Time poverty and access-based consumption: Convenience gains and risk blindness

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Consumer Behavior
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Time poverty, the subjective experience of lacking time, is widespread in modern societies.
• Its impact on consumer decision-making, particularly preferences for access-based consumption (ABC), is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how time poverty influences consumer preferences for access-based consumption (ABC).
• To identify the psychological mechanisms driving this relationship, specifically convenience orientation and risk perception.

Main Methods:

• Four studies with 831 participants were conducted.
• Experimental manipulation of time poverty and mediators (convenience, risk perception) were used.
• Statistical analyses controlled for financial scarcity, general scarcity, and construal level.

Main Results:

• Experimentally induced time poverty significantly increased ABC preferences.
• Amplified convenience orientation and attenuated risk perception were identified as dual mediators.
• Enhancing mediators individually reduced the effect of time poverty on ABC preference.

Conclusions:

• Time poverty drives consumers towards ABC by increasing their focus on convenience and decreasing their sensitivity to risk.
• Consumers experiencing time poverty may prioritize efficiency over risk evaluation in ABC decisions.
• Findings offer insights into consumption shifts and have implications for consumer welfare and policy in time-scarce societies.