A Cross-Cultural Examination of Consumer Wait Time Perception: Russia and the U.S.A

This research analyzes cross-cultural perceptions of waiting time in a controlled empirical experiment. Three video-taped waiting line treatments were shown to respondents from the U.S. and the former Soviet Union in order to evaluate the subjects' perceptions of waiting times. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate differences in perceived waiting times. Significant differences were found among groups depending on information regarding the purpose of the wait and across cultures.