Alleviating the negative waiting experience through the moderating role of service environment: an empirical study

This study aims to examine the influence of waiting time on customer satisfaction and further investigates the moderating role of perceived service environment in alleviating the negative impact of waiting duration on customer satisfaction. A total of 200 customers of an international‐chain coffee shop in Indonesia became the respondents. The results confirm the negative impact of perceived waiting time on customer satisfaction. Another measure of waiting time, that is, disconfirmation between perceived waiting time and expected waiting time, is found to not significantly influence customer satisfaction. Additionally, the findings also reveal that perceived service environment, through favourable ambience, design, and employees, significantly reduces the negative impact of waiting duration on customer satisfaction. Implications for research and practices are discussed.