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Managing Voice-to-Voice Encounters

Reducing the Agony of Being Put on Hold

Clayton State University

Naveen Donthu

Georgia State University

Voice-to-voice (V2V) encounters are interactions that occur between the company and the customer via a telephone. One critical aspect of the V2V encounter is the waiting time that occurs before the customer talks with a service employee. This article investigates two perception management techniques: information cues and music. In particular, estimated wait times, number in the queue, presence of music, and music valence are all investigated. The main findings are that playing of music, especially music that the customer likes, reduces the perception of waiting time and increases satisfaction. Information cues were not found to affect perception of the wait or satisfaction.

Key Words: information cues • music cues • music valence • satisfaction • perceived wait

Journal of Service Research, Vol. 8, No. 3, 234-244 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1094670505281703


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