive strategy of offering targeted customers an alternative.

A new environmental intervention for customers waiting in line and a potential new method of segmentation are proposed.

Service experiences and waiting lines are often – unfortunately – seen to go hand in hand. This chapter explains why this is the case. Beginning with an exploration of capacity and operating constraints, discussion then delves into both the mathematical origins and psychological implications of waiting lines. The final section offers hope to managers and guests alike, with a survey of different operations strategies and tactics that can eliminate or abate the need to wait.

Describes a laboratory study which tested the effect of customer attributions on customer satisfaction, both with the checker and with the store. Tests were carried out for situations where the perceived waiting time was longer than expected, and for situations where it was shorter than expected. The findings indicated the significant effect of customer attribution. Concludes that customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction is dependent not only on the perceived waiting time, but also on the customer identification of the causes, as well as the stability and control of the causes.

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of an office canteen layout on operations, specifically on customer behaviour before checkout, waiting times, and congestion.

The current study was made in the context of discovery and exemplification. The sample was not randomly obtained: the method of recruitment was purposive and convenient. Two Dutch office canteens were selected based on their motivation to participate in the study. A small exploratory study aiming to report on current practices and to inform on possibilities for future research and intervention. With direct observations the behaviour, waiting times, and congestion of 47 customers were analyzed. Customer behaviour was reported qualitatively, waiting times and congestion were reported quantitatively.

Canteens where customers can move freely before checkout queue, allow them to move away from congestion towards food products and to have more favourable waiting times than customers in canteens with layouts requiring a strict order and line‐up for self‐service and checkout.

The results contribute to the managerial repertoire of facilities managers by illuminating latent positive influences of facility layout on operations, which can stimulate the design of better facilities.

This paper contributes to the understanding of how facilities are interwoven with operations. It also informs on possibilities for future research in this area, for instance, combining approaches that originate from facilities management and operations management. This may lead to future research to recommend specific designs or behaviour‐inducing layouts for increased operational enhancements.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effect of social exchanges between customers that may occur in a queue, on the waiting experience's evaluation and its implication for the customer service management.

Extant literature on social exchanges between customers within consumption environment is reviewed pertaining to the interrelationships between customer‐to‐customer interactions, atmospherics' perception and waiting time evaluation. A conceptual model is built upon the reviewed literature illustrating the relationships between main concepts of the study.

The insights from this work suggest that making interactions between customers more enjoyable may reduce waiting time perception. In contrast, if the customer‐to‐customer interaction is perceived as negative, this may increase the waiting time evaluation.

Albeit conceptual and exploratory in nature, this paper is intended as a beginning for further empirical validation of the effect of customer‐to‐customer interaction on the waiting experience.

Few studies have investigated explicitly the impact of customer‐to‐customer interactions on waiting time evaluation. This paper suggests that social exchanges that may occur in the queue may affect the customer's waiting experience.

The purpose of this study is to explore how tourists use connected mobile devices such as smartphones to manage their tourist experience.

A multi-method, cross-sectional approach was used consisting of questionnaires about tourists self-reported use of connected mobile devices and recorded observations of tourists' interaction with their devices.

Respondents who reported a more intense use of their connected mobile devices also reported a heightened tourist experience. Specifically, high users reported more intense emotions and expressed the belief that using their device improved the quality of their vacation. More extensive use of connected mobile devices was also linked to the perception that waits for attractions and restaurants were shorter.

While the data and methods employed do not allow for testing of causality, the field research approach provides the benefit of high ecological validity, complementing previous studies on this topic.

Commercial service providers should explore ways to stimulate the use of devices, for instance by offering information about the attraction, or by providing an attractive setting for tourists taking photos. This contributes to shorter time perception and improved visitor evaluations.

Tourists' use of connected mobile devices to manage their tourist experience varies in terms of quality and intensity. Findings show that travelers know how to use their smartphones in a way that best suit their information and social needs.

This study aims to examine the effect of situational factors, related to transactions and waiting, on customers' cognitive and affective responses to service delivery time, including their service evaluations.

A web‐based survey included customers of an online credit company.

The authors' results demonstrate that disconfirmation influences cognitive but not affective responses. Both transaction importance and opportunity waiting cost influence wait acceptability, and transaction importance moderates the relationship between disconfirmation and wait acceptability. Delivery time worry and transaction worry increase negative affective responses; affective and cognitive responses then determine service evaluation. Opportunity waiting costs increase the positive effect of wait acceptability on service evaluation.

The main limitations pertain to the small sample size and the restriction of the survey to customers of only one financial company.

The derived guidelines suggest how banks can improve service evaluations by modifying consumer time expectations, as well as reducing opportunity waiting cost, delivery time worry, and transaction worry.

The conceptualization of service delivery time refers to waiting outside the company's premises, as opposed to in‐line waiting on company premises. This study considers the influence of situational factors, such as transaction importance, transaction worry, waiting cost, and delivery time worry, on customers' reactions to service delivery time in the context of online banking services.