Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour

Indicate how the following products and services are 'loaded' with time, in terms of
time used in consumption, time-saving device, durability, waiting time, seasonality,
time projections in the past and the future, etc.
    • A dish washing machine
Time for having dishes washed / comparative time with hand wash for the same workload /
frequency of use especially in case of singles / lifetime of the dish washing machine / cost of
buying a servant's time;
    • A haircut
Time spent waiting for accessing the service / Time spent for hairdressing / Time between
haircuts / Social time (it is an opportunity to meet and discuss with others) versus purely
individual time.
    • Obtaining cash from your bank or automatic teller machine (ATM)
Time spent waiting to obtain cash / Time span before cash will be needed again (with a
trade-off: taking more cash will allow decrease in the frequency) / charges for machine use.
    •   Spending a two-week vacation at Club Méditerrannée
Time spent thinking about what the vacations could be: dreaming, planning, searching for
information, evaluating and selecting alternatives / How long in advance people plan their
vacations / 'Free-time vacations' (no agenda within the vacation period) versus 'organised
vacations' (daily scheduling of activities) / Time spent on vacation may mean lost money
(non-paid vacations: people are allowed to go on holiday but without salary) or not (paid
vacations as is the case in European countries: if people do not take their paid holidays, it is
simply lost; they cannot be paid for time spent working during vacations period) / Buying
vacations where you are fully served and taken care of (such as at Club Med) or renting a
villa and cooking the meals (doing this means using time that could be bought to fully enjoy
free time).
    •   Fresh orange juice versus dried orange juice
One can compare three alternatives: fresh (self-made) versus fresh (ready to drink)...