Why Willing to Wait?
First it was the fried chicken. Then a variety of fancy milkshakes. No matter what time it is or how bad the streets smell, there are plenty of people waiting in line for hours to get their hands on the food that everyone’s talking about. If you are not the type of person crazy for trendy foods, you probably wonder why someone would like to wait in a long line just to get a taste of a popular cream tea. There is a bit of psychology behind the craze of waiting before getting one’s chopsticks on a trendy food.
People are born curiosity hunters, especially for fresh ideas, according to some experts. At the sight of a long waiting line, they just can’t help having a try. And when the trendy foods are novel in looks and favors, even innovative in their sales environment, the desire for them is upgraded. All those stimulate people to investigate more—to deal with their curiosity.
In addition, having access to something that is sought out but hard to possess equips people with a feeling that improves their self-definitions. When someone is envied due to something he gained with efforts, his self-worth gets enhanced. Although it is yet to be determined whether the number of likes he receives on the photos of foods he’s posted online is connected with the level of envy from on-lookers, that feeling automatically becomes stronger.
Even more, “mob psychology” comes into play: when many people are doing something—waiting in line for the sought-after milkshakes, for instance —others are eager to be part of the group and share such a type of social familiarity, kind of like the natural pursuit of a sense of belonging. Tasting the same wait-worthy food has something in common.
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