時間表現が期間限定セールの参加意欲に与える影響

Abstract

This study examines the effects of two time expressions: absolute time (××/○○～××/◇◇) and endpoint emphasis expression (××/◇◇ made). Specifically, we examine the effects of changing the time expressions of the sale period on the evaluation of the time remaining until the end of the sale and the willingness to participate in a sale. The following two points became clear from the investigation using limited-time sale advertisements in which time expressions and presentation timing were manipulated. (1) When there is enough time remaining until the end of the sale, the use of end-of-sale framing expressions is likely to make consumers perceive less time remaining until the end of the sale. (2) The evaluation of the time remaining until the end of the sale has a negative direct effect on the willingness to participate in the sale yet has an indirect positive effect through time pressure.

Translated Abstract

本研究は，絶対時刻表現（××/○○～××/◇◇）と終了時点強調表現（××/◇◇まで）の2つの時間表現の影響について，検討したものである。具体的には，期間限定セールの実施期間の時間表現を変えることによって，セール終了までの残り時間の評価とセールに対する参加意欲にどのような影響を与えるかについて検討している。時間表現と提示タイミングの2点を操作した期間限定セールの広告の実験から，次の2点が明らかになった。（1）セール終了までの残り時間が十分ある場合，終了時点強調表現を用いることで，消費者にセール終了までの残り時間をより少なく知覚させる可能性が高いこと，（2）セール終了までの残り時間の評価は，直接的にはセールへの参加意欲に負の影響を与えるが，時間圧力を介することで間接的に正の影響を与えることの2点が明らかになった。

I.  Introduction

A “limited-time offer” is a measure that encourages consumers to take action by limiting the sale period. Currently, there are a variety of “limited-time offers,” such as limited-time sales, limited-time edition products, and limited-time offer events. Therefore, consumers regularly encounter “limited-time offers”.

There are various ways to indicate to consumers that an offer is a “limited-time offer”. In some cases, the term “limited-time offer,” is used, whereas in other cases, the starting or ending point of the measure may be indicated. According to Kim et al. (2020) and Spears (2001), the former refers to an “implicit deadline”, while the latter refers to an “explicit deadline”. With respect to “implicit deadlines,” studies have examined the effect of the presence or absence of “limited time” on consumers (e.g., Suzuki, 2008). In the case of consumers who find a product difficult to obtain due to its “limited time”, this makes the product more attractive (Suzuki, 2008). The effect of “explicit deadlines” on consumers has also been examined (e.g., Aggarwal & Vaidyanathan, 2003). Additionally, “explicit deadlines” put consumers in a situation where they must decide by the end of the measure. Therefore, consumers are affected by time pressure (Mitomi & Abe, 2022). Thus, studies on “limited-time offers” have shown that “implicit deadlines” and “explicit deadlines” affect consumer behavior. Existing studies use various “explicit deadlines,” such as a “10-hour only super sale” (Aggarwal & Vaidyanathan, 2003) or “For 1 week only!” (Devlin et al., 2007). However, no existing studies have compared research on how to communicate “explicit deadlines” (hereafter referred to as “time expressions”). Therefore, it is important, both practically and academically, to systematically examine which time expressions are effective.

When time expressions are used in advertisements for time-limited offers, it is clear that “explicit deadlines” that describe both the start and end points, such as “××/○○～××/◇◇,” are generally used. As typified by “××/○○～××/◇◇,” a time expression that describes both the start and end points of a measure can be judged as indicating that the measure is being implemented over the same period. However, the time expression “××/◇◇ made (until ××/◇◇ in English)” in which only the endpoint is indicated can also be confirmed. Existing studies have noted that emphasizing and framing the endpoint influences consumer behavior (e.g., Bi et al., 2021). Therefore, the time expression “××/◇◇ made” can be considered to emphasize and convey the endpoint of the measure to consumers.

In this study, we examine the effects of two expressions, “××/○○～××/◇◇” and “××/◇◇ made” on consumer behavior for limited-time sale advertisements. The structure of this study is as follows. In Chapter 2, we review the discussion of existing studies and derive the hypotheses for this study. In Chapter 3, an outline of the experiment is explained. In Chapter 4, the hypotheses are tested, and finally, the contributions and challenges of this study are discussed.

