Queueing Psychology at the Gas Pump
- queueing theory: part 1
- On Queueing, Oil Change, and Customer Experience
- Queueing Theory: Part 4
- On Time-Traps and Waste
- queueing theory: part 2+
- Queueing Theory: Part 3
- Little’s Law for Product Development
- Psychology of Queueing & Build-A-Bear Workshop
- Travel Time & Waste
- Call Centers as Queueing Systems
- What is Waste?
- YouTube’s Queueing Properties
- Queueing Theory and Terrorism
- Queueing, Disneyland, and FastPass
- Psychology of Queueing & Disneyland
- Multi-Tasking Leads to Lower Productivity
- Queueing Psychology at the Gas Pump
- On Queueing and Elevator Mirrors
- The Variability Tree
- Attitude and the Pyschology of Queueing
- Emergency Room (ER) Wait Times
- Staring at Acoustic Ceiling Tiles
More and more gas stations have television displays that play commercials and T.V. shows as you pump gas. While the primary motivation for these firms is to increase brand awareness through commercialization and penetration, this entertain-while-you-wait is also a manifestation of Queueing Psychology.
There are a few key behavioral responses or reactions to queues, or waiting. Below are the propositions for the Psychology of Queueing:
- Unoccupied time feels longer than occupied time.
- Process-waits feel longer than in-process waits.
- Anxiety makes waits seem longer.
- Uncertain waits seem longer than known, finite waits.
- Unfair waits are longer than equitable waits.
- The more valuable the service, the longer the customer is willing to wait.
- Solo waits feel longer than group waits.
The gas pump process inevitably requires that we wait. In many ways, this is a very smart move by both the gas companies and also the companies that provide the entertainment service. A few questions:
- The television play doesn’t begin until the gas begins to pump. I wonder how long the average time to pump gas?
- From the brand awareness and penetration side, the average time to pump gas is an important input. It gives the entertainment companies an idea of how long and how shocking or interesting the commercials or entertainment vehicles need to be.
Whether or not this approach will actually yield revenue for anybody, it’s an interesting manifestation of Queueing Psychology.
Below is a picture of two guys watching a show while waiting for their gas to stop pumping:
Below is a photo of a lady multi-tasking: she’s watching a show while she is about to pump gas:
(source)
This post is part of a series on Queueing Theory. Other articles can be found here:
- Queueing Theory: Part 1
- Queueing Theory: Part 2
- Queueing Theory: Part 3
- Queueing Theory: Part 4
- What is Waste?
- On Time-Traps and Waste
- Call Centers as Queueing Systems
- Travel Time & Waste
- Little’s Law for Product Development
- YouTube’s Queueing Properties
- Psychology of Queueing and Disneyland
- Queueing, Disneyland, and FastPass
- Multi-Tasking Leads to Lower Productivity
- Queueing Theory and Terrorism
- On Queueing Theory and Elevator Mirrors
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Comments
My local gas station has an annoying audio program that plays while you pump, just promotional stuff for the station. There’s a mute button, thankfully.
I seems like the only programming that I get are the Jack in the Box adverts. I think that the concept of programming is a good one but I feel the execution is not being done well.
I also think that the concept has two big flaws. The first is that I don’t think that it is a driver to getting people to go to a certain station. I choose the station that I go to simply by which is the most convenient for me. I certainly don’t go back to a station in order to watch TV. The second flaw is that the TV is in the wrong location. When I get to the pump my queue time is effectively over and I am not in the process of actually doing “work” (not in a conventional sense but I am doing something besides waiting). The time that I am pumping is not a bother to be because I know how long I will be there. My frustration in the gas station queue is that I don’t know how long it will take for those in front of me to pump gas. That is the time that I need TV or jugglers or clowns (only kidding about the jugglers or clowns…or am I?).
james
Sometimes I go to a station to pump gas, but don’t fill up the whole way – maybe I think that gas will be cheaper somewhere else, or I don’t feel like waiting, or whatever. I wonder how many people will be more likely to fill up that wouldn’t have because they want to watch the show?
Also, in response to James, I could certainly see people going to a station because of the video, especially if it’s at all entertaining. Maybe not you or me, but it seems reasonable that there would be a market that would respond to that.
[...] I have really enjoyed learning more about the Queuing Theory from our friend, Peter Abilla, over at the excellent shmula blog. Peter’s most recent post is about the Queuing Psychology at the Gus Pump. [...]
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I’ve always felt silly that I figured out when I hang the pump back in its holder, the TV turns off and tells me to go pay the attendant. So now when it starts playing some CNN feature, I’ll hold the pump in my hand until the feature finishes, *then* hang it back. So not only was the wait uncertain, it was prolonged. If anyone at chevron hears this, they’ll try and figure out a way to charge me for that time, I’m sure.