We all want to be more productive. But research shows that schedules don’t suit some tasks – and can even make us enjoy them less. … Structuring our lives too temporally robs leisure of its innate spontaneity and enjoyment…Malkoc’s research has also shown that when people schedule roughly – by drawing lines outside the confines of the calendar grid, adding question marks or shading in large blocks of time, people perceive the activity to be just as fun as a spontaneous, impromptu one. Yet this doesn’t lend itself to the digital world; as Malkoc points out: “There isn’t a real way to schedule roughly in a calendar.”
Posts
Why vacations seem so short
For many people, summer vacation can’t come soon enough – especially for the half of Americans who canceled their summer plans last year due to the pandemic. But when a vacation approaches, do you ever get the feeling that it’s almost over before it starts? If so, you’re not alone.
In some recent studies, Gabriela Tonietto, Sam Maglio, Eric VanEpps and I conducted, we found that about half of the people we surveyed indicated that their upcoming weekend trip felt like it would end as soon as it started….full article here.
Why a vacation seems like it will end as soon as it begins
Time not only flies when you’re having fun – sometimes anticipating a fun event makes it feel like it will be over as soon as it begins, a new study suggests. Researchers found that people judge future positive events as being both farther away as well as shorter in duration than negative or neutral events. Combining those two elements has a strange effect when people look forward to a positive event like a vacation, said Selin Malkoc, co-author of the study and associate professor of marketing at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.
“The seemingly endless wait for the vacation to start combined with the feeling that the vacation will fly by leads people to feel like the beginning and the end of their time off as similarly far from the present,” Malkoc said. “In other words, in their mind’s eye, the vacation is over as soon as it begins. It has no duration.”
The study was published online recently in the Journal of Consumer Psychology …and on MSN and Daily Mail.
Material & Experiential Purchases: Meta-analysis and Podcast
We talk with JCR editor Andrew Stephen about our recent research, a meta-analysis on the experiential advantage, and the journey to publication, including what we learned about publishing meta-analyses.
Evan WeingartenJoseph K Goodman (2021), “Re-examining the Experiential Advantage in Consumption: A Meta-Analysis and Review,” Journal of Consumer Research, 47 (April), 855–877, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaa047
Can you shrink or expand time in a lab?
Can you shrink or expand time in a lab? In your daily life? This week’s #SpotlightSpeaker Selin Malkoc from @FisherOSU shares her research and experiences that help us understand how we perceive time. #OhioStateInnovates go.osu.edu/malkoc
Is there a future in retail?
Yes, there is a future in retail! Consumers will always need, and want, things and experiences. That hasn’t changed at all...https://www.creditdonkey.com
True Hobbies
Selin Malkoc on The Lisa Show. “When we say the word “hobby”, we often think of leisure time 
devoted to casually doing something we love in our spare time. …but when it comes to time spent relaxing (and nothing else), how can we truly maximize our relaxation and not feel the need to be in a busy mindset? Joining us is Dr. Selin Malkoc, a behavioral scientist and marketing professor at The Ohio State University. She’s here to talk with us about how to really maximize our leisure time.”
Santa Claus Business Helping Brick and Mortar Stores
…Ohio State University’s Chair of the Marketing and Logistics Department Joe Goodman says this is the way to win at retail. “The retailers that are providing an experience for their consumers are
the ones that are driving in traffic and getting consumers in the door. Once they can get you in the door, chances are, you’re probably going to buy something,” said Goodman. Goodman says the key is offering experiences that you can’t buy online….
How Losing Can be a Winning Strategy
‘“The authors use a creative analysis to isolate the effect they are after — which they do really well.” Malkoc, who wasn’t involved in the research, said the findings are consistent with her own research showing that “the mistakes that hurt the most are the ones that are most likely to increase effort later on.” But, her research shows, emotional reflection and perseverance are critical.
In one study, Malkoc and colleagues found that people who merely cogitate intellectually on a flub tend to focus on their egos and make excuses, while those who ponder the failure emotionally end up trying harder the next time. “If your thoughts are all about how to distance yourself from the failure, you’re not going to learn from your mistakes,” she says…’
“How to Find a Hobby” from the New York Times
“Let’s start with some science. A large body of research suggests that 
how you spend leisure time matters to your health, and that your hobbies are good for you in many ways….
While it’s important to make time for your hobbies, you don’t want to be too rigid in how you schedule them. Research suggests that too much scheduling of leisure time makes it feel more like work and less like fun. In a series of studies reported by Ohio State University…”