II.  Hypotheses

In this chapter, we review the findings of existing research and formulate hypotheses regarding time representation. In psychology, there exists a concept of time called “objective time”. According to Ichikawa (2008), “objective time” refers to “clock time” as ticked by the hands of a clock, and many people today assume this is “objective time”. “Absolute time” is a time expression that considers “objective time”. Ichikawa (2021) noted that time expressions such as JR departure/arrival time indications (e.g., “Yamanote Line bound for Ueno and Tokyo, 14:19”), which anyone can judge as the start/end at the same time, are “absolute times”. Therefore, the time expressions “××/○○～××/◇◇,” which indicate the start and end points of limited-time periods seen in advertisements, can be judged to start at the same time (××/○○) and end at the same time (××/◇◇), regardless of who sees them. Therefore, in this study, “××/○○～××/◇◇” is treated as an absolute time expression.

Since absolute time expressions are commonly used as time expressions, they are considered reference points for comparison with other time expressions. To compare temporal expressions with absolute time expressions, this study focuses on the concept of temporal landmarks. According to Bi et al., Dai et al. (2014) defined time landmarks as those that “stand out more starkly than others on socially shared calendars or personal life timelines”. Three types of special time landmarks have been identified: public events (e.g., Olympics), important personal events (e.g., birthdays), and calendar reference points (e.g., Christmas) (Bi et al., 2021). Additionally, time perceived as “beginning”, such as the morning or beginning of the month, and time perceived as “end”, such as the evening or weekend, are also noted as temporal landmarks (Ye & Zhou, 2019). The “limited-time offer” analyzed in this study can be considered to have a perceived “beginning” and “end” for certain consumers, since it limits the purchase and discount periods for consumers. Therefore, in this study, a “limited-time offer” is also considered a temporal landmark.

Existing studies have focused on the framing effect at the start or end of a time landmark. The framing effect is defined as “a phenomenon in which a change in the way the conditions are presented changes the decision-making process significantly, even if the presented conditions are objectively equivalent¹⁾”. For example, Bi et al. (2021) reported that when the sale was called a new semester sale (summer vacation end sale) and framed at the beginning (end), individuals’ visual attention shifted to the left (right), resulting in an attentional focus that matched the framing of the temporal landmark. In existing studies, the framing of the endpoint is performed solely by specifying the name of the public event, the calendar reference point, and the fact that it is the end of the month. Under these circumstances, this study examines temporal expressions for framing endpoints. As a time expression framing a specific endpoint (hereafter referred to as an “endpoint emphasis expression”), this study focuses on the Japanese phrase “made”. In advertisements for limited-time sales, the time expression “××/◇◇” is used to indicate only the endpoint of the sale. Ito (1997) noted that the word “~made” is used as a case particle to express a point of arrival or a limit point, which is the place where a movement ends or the time when the movement itself ends. The word “××/◇◇” alone is an absolute time expression that describes only the endpoint, similar to the JR arrival time indicated in Ichikawa (2021). By adding the word “~made”, the endpoint of the sale is emphasized and can be considered framing.

Song et al. (2024) noted that endpoint framing causes anxiety through the recall of uncompleted tasks and behaviors to reduce or eliminate anxiety. Additionally, since reducing or eliminating anxiety leads to motivation to search for information (Sun et al., 2021), emphasizing the endpoint can lead to awareness of the “endpoint” and motivation to process the information on a subject with a set deadline. Research has indicated that the greater the interest or motivation for current events is, the shorter the time that is perceived or estimated (Fraisse, 1963/1971; Meade, 1959); this is because time seems shorter due to increased interest in particular events and less attention to other changes (Fraisse, 1963/1971). Therefore, by describing only the “endpoint” and using the case particle “~made” to emphasize and frame the “endpoint,” consumers feel anxious that they are missing an opportunity to purchase a good product at a low price in a limited-time sale, and increasing consumers’ motivation to process information about the limited-time sale. Additionally, the remaining time until the end of the sale is considered small because information processing is concentrated on the limited-time sale. Based on the above, considering that an expression that emphasizes and frames the endpoint “××/◇◇ made” is more likely to be perceived as having less time remaining than an absolute time expression, Hypothesis 1 is formulated as follows.

Hypothesis 1: The endpoint emphasis expression (××/◇◇) is more likely to be perceived as less time remaining until the end of the sale than the absolute time expression (××/○○～××/◇◇).

