Consumers often make decisions about outcomes and events that occur over time. This research examines consumers' sensitivity to the prospective duration relevant to their decisions and the implications of such sensitivity for intertemporal trade-offs, especially the degree of present bias (i.e.,...

This work examines consumers' preferences for consumption timing. Specifically, we examine how temporal framing (deferring vs. expediting) of a decision moderates the sensitivity of consumers' pattern of discounting to changes in time horizon. In three experiments, we show greater decline in...

Decisions are often temporally separated from their outcomes. Using theories of structural alignment and temporal construal, we examined how temporal distance and the associated shift in decision processes moderate susceptibility to context effects. Specifically, in two experiments (one...

Consumers often schedule their activities in an attempt to use their time more efficiently. Although the benefits of scheduling are well established, its potential downsides are not well understood. The authors examine whether scheduling uniquely undermines the benefits of leisure activities. In...

Consumers often organize their time by scheduling various tasks, but also leave some time unaccounted. The authors examine whether ending an interval of unaccounted time with an upcoming task systematically alters how this time is perceived and consumed. Eight studies conducted both in the lab...

Many important decisions that consumers face involve choosing between options that are unattractive or undesirable—the proverbial “lesser of two evils.” Consumers, who face budget or geographical constraints, for example, end up with mostly undesirable consideration sets; yet a choice is...

Consumers prefer larger assortments, despite the negative consequences associated with choosing from these sets. This article examines the role of psychological distance (temporal and geographical) in consumers’ assortment size decisions and rectifies contradicting hypotheses produced by...

Consumers’ lives are filled with scheduled events – both positive and negative. The current research examines how the valence of future scheduled events colors consumers’ temporal judgments in relation to such events: the time until their onset, the time during the events, and the time...

Previous theories have suggested that consumers will be happier if they spend their money on experiences such as travel as opposed to material possessions such as automobiles. We test this experience recommendation and show that it may be misleading in its general form. Valence of the outcome...

We examine how, why and which consumers infer company mask policies to be politically motivated, impacting their purchase interest. Five studies (N = 3,438) demonstrate that consumers use a company’s mask policy as a proxy for its underlying political ideology but interpret the political...