Marginally Better S01E13: The Waiting Game Winners

September 24, 2025
Marginally Better, Podcast
14 min read

Americans spend 37 billion hours a year waiting—about 118 hours per person—but smart brands are turning that dead time into delight. In this episode of Marginally Better, Joe Taylor, Jr. breaks down the psychology of waiting (why underpromising and overdelivering works, why occupied time feels shorter, and why fairness matters), and shows how Disney, Trader Joe’s, Apple launch lines, and a Melbourne bakery with a 45-minute croissant queue convert waits into community, anticipation, and loyalty. If you can’t always shorten the line, you can always make it worth it—here’s how. 

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Transcript:

Announcer: From the global headquarters of Johns and Taylor in beautiful New Jersey, it’s Marginally Better. Here’s your host, Joe Taylor, Jr. 

[00:00:11] Joe Taylor, Jr.: On the show this week, Americans spend 37 billion hours a year waiting in line. That’s roughly 118 hours per person – three full work weeks – just… standing there. But here’s the thing: Some companies have figured out how to make waiting feel like part of the experience instead of a waste of time. 

[00:00:26] We’ll explore how Disney turns queues into attractions, why Trader Joe’s long lines actually help their business, and the psychological tricks that make 10 minutes feel like 5 – or 50. 

[00:00:39] Plus, I’ll tell you about a coffee shop in Melbourne where people waited 45 minutes for a single croissant – and came back the next day for more. 

[00:00:49] That’s all coming up after the break on Marginally Better. 

Welcome to Marginally Better, a show about business, innovation, and the American economy. I’m Joe Taylor Jr. 

Here’s something that might surprise you: People don’t actually hate waiting. They hate not knowing how long they’ll wait. They hate feeling like their time doesn’t matter. And most of all, they hate standing around with nothing to do. 

Research published in the Harvard Business Review reveals a counterintuitive truth about wait times. When companies underpromise and overdeliver on wait estimates, customer satisfaction actually increases – even when the actual wait is longer. 

Think about it. Your doctor says the wait will be 45 minutes, but you’re called in after 30. You feel great. Another doctor sees you in 20 minutes but promised 15. You’re annoyed. Same 20 minutes. Completely different experience. 

The researchers found that conservative estimates that beat expectations generate what they call “delight” – that little hit of happiness when things go better than expected. It’s the recency effect in action. We remember endings more than middles, and beating the estimate creates a positive ending to the wait. 

Here’s where it gets interesting. Studies from the International Association of Research and Advances in Science show that 10 minutes of occupied waiting feels significantly shorter than 10 minutes of unoccupied waiting.  

David Maister, who wrote the seminal paper on the psychology of waiting lines, put it simply: “Occupied time feels shorter than unoccupied time.” 

This is why that 10 minutes at the DMV feels like an hour, while 10 minutes in a Disney queue can feel like 5. One researcher found that each extra minute of perceived wait time leads to a 19% decrease in customer satisfaction. Not actual time – perceived time. 

Richard Larson from MIT, sometimes called “Dr. Queue,” has spent decades studying what he calls the social psychology of waiting. His research, published in Operations Research, shows that people’s hatred of lines often has less to do with time and more to do with fairness. 

When someone cuts in line, our reaction isn’t proportional to the actual delay they cause us – maybe 30 seconds. It’s about the violation of social norms. We’ve evolved to detect and punish cheaters, and line-cutting triggers that ancient response. 

This explains “queue rage” – that disproportionate anger when someone violates line etiquette. As documented in research from the Scientific Research Publishing journal, these violations can trigger responses that seem irrational but are deeply rooted in our sense of justice. 

For small businesses, poor queue management isn’t just annoying – it’s expensive. Research from WaveTec shows that badly managed queues directly impact financial results through lost sales and reduced repeat visits. 

A Vox investigation found that even independent shops and restaurants struggle with this. One bakery owner discovered that customers who waited more than 5 minutes at the point of sale were 40% less likely to return. The problem? They only had one register, and during morning rush, lines would snake out the door. 

The Guardian documented an extreme case in Melbourne’s Fitzroy neighborhood, where people waited 45 minutes for a single croissant. The twist? They kept coming back. Why? I’ll tell you all about it, after the break. 

It’s Marginally Better, I’m Joe Taylor Jr. 

In Melbourne’s trendy Fitzroy neighborhood, something strange happened in December 2024. People started waiting 45 minutes for a single croissant. Not a meal. Not even a coffee and croissant combo. Just one pastry. 

The Guardian documented this phenomenon, sending a reporter to investigate. What they found wasn’t just a bakery with exceptional pastries – though the croissants were, by all accounts, excellent. They found something more interesting: customers who knew exactly how long they’d wait, who came prepared with books and podcasts, and who treated the queue as part of their morning ritual. 

