Looming Losses in Future Time Perception

Abstract

It is proposed that a future time interval's perceived length will be affected by whether the interval ends with a gain or loss. Confirming this, several experiments indicate that consumers perceive intervals ending with losses as shorter than equivalent intervals ending with gains. The authors explore the mechanisms underlying these effects, and they identify several parallels between the current effects and loss aversion. The authors further show that these changes in time perception influence consumption decisions, and they consider the implications of the findings for theories of time perception and intertemporal choice.