Music and on-hold waiting time

Members of the general public called a special telephone number in response to a newspaper advertisement asking for research volunteers. They were placed on hold, and the nature of the on‐hold stimuli was manipulated. The principal measures were actual waiting time, estimated waiting time and adjectival ratings of the on‐hold stimuli. These indicated that on‐hold waiting time is influenced positively by stimuli that are liked and those which ‘fit’ callers' expectations. Furthermore, variations in actual waiting time cannot be attributed to the distorting effect of on‐hold stimuli on callers internal timing mechanisms.