“I waited 45 minutes to buy a single croissant in Fitzroy,” the headline read. But buried in the article was the real story: people kept coming back. 

To understand why anyone would wait 45 minutes for a croissant, you need to understand what Disney figured out decades ago. According to research from Blooloop, Disney holds multiple patents on queue management technology. But their real innovation isn’t technological – it’s psychological. 

Disney doesn’t hide their lines. They transform them. As documented in a ResearchGate study on Disney’s virtual queues, guests who feel entertained while waiting report wait times as 30-40% shorter than actual time elapsed. The Queue-it blog puts it simply: “Disney understands that a queue with distractions feels faster than a blank wall.” 

Disney’s Imagineers actually design what they call “Scene 1” of every attraction – the queue itself. Walk through the line for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and you’re not just standing in switchbacks. You’re exploring an interactive gem mine, touching glowing jewels, triggering musical notes. For Flight of Passage, the queue takes you through a research laboratory where you learn about the world you’re about to enter. 

The International Association journal found that these immersive queue designs significantly reduce perceived wait times. But here’s the key: Disney isn’t trying to trick you into thinking the wait is shorter. They’re making the wait valuable in itself. 

This principle of making the wait part of the experience reached its apex during the early iPhone launches. If you were there – and I was, working at Apple during those first few launches – you saw something remarkable: Apple deliberately created lines. 

They could have taken pre-orders. They could have staggered sales. Instead, they orchestrated theater. The lines weren’t a bug; they were the feature. Media outlets covered them breathlessly. Customers became part of the story. The wait created community – people in line shared excitement, swapped stories, formed friendships. 

Apple staff would walk the lines with iPads, pre-processing sales so the actual transaction would be swift. They’d hand out water on hot days, coffee on cold mornings. Sometimes Tim Cook or other executives would appear, shaking hands, taking selfies. The line wasn’t something to endure before buying an iPhone. The line was where the iPhone experience began. 

The psychological masterstroke? Everyone in line knew they’d get a phone. Apple had enough inventory. But the shared experience of waiting, the anticipation, the community – that transformed a transaction into an event. Years later, customers would tell stories not about the phone, but about the line. 

But you don’t need Apple’s budget or Disney’s Imagineers to transform waiting. Trader Joe’s proves this every single day. 

Walk into any Trader Joe’s at peak hours, and you’ll see something that should be a disaster: lines stretching to the back of the store. The Wharton Women’s journal and Rice University’s Kinder Institute have both studied this phenomenon. What they found challenges everything we think we know about retail. 

Trader Joe’s doesn’t hide their lines or apologize for them. They celebrate them. Cashiers aren’t just scanning groceries – they’re performing. They comment on your purchases, share recipes, ask about your day. The Wharton study found that this “conversational culture” makes waiting feel social rather than solitary. 

But here’s the crucial part: they move fast. Really fast. Those long lines clear quickly because Trader Joe’s staffs more registers than seems economically sensible. The Kinder Institute notes that customers perceive value in the experience itself. The line becomes proof that you’re shopping somewhere special, somewhere worth waiting for. 

One customer quoted in the research summed it up: “If there’s no line at Trader Joe’s, I actually get worried. Like, what’s wrong? Is the food bad today?” 

Which brings us back to that Melbourne bakery. Why would anyone wait 45 minutes for a croissant? 

The Guardian’s investigation revealed several factors. First, transparency: the bakery posts accurate wait times, updated constantly. Second, quality: the croissants really are exceptional. But third, and most importantly, community: the line has become a social space. Regulars recognize each other. Conversations start. The bakery provides samples while people wait. 

One customer told The Guardian they’d met their now-business partner in that croissant line. Another said it was the only time in their day they weren’t looking at a screen. The wait had become valuable in ways that had nothing to do with pastries. 

Some businesses take this even further. Chicago Booth research documents restaurants that deliberately create waits to build anticipation. The Accordion blog details how “artificial waiting enhances user anticipation and engagement.” But influencers have been fast to call out restaurants that exaggerate their wait times just for show. 

There’s a formula at work here. Limited supply plus visible demand equals perceived value. But there’s a fine line between creating anticipation and manipulating customers. The businesses that succeed long-term aren’t the ones creating fake scarcity. They’re the ones making real waits worthwhile. 

The ResearchGate study on the Blue Meadows Restaurant provides hard data on how queuing theory applies to real businesses. They found that customers who could see the kitchen, who understood why the wait was happening, who felt the process was fair – they reported higher satisfaction even with longer waits. 

