Paul Flanigan: The perception of time

When Universal Studios released King Kong on DVD in August, 2006, they provided me with the regular 2:30 trailer. At that time I was focused on building the HD Program at Best Buy to better reflect both the desires of the customer (”Show me what this movie looks like at home.”) and the brand value proposition (”We’ll show you the latest and greatest.”). Using the same trailer for the DVD release that was used a year earlier for the theatrical release would have no impact. Instead, I wanted a real clip from the film that promoted the DVD and looked awesome in HD. I used the clip where the ape and the Tyrannosaurus are about to fight. When it aired, the feedback was terrific. One compliment from a store employee was, “I can smell the ape!” (It was this instance that started me down the path of understanding employee engagement.)

At corporate, I asked meeting attendees to watch both spots. I showed the trailer at the beginning of a meeting and the clip at the end of the meeting. Then I asked if the audience if they could tell me the running times of the spots.

In almost every case, the viewers felt the trailer was longer than it was, by about 30 seconds. The actual running time of the trailer was 2:30. In contrast, the viewer felt the clip was shorter than it was. Many felt it was only about 30 seconds, when its actual running time was 1:05.

The trailer was not engaging. It felt longer than it was. However, the viewers were so engaged with the clip that they lost track of time.

I recently wrote about a Stanford study written by Jennifer Aaker and Cassie Mogilner on the effects of time versus money. Part of that study included perception. The authors surveyed attendees at a concert in San Francisco with free admission. But, people had to wait for long periods to get tickets. When attendees were asked about the time they spent to see the concert versus the amount of money spent to see the concert (They asked random individuals: “How much time will you have spent to see the concert today?” or “How much money will you have spent to see the concert today?”), the responses to the question stressing time were more favorable. What was surprising was that those who waited in line longer said their satisfaction with the concert was higher.

What does this mean? The more engaged a customer is with something that will benefit his lifestyle, the greater the discrepancy in perception of time as the he moves down the path to purchase. (How many of you have seen a movie that was so good that it felt like it was half as long as it really was?)

The role of Digital Signage in any environment impacts not only the shopping behaviors, but also the psychological effects of the time spent in the store. In a recent study, 45% of all customers interviewed had a perceived wait time of five minutes less than those interviewed in a store without a digital signage network. In the same study, 68% of all customers interviewed prefer to shop at a store with digital signage.

Perception of time has deep impact in areas of where the psychological effects of waiting could be detrimental to the overall experience, like amusement parks, checkouts, grocery markets, gas stations, and waiting rooms.

If you can relate to your customer’s lifestyle and purpose for being in your store, you can create compelling content that eases the perception of time spent with the products and services you sell, creating a truly engaging experience.