Psychological Time: The case of time and consumer behaviour

Psychological time is one of the most important dimensions for understanding human behaviour. Short durations, in particular, have a special role in everyday life and their perception is a factor which explains important aspects of behaviour. These arguments are demonstrated in this article via one of the most important domains of modern life: consumer behaviour. Based on the extant literature, a conceptual framework is developed and then applied to show how time is linked to consumer behaviour in various ways. It is argued that temporal behaviour is a product of dynamic interactions among personality, situational, cognitive and social determinants. An agenda for future research is also presented.