Perceptual Time Patterns (`Time-Styles')

Issues pertaining to the perception of time are central to many marketing dynamics, especially for consumer behaviour. This article first presents time frames as they are established within a society (mostly described by sociology and anthropology) in relation to the perception of individuals (mostly through experimental and social psychology, as well as the marketing literature). A psychometric scale is then introduced in order to capture these time orientations (`time-styles'). Three hundred questionnaires containing 180 items, based on previous studies, have been administered. Six main dimensions are identified: preference for economic/organized time; preference for non-linear/unorganized time; orientation towards the past; orientation towards the future; time submissiveness; time anxiety.