The effect of duration metrics on consumer satisfaction

Abstract

AbstractConsumers increasingly feel that time is scarce. To guide time expectations, many marketers have begun communicating duration metrics—information about how long most consumers typically spend on a given activity. Despite the rising prevalence of duration metrics, little is known about how they shape consumption experiences. Five experiments and an analysis of digital engagement data from articles on a popular online publishing platform show that longer (vs. shorter) duration metrics enhance satisfaction and word‐of‐mouth after an activity is completed. Subjective time perceptions underlie these effects, such that longer duration metrics make consumers feel like they have spent more time on a given activity, and consumers infer their ex‐post satisfaction from the amount of time they feel they have invested. Thus, this research provides insight into how duration metrics operate and challenges the intuition that consumers prefer activities that demand less of their time.