Management Practice Insights

Abstract

Problem of Practice:

Whenever customers place online orders, time-related information becomes an important driver of purchase decisions, satisfaction, and attitude towards a brand. Time implies not only time to deliver, but also delays, the difference between standard and express shipping speeds, warranty periods and the time frame that a subscription service will last. For this reason, brands and companies should (and do) pay attention to communicating time-related information to e-retail customers. However, consumers tend to have a subjective interpretation of time and their perception of a time duration influences how they view consumption events and make decisions. A recent study by Tatiana Sokolova talks about the 'Days-of-the-Week Effect': describing how a time period in 'days-of-the-week' leads to consumers perceiving time as longer, but using dates for the same duration makes it seem shorter. Implemented correctly, this insight can help managers in the e-retail and e-services industry to improve customer outcomes and perceptions towards their brands ¹