Under pressure: an integrative perspective of time pressure impact on consumer decision-making

Abstract

Time pressure (TP) constrains consumers’ decisions: stores have fixed opening hours, promotions have deadlines, and a house for rent may not be available tomorrow. Evidence about the impact of TP on decision-making suggests that when facing complex decisions, consumers do not process all the information, ground decisions upon a restricted set of attributes, and are less likely to defer choices, but still accomplish utility choices. However, these effects of TP have been typically observed in experimental paradigms that manipulate specific deadlines for task completion. In two experiments involving consumer goods and service choices we have introduced two additional TP manipulations (time limited price discount and stock-out threat), building an integrative approach where information processing strategies, choice deferral, and final choice utility were measured. Our results emphasize the differences between TP manipulations. When applied to real buying contexts, price discounts may not be so effective anymore, whereas stock-out threats have surprising effects, decreasing deferral and final choice utility. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the differences between decision-making upon consumer goods and services, discriminating the effects of TP in real scenarios.