Time moving or ego