This study examines how the perception of remaining time influences participation in a sale based on two arguments: “time distance” and “time pressure”. Consider first the discussion of “time pressure”. Time pressure is defined as “the psychological reaction that the individual has when she believes the amount of available time is less than the amount she perceives to be necessary to perform a task” (Ordóñez et al., 2015)²⁾. In a situation where the discount period is limited, such as a limited-time sale (referred to as a time constraint in the research), consumers who feel they have insufficient time to make decisions or process information perceive time pressure (Iyer, 1989). Whether consumers feel that they have insufficient time to make decisions or process information depends on their information-processing characteristics. Existing studies have indicated that people who spend more time on information processing are more likely to feel time pressure (e.g., Chowdhury et al., 2009). The relationship between high and low product involvement and the perception of time pressure have also been discussed because people spend more time on information processing (Peng et al., 2019) when product involvement is high (Schmidt & Spreng, 1996). Therefore, individuals with greater involvement in sales are more likely to perceive time pressure.

Consumers perceive time pressure when the remaining time is clearly indicated, which increases their willingness to purchase limited-time products (Mitomi & Abe, 2022); thus, time pressure is thought to influence consumer behavior in sales. Positive and negative effects of time pressure on consumer behavior have been reported (e.g., Zhao et al., 2019; Zur & Breznitz 1981). This study examines the hypothesis that time pressure has a positive influence on consumer behavior because sales are subject to time constraints. According to Mitomi (2023), time pressure may have a negative impact when perceived risk due to product characteristics or time constraints is high. Although there is a perceived risk in limited-time sales, the economic benefit of purchasing goods at a lower price than the perceived risk is considered. In the presence of time constraints, the use of coupons with expiration dates increases (Inman & McAlister, 1994), and the offered product is perceived as valuable (Amirpur & Benlian, 2015) to avoid missing an opportunity to obtain a benefit. Moreover, discounting through sales is a factor that activates “extrinsic motivation³⁾” for consumers (Tsuchihashi, 2002). Suri and Monroe (2003) noted that, when motivated, people process information systematically when they do not perceive time pressure; in contrast, when they perceive time pressure, they process information with a price–quality heuristic and rate the quality of the product highly. Based on the above discussion, Hypothesis 2 is established.

Hypothesis 2: Perceived little remaining time positively influences the willingness to participate in a sale through the mediation of time pressure.

Since low involvement in a sale is not perceived as time pressure and is unlikely to be affected by time pressure, this study begins with a discussion of “time distance”. The remaining time can be viewed as the “time distance” from a specific time point to the subject’s end. Studies have examined how consumer behavior differs depending on the remoteness of time distance, using the framework of construal level theory. According to construal level theory, consumers’ construal level changes depending on their psychological distance (e.g., time distance) from the target (e.g., Trope & Liberman, 2003). 2003). Castaño et al. (2008) noted that, concerning the adoption of new products, the closeness of the time distance makes people focus on feasibility, increasing their concerns about product uncertainty and feelings of anxiety and making them less willing to purchase. Moreover, as the termination date increases, the perception of the depletion of psychological resources becomes more negative, leading to risk aversion (Pang et al., 2022). Psychological resources are those resources that individuals consume to process information (Blascovich & Tomaka, 1996). In addition to the perspective of objective time distance, the perspective of subjective time distance may also cause changes in the construal level (Higuchi et al., 2010).

These findings suggest that consumers’ construal level changes and becomes negative when they perceive less time remaining until the point at which the sale ends. This may lead consumers to think that they will be unable to process information and make decisions within the period even if they participate in the sale or that they will make the mistake of purchasing strange products, reducing their willingness to participate in the sale. Therefore, this study presents Hypothesis 3.

Hypothesis 3: Perceived little remaining time negatively affects the willingness to participate in a sale.

III.  Experiment Design

1.  Experiment summary

The experiment was conducted on an advertisement for a limited-time sale that was conducted over four days. In the experiment, two points were manipulated: the presence or absence of framing of the endpoint by time expressions (absolute time expression vs. emphasized end point expression) and the timing of the presentation of the advertising stimulus (at the point of 4 days remaining until the end of the sale vs. 2 days remaining until the end of the sale). Since existing studies have indicated that consumers’ behavior changes depending on the temporal distance and the remaining time (e.g., Mitomi & Abe, 2022), we also manipulated the timing of stimulus presentation.

