Keep them busy, keep them flowing? The effects of actively versus passively occupied wait time

• Occupied waits affect a key customer outcome through flow & wait time satisfaction. • Active waiting increases flow, which in turn enhances wait time satisfaction. • Longer waits weaken the positive effect of flow on wait time satisfaction. • Managers gain actionable insights into an effective form of wait time occupation. Having to wait for services is both inevitable and annoying. To mitigate the negative effects, customers can be engaged passively (e.g., watching TV) or actively (e.g., completing forms) while waiting. However, the effectiveness of each approach remains unclear. We investigate how different forms of wait time occupation (non-occupied versus occupied; passively versus actively occupied) affect customers’ intentions to return through their experience of flow and wait time satisfaction. We also investigate whether actual wait time moderates this relationship. A scenario-based (Study 1) and a simulated service (Study 2) experiment confirm the mediating roles of flow experience and wait time satisfaction, such that active, compared to passive, waiting increases the flow experience, enhancing wait time satisfaction and intentions to return. But longer actual wait times weaken the positive effect of the flow experience. Thus, our results suggest that actively occupying wait time effectively enhances service customers’ wait time perceptions.