It comes back to occupied time versus unoccupied time. Disney occupies your time with entertainment. Trader Joe’s occupies it with social interaction. Apple occupied it with community and anticipation. The Melbourne bakery occupies it with samples and socializing. 

What Disney, Apple, Trader Joe’s, and that Melbourne bakery understand is this: The wait isn’t the problem. Wasted time is the problem. Make the time valuable, and the wait disappears. 

You can’t always make the line shorter. But you can always make it better. You can turn dead time into connection time, transaction time into community time, waiting time into anticipation time. 

The businesses winning the waiting game aren’t the ones eliminating lines. They’re the ones brave enough to admit lines exist, honest enough to manage expectations, and creative enough to make waiting worthwhile. 

So here’s a question I’ve been thinking about: In an age of instant everything – instant messaging, instant delivery, instant gratification – why do we still wait in lines? 

Companies like Waitwhile and Qminder have built entire businesses around eliminating physical queues. Their research shows the tools exist to let people wait virtually, get notifications when it’s their turn, and never stand in a physical line again. 

Yet their own consumer surveys reveal something fascinating: Only about 15% of businesses have adopted these virtual queue solutions. And even when they do, many customers still choose to wait in person. 

Why? Because sometimes, the line is the point. 

Researchers have a name for our deepest frustration with waiting: “The DMV Effect.” It’s that special combination of inefficiency, indifference, and inevitability that makes certain waits feel like punishment. 

As documented in Fieldston News, the DMV represents everything we hate about lines: no alternatives, no entertainment, no sense that anyone cares about your time. It’s waiting at its worst – purely transactional, completely devoid of human consideration. 

But here’s what’s changing: Even DMVs are learning. Some locations now offer appointments, entertainment in waiting areas, and accurate wait time estimates. They’re slowly discovering what Disney knew all along – respect people’s time, even when you have to waste it. 

One of my favorite queue psychology hacks comes from the history of elevator complaints. In the 1960s, a New York office building kept getting complaints about slow elevators. Engineers determined that making them faster would be prohibitively expensive. 

The solution? They installed mirrors next to the elevators. Complaints dropped to near zero. The elevators weren’t any faster, but now people had something to do – look at themselves. Occupied time feels shorter than unoccupied time. 

Inside Business Economics reports that simple interventions like mirrors, entertainment screens, or even just pleasant music can reduce wait frustration by up to 40%. The wait doesn’t change. The experience does. 

But there’s something deeper at work here. As the research points out, waiting in line often feels like a reminder of inequality. First-class boards first. VIP lines move faster. Those who can afford to pay skip the wait entirely. 

This is why Disney’s Virtual Queue system is so clever. Everyone uses the same system. The playing field feels level, even when it isn’t quite. The perception of fairness matters almost as much as actual fairness. 

CX Journey argues that we need “a better way” to handle waiting, and they’re right. But the better way might not be eliminating lines – it might be making them more human. 

Think about the difference between waiting for your number to be called at the DMV versus chatting with fellow parents at school pickup. Same physical act of waiting. Completely different emotional experience. 

The businesses that win the waiting game understand this. They don’t see lines as necessary evils to be minimized. They see them as opportunities for connection, community, and sometimes even joy. 

So here’s my challenge to you: Look at where your customers wait. Maybe it’s a physical line. Maybe it’s hold music on your customer service line. Maybe it’s the loading screen on your app. 

Whatever it is, ask yourself: Are you respecting their time, even when you have to take it? Are you making the wait valuable, not just bearable? Are you turning dead time into connection time? 

Because here’s the truth: In a world that moves at digital speed, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is make people slow down – and enjoy it. 

The next time you’re standing in line, instead of pulling out your phone, look around. Notice what works, what doesn’t, what could be better. Every queue tells a story about how a business values its customers’ time. 

And time, as those 37 billion hours remind us, is the one thing we can never give back. 

That’s our show for today. Whether you’re managing queues at a theme park or a coffee shop, remember: You can’t always eliminate the wait, but you can always eliminate the waste. Make those moments matter, and your customers might just thank you for making them slow down. 

Thanks for listening to Marginally Better. If you like what you heard, please help us out. Leave a quick review on Apple podcasts. It’ll help us spread the word about the show to people like you who care deeply about great customer experiences. 

If you want to get behind-the-scenes notes from me and the rest of the team, go to marginallybettershow.com or follow the link in our show notes. 

Marginally Better is a Calufrax radio production. Our producer is Nicole Hubbard with research by Connie Evans. 

I’m Joe Taylor, Jr. 

After a decade in broadcast media, Joe developed early online platforms for NPR, PBS, and AOL. Today, he helps our clients tell compelling brand stories through audio, visuals, and software.

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