Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Campaign
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Topics
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Cold Call Podcast
    • Executive Education
    • First Look
    • HBS Case
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    • Browse All Articles
    • Popular Articles
    • Cold Call Podcasts
    • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Marketing
    • Finance
    • Management
    • Entrepreneurship
    • All Topics...
    28 Jun 2007Working Paper Summaries

    Film Rentals and Procrastination: A Study of Intertemporal Reversals in Preferences and Intrapersonal Conflict

    by Katy Milkman, Todd Rogers and Max H. Bazerman
    Throughout our lives, we face many choices between activities we know we should do and those we want to do. Examples of such choices include whether or not to visit the gym, to smoke, to order a greasy pizza or a healthy salad for lunch, and to watch an action-packed blockbuster or a history documentary on Saturday night. Using data on consumption decisions over time from an Australian online DVD rental company, this paper investigates how and why individuals make systematically different decisions when their choices will take effect in the present versus the future. Key concepts include:
    • The more "should watch" characteristics and the fewer "want to watch" characteristics a DVD has, the longer an individual will postpone watching that DVD.
    • Companies that loan goods to consumers and are interested in predicting return times may be better able to forecast borrowing times based on the extent to which the items are "should" or "want" goods.
    • Consumers may be better able to take steps that curb impulsive behavior.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Author Abstract

    We report on a field study demonstrating systematic differences between how people anticipate preferences and their subsequent preferences. We examine the film rental and return patterns of a sample of online DVD rental customers over a period of four months. We predict and find that people are more likely to rent DVDs in one order and return them in the reverse order when should DVDs (e.g., documentaries) are rented before want DVDs (e.g., action films). Relatedly, we also predict and find that should DVDs are held longer than want DVDs.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: June 2007
    • HBS Working Paper Number: 07-099
    • Faculty Unit(s): Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
        Trending
          • 18 Feb 2019
          • Book

          What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

          • 14 Feb 2019
          • Cold Call Podcast

          The Delicious History of Hershey Chocolate

          • 20 Feb 2019
          • Research & Ideas

          Rocket-tunity: Can Private Firms Turn a Profit in Space?

          • 14 Jan 2019
          • Op-Ed

          These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership

          • 28 Jan 2019
          • Research & Ideas

          Forget Cash. Here Are Better Ways to Motivate Employees

      Max H. Bazerman
      Max H. Bazerman
      Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration
      Contact
      Send an email
      → More Articles
      Find Related Articles
      • Theory
      • Entertainment and Recreation
      • Antarctica
      • Australia

      Sign up for our weekly newsletter

      Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
      ǁ
      Campus Map
      Campus Map
      Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
      Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
      Soldiers Field
      Boston, MA 02163
      Email: Editor-in-Chief
      →Map & Directions
      →More Contact Information
      • Site Map
      • Jobs
      • Harvard University
      • Trademarks
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
      Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College
      • Site Map
      • Jobs
      • Harvard University
      • Trademarks
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
      Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College