2.  Experiment details

This section describes the settings, scenarios, and image stimuli used in the experiment. In this experiment, the period of a limited-time sale presented to the examinees is four days, from September 26, 2022 (Monday) to September 29, 2022 (Thursday). The reason for setting the sale period to four days is that most sales on AMAZON and Rakuten Ichiba are held for three or four days. The specific dates of the sale were determined based on the following: (1) the dates were during periods when large e-commerce sites such as AMAZON and Rakuten Ichiba do not hold limited-time sales, and (2) the weekend influence (Bussière, 2011) was removed as much as possible.

The scenarios used in the experiment are presented below. The following scenario was presented to the subjects who participated in the experiment on Monday, September 26, 2022: “The current time is noon on Monday, September 26. Imagine that you have just discovered an advertisement for a limited-time sale on a shopping site that you use regularly”. For the subjects who participated in the experiment on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, the wording [Monday, September 26] was replaced by the wording [Wednesday, September 28]. Figure 1 shows a list of advertisement stimuli presented to the subjects for a limited-time sale in the absolute time expression and the endpoint emphasis expression. The same images were presented for both time expressions regardless of the presentation timing.

Figure 1

Image stimuli used in the experiment (left: absolute time expression, right: endpoint emphasis representation)

Source: Prepared by the author

These image stimuli are English translations of the original advertising stimuli.

For the measurement of the subjective evaluation of the time remaining until the end date of the sale, the question-and-answer scale of Saqib and Chan (2015) was used as a reference. The specific question item was, “How much time did you feel you had before the limited-time sale ended?” and was measured on a 5-point scale from “enough time (1) ～ not enough time (5)”. With respect to the scale, consumers’ perception of insufficient time to make decisions and process information leads to the perception of time pressure (Ordóñez et al., 2015); thus, asking consumers to answer subjectively⁴⁾ whether they have “enough time” to make a decision is taken as the form. Next, the questionnaire items measuring the intensity of perceived time pressure were adapted from Suri and Monroe (2003). Specifically, the “Do you feel time pressure?” item was used. Responses were measured on a 5-point scale from “Not felt (1) ～ Strongly felt (5)”. The willingness to participate in a limited-time sale will be measured using two original question items: “I feel attracted to limited-time sales” and “I would like to click on this limited-time offer ad”. Both questions were measured on a 5-point scale ranging from “disagree (1) ～agree (5)”.

3.  Data summary

A research firm was commissioned to conduct surveys on September 26 (Monday) and September 28 (Wednesday), 2022, targeting 100 consumers in each pattern, for a total of 400 consumers. When the data obtained in the experiment were used for analysis, we checked the internal consistency and convergent validity of the construct of “willingness to participate in the sale”. For internal consistency, we use Cronbach’s alpha. For convergent validity, we use construct reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE). Table 1 below summarizes the question items, Cronbach’s alpha, construct reliability (CR), and average variance extracted (AVE) values. First, the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.796, which confirms the internal consistency. For convergent validity, Ando (2015) mentioned that a CR of 0.70 or higher (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988) and an AVE of 0.50 or higher (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) are desirable. The same indicator is used in this study. Since Table 1 shows that the criteria are met, we conclude there is no problem with convergent validity. Therefore, “willingness to participate in the sale” can be measured via two questions.

Table 1

Consistency and validity of the measurement scale

Source: Prepared by the author

IV.  Hypothesis Testing

First, to test Hypothesis 1, a two-way ANOVA was conducted with the time expression and the timing of the presentation of the advertising stimulus (hereafter referred to as “remaining time”) as explanatory variables and the evaluation of the small amount of remaining time as the explained variable. Figure 2 shows the average value of the smallest remaining time in each condition. The results of the analysis are significant for the main effect of time expression (F(1,396)=7.239, p<.01) and of remaining time (F(1,396)=7.818, p<.01). However, the interaction between time and remaining time was not significant (F(1,396)=0.626, ns.). The simple main effect of time expression was significant in the 4-day condition (F(1,198)=6.522, p<.01) but not in the 2-day condition (F(1,198)=1.685, ns.). In the 4-day condition, examinees who were presented with the endpoint emphasis expression (M=3.200, SD=0.979) perceived less time remaining than those who were presented with the absolute time expression (M=2.870, SD=0.832, p<.01). On the one hand, under the 2-day condition, it can be assumed that there was no difference in the perception of the little time remaining depending on the time representation. The main effect of time remaining was significant in the absolute time expression condition (F(1,198)=6.736, p<.01). With respect to absolute time representation, the subjects in the 2-day condition (M=3.210, SD=1.002) perceived less time remaining than those in the 4-day condition (M=2.870, SD=0.832, p<.01). Therefore, the absolute time expression can be considered affected by the length of the remaining time itself. On the other hand, in the condition of the endpoint emphasis expression (F(1,198)=1.924, ns.), the effect of the length of the remaining time was not significant and could not be confirmed. These results support Hypothesis 1 only at 4 days until the end of the sale.

