Productivity metrics and consumers’ misunderstanding of time savings
De Langhe, Bart Puntoni, Stefano
De Langhe, Bart
Puntoni, Stefano
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Publication Type
Journal article with impact factor
Editor
Supervisor
Publication Year
2016
Journal
Journal of Marketing Research
Book
Publication Volume
53
Publication Issue
3
Publication Begin page
396
Publication End page
406
Publication Number of pages
Collections
Abstract
The marketplace is replete with productivity metrics that put units of output in the numerator and one unit of time in the denominator (e.g., megabits per second [Mbps] to measure download speed). In this article, three studies examine how productivity metrics influence consumer decisionmaking. Many consumers have incorrect intuitions about the impact of productivity increases on time savings: they do not sufficiently realize that productivity increases at the high end of the productivity range (e.g., from 40 to 50 Mbps) imply smaller time savings than productivity increases at the low end of the productivity range (e.g., from 10 to 20 Mbps). Consequently, the availability of productivity metrics increases willingness to pay for products and services that offer higher productivity levels. This tendency is smaller when consumers receive additional information about time savings through product experience or throughmetrics that are linearly related to time savings. Consumers' intuitions about time savings are also more accurate when they estimate time savings than when they rank them. Estimates are based less on absolute than on proportional changes in productivity (and proportional changes correspond more with actual time savings)
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Consumer Psychology, Marginal Productivity, Decision Making, Willingness to Pay, Heuristic, Miscommunication, Time Perception, Numeracy, Efficiency, Heuristics and Biases, Numeracy, Productivity