Why People are Willing to Wait in Long Lines
I don’t know about you but I’m not big on waiting in a long line. I try to avoid it as much as possible. I’m definitely not one of those people who will wait all day to get concert tickets or anything else for that matter, but there is a population out there who doesn’t mind long lines that much.
Marketwatch explains three reasons people are willing to wait on line:
Waiting is a shared experience, and people respond strongly to shared experiences. As Marketwatch puts it, “time wasted is camaraderie gained.”
Shoppers reinforce each other’s thoughts on making the right buying decision when they stand in a crowd. It’s a concept called “social proof.”
Retailers like long lines because it creates attention. This holds true even after the initial hype dies down–people will still be eager to buy a product if they saw all the attention it initially generated.
So this begs the question…are you a line person or do you avoid lines like a plague?