To Wait or Not to Wait: The Theory and Practice of Ticket Queues

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kuzu, Kaan; Gao, Long; Xu, Susan H.
• 署名单位: University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; University of California System; University of California Riverside; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park
• 刊物名称: M&SOM-MANUFACTURING & SERVICE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1523-4614
• DOI: 10.1287/msom.2018.0728
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 853-874
• 关键词: customer behaviors; Service Systems; ticket queue; Markov; dynamic updating

摘要

Ticket queues are prevalent in service industries. They enhance customer satisfaction by eliminating physical lines but may compromise efficiency. Existing studies offer mixed results on the cause and magnitude of such inefficiency. These results, however, are based on simplistic customer behaviors. Taking a holistic approach, we examine how realistic customer behaviors drive ticket queue performance. Our empirical studies reveal that (i) customers are capable of adapting their patience to the waiting context and (ii) they use dynamic updating to improve forecasting and decision making over time. Once we model these two behaviors, we find the ticket queue inefficiency is much smaller than the literature predicted. By testing and highlighting the central role of realistic customer behaviors, this paper advances our understanding on ticket queue theory and practice.