Figure 2

Evaluation of the small amount of time remaining per condition

Source: Prepared by the author

The error bars represent the standard deviation (mean±1 SD). The larger the value, the greater the likelihood that the respondent perceives the remaining amount of time to be small. ** p<.01

Next, we conducted structural equation modeling to test Hypotheses 2 and 3. The tool used was AMOS. When conducting the analysis, the presence or absence of the endpoint emphasis expression was used as a dummy variable for the time expression, and whether two days remained or not was used as a dummy variable for the presentation timing. The χ² value and four goodness-of-fit indices (GFI, AGFI, NFI, and RMSEA) are used to check the degree of fit of the analytical model. First, the χ² value of the analytical model is 12.836 (df=8, p=0.118). Since the result of the χ² test was not rejected, the model was judged acceptable. The goodness-of-fit indices are GFI=0.981, AGFI=0.957, NFI=0.961, and RMSEA=0.056. Toyoda (2007) stated the following criteria for each goodness-of-fit index: the GFI should be greater than or equal to 0.9, and AGFI is judged to be a better fit when closer to 1. The NFI should be 0.95 or higher, and for the RMSEA, an empirical judgment index should be less than 0.05. The analytical model of this study can be judged to meet the standard values for the other goodness-of-fit indices, although RMSEA⁵⁾ is slightly above 0.05. Therefore, this study uses this analytical model for interpretation.

Figure 3 shows the results of the analytical model. From Figure 3, first, a positive path can be confirmed for the “evaluation of time remaining” from “endpoint emphasis” and “time remaining 2 days”. This result supports the results of the ANOVA. The “evaluation of time remaining” shows a negative path for “willingness to participate in the sale”. The greater the value of the “time remaining,” consumers who evaluate the time remaining until the end of the sale to be small are less willing to participate in the sale. It is also possible to identify positive paths for each of the two categories: “time pressure” from “evaluation of time remaining” and “willingness to participate in the sale” from “time pressure”. Using the bootstrap method, the indirect effect from “evaluation of remaining time” to “willingness to participate in the sale” via “time pressure” was confirmed to be significant (standardized coefficient 0.088, p<.01). Therefore, the evaluation of the remaining time has a positive effect on the willingness to participate in the sale via time pressure. However, since the indirect effect is smaller than the direct effect, consumers who evaluate the time remaining until the end of the sale as little will be less willing to participate in the sale. In the case of consumers who perceive time pressure, the decline in their willingness to participate in the sale is mitigated. The results of the above analysis support Hypothesis 2 and Hypothesis 3.

Figure 3

SEM results

Source: Prepared by the author

** p<.01, * p<.05 The coefficients shown are standardized.

V.  Contributions and Challenges of This Study

The results of this study suggest two contributions to the existing research. First, although the results are exploratory, it is clear that the endpoint emphasis expression is more likely to make consumers perceive less time remaining until the end of the sale than the absolute time expression when there is sufficient time until the end of the sale. However, when the sale is half over, there is no difference in the subjective evaluation of the remaining time for any of the time expressions; this means that the impact of time expression depends on the timing (remaining time). In a sales situation where time is limited, time remaining and time expressions are both factors that affect consumers’ subjective evaluation of time remaining. However, the influence of the time remaining may have been absorbed in the situation where the remaining time becomes little and the influence of the time remaining becomes strong.

First, in studies on time representation, attention has been given to the independent effects of framing the start and end points, and the contribution of this study can be seen as considering the influence of the remaining time. In the study of construal level theory, changes in construal level were examined by manipulating the length of time distance. Since construal level also changes depending on the length of subjective time distance (Higuchi et al., 2010), consumers’ subjective perception of remaining time can be manipulated by time expressions according to the results of this study. This point can be considered an academic contribution to the existing research on construal level theory. However, in this study, we did not measure the construal level of the experimental participants. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the robustness of the results of this study by confirming whether construal level changes with time, for example, by utilizing the BIF scale (Vallacher & Wegner, 1989) in future studies. Finally, existing research on time limits has focused on how consumers are affected by the presence or absence of the “implicit deadline” or “explicit deadline” (e.g., Aggarwal & Vaidyanathan, 2003). In this context, the fact that the impact on consumers differs depending on the way the “explicit deadline” is communicated (time expressions) is also considered an academic contribution to the existing research on time limits.

