Waiting for service: ten years of empirical research

Abstract

The problem of waiting is important in service activities, when customers are passive, often standing in a queue. This paper reviews 18 published empirical studies to identify groups of factors and their influence on customers. Some groups of factors reveal significant effects, such as real waiting time or expectation; others such as environmental factors are disappointing. These results alter our vision of the phenomenon, and lead to new directions for further practical or theoretical investigations, for example reintegrating the non‐linear effects of time in the study of waiting, exploring the expectation phenomenon and its variations, classifying customers and situations in order to manage critical waiting circumstances better.