A belief-updating process for minimizing waiting time in multiple waiting-time events: Application in website design

Abstract

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has identified the waiting time problem, commonly referred to as the World Wide Wait, as a major problem that must be resolved in order for people to have rich robust Internet experiences. For the foreseeable future, slow download speeds may cost Web sites billions of dollars in opportunity loss. Using consumer behavior theory, we formulate a method for minimizing perceived waiting time in phenomena which involve multiple waits or time delays, here applied to Web site design and the Internet waiting problem. Solutions for two types of design situations are provided: (1) the optimal ordering of a predefined number of Web pages, and (2) an optimal number of Web pages and the amount of information on each page, for a set of information in a predefined order. We provide a solution for the general case, and a simplified solution for specific belief-updating patterns suggested by previous literature as frequently occurring in practice. This research contributes to the extant waiting time literature as well as provides solutions to, enhances understanding of, and encourages future research for, a persistent and important Internet and e-commerce problem that has received relatively little attention in the marketing literature.