Second, the study revealed that evaluating the time remaining until the end of a sale as low leads to the perception of time pressure, which has a positive effect on the willingness to participate in a sale The results of this study indicate that when consumers perceive little time remaining until the end of the sale, their willingness to participate decreases. Consumers who perceive time pressure due to the small amount of time remaining are less motivated to participate in the sale. Existing studies have shown that a small amount of time remaining hurts consumer decision-making (Castaño et al., 2008). This is due to consumers’ anxiety that they may not be able to complete their decision-making or information processing within the sale period or that they may purchase something they do not want. Additionally, existing studies on time pressure have noted that people tend to select and discard information to make decisions in a short period and pay attention to negative information (e.g., Zur & Breznitz, 1981), which hurts decision-making. However, considering the results of this study, consumers who perceive time pressure as a loss when they make heuristic decisions and miss an opportunity to gain financially from a limited-time sale may overestimate the attractiveness of the sale, mitigating the decline in their willingness to participate in the sale. This can be thought of as an overestimation of the sale’s attractiveness and a mitigation of the decline in willingness to participate in the sale. With respect to why time pressure has a positive influence on consumer behavior, it has been noted that consumers are motivated to process information by the perception of time pressure (Ordóñez et al., 2015). In this context, we found that time pressure has a positive effect on the willingness to participate when the subject of the time constraint has economic benefits for the consumer, such as a sale, and discussed the reasons why this is a contribution to research dealing with remaining time and time pressure. This finding may contribute to studies dealing with time remaining and time pressure.

Since this is an exploratory study, there are many possible issues. Two such issues are particularly important. First, only two time expressions, “×/~××/◇◇” as absolute time expressions and “××/◇◇ made” as an endpoint emphasis expressions, were examined in this study. For example, there is a time expression that indicates the time remaining until the end of the sale, such as “Remaining △ days”; this is considered similar to the time expression called “relative time” mentioned in Ichikawa (2021). According to Ichikawa (2021), “relative time” is characterized by the viewer’s situation and timing, and he cites as a specific example the indication “△ minutes to go” in JR departure/arrival times. Since this expression has different characteristics from the absolute time expression and the endpoint emphasis expression, paying attention to the time expression of “relative time” is necessary.

Second, framing of the end and start points in existing studies of time landmarks also must be considered; Bi et al. (2021) framed the end and start points by using phrases involving time landmarks such as “summer vacation ends.” In Japan, phrases such as “year-end sale” and “new semester support sale” are also used to frame the end and start points by using calendar reference points. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the effects of framing a specific time landmark on time pressure and willingness to participate in a sale, as well as the interaction effects with time expressions.

Acknowledgment

The author is deeply grateful to two anonymous reviewers of the Quarterly Journal of Marketing for their valuable comments for improving this paper. This research was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 23K01630.

Data Availability

The dataset used in the analysis of this study is available upon request by e-mail to the author with details of the intended use.

Notes

1) This study adopts the definition of Sasaki (2010).

2) This study adopts the translation of Mitomi (2023).

3) It is defined as “the process of generating and maintaining situational self-oriented behavior” (Tsuchihashi, 2002).

4) In existing studies, consumers’ subjective perceptions of time pressure and evaluations of time have traditionally been used in response to objective time constraint length manipulation (e.g., Suri & Monroe, 2003). Therefore, this study also employs a question item that asks about consumers’ subjectivity concerning their evaluation of remaining time and perception of time pressure.

5) Hoshino et al. (2005) noted that existing studies have interpreted the results of their analyses as a fair fit to the model if the RMSEA value is above 0.05 but below 0.08.

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Yuki Mitomi

Mr. Mitomi is an Associate Professor at Takasaki City University of Economics. He withdrew from the Doctoral Program of the Graduate School of Economics at the University of Tokyo, with credits. Since then, he has been a full-time lecturer in the Faculty of Economics, Takasaki University of Economics. His current position started in 2021. He specializes in marketing and consumer behavior.