Rons Wilson Blog

Introduction
Most of us have come across ads that promises quick delivery of services – It could be either quick delivery of pizza or grocery (Instacart 60 minutes delivery). Even though it may sound convenient or quick and may even nudge you to use the service, what attracts you even more is when the ad mentions delivery time in minutes instead of hours. Let me explain this further. Imagine you hear an Instacart ad on a radio and the ad promises you 60 minutes delivery. Obviously you may get excited for the quick delivery time, but consider a scenario where the ads talks about delivery services in an hour instead of 60minutes. Would you have been equally that excited? Would you have been equally that pulled towards the service? Even though the ad is saying the same thing (mentioning 1 hour instead of 60 minutes), it’s likely you as a consumer may stay indifferent.
Today, in our increasingly fast-paced lives, our brains are wired for quick services. If we want entertainment, with just one swipe on your phone, we can access Netflix. If we are hungry, we just have to pull out our phone and Uber Eats will come to rescue you. Therefore, a modern marketer must ensure every aspect of their ads must scream urgency and convenience and that’s where the concept of delivery services in minutes rather than hours becomes more effective.

How people naturally process time:
In our day-to-day life, we often talk about time when describing how long a task will take. Sometimes we express time in minutes and sometimes in hours. Naturally, if someone says something will take 5 minutes instead of one hour, we feel better about it. This is because time expressed in minutes usually feels shorter, while time expressed in hours often feels longer and heavier.
Similarly, when someone says 60 minutes instead of one hour, our brain does not immediately translate 60 minutes into one hour. Because of this, we do not quickly feel the discomfort that is usually associated with waiting for an hour. As a result, 60 minutes sounds more neutral, while one hour can sound more negative.
Some real-life examples include Instacart’s 60-minute delivery and Domino’s 30-minute delivery promise, which show that brands already use this strategy in their advertisements.
On the other hand, instead of saying 60 minutes, why don’t marketers say 3600 seconds? When we talk about time in seconds, we usually think of something very quick. However, 3600 seconds does not sound natural in everyday conversation, and it may sound strange or unusual in advertisements. That is why marketers prefer using minutes instead of seconds when talking about delivery time. in short, marketers are presenting time in a way that highlights the benefits without making customer feel how long the wait actually is.

Context changes how time feel:
In contexts like TV shows or countdowns, saying 60 minutes feels more tangible and countable than saying one hour. It feels more urgent, faster, and more precise, whereas one hour sounds more relaxed and slow.
So, is there ever a situation where saying one hour sounds better than saying 60 minutes?
Yes. In situations where the customer benefits from spending more time, marketers should use one hour as a reference instead of minutes. For example, a one-hour dinner with a celebrity like Taylor Swift or a one-hour amusement park ride would sound more valuable than describing the same experience in minutes.
In situations where customers are likely to feel that more time means more value from the service, marketers should prefer using one hour instead of minutes.

Implication
In short, a marketer has to think from the customer’s point of view. When presenting time in a service, if more time feels like a benefit to the customer, the service should be described in hours. However, if less time feels like a benefit, the service should be described in minutes.
This way, even small wording choices in advertisements can influence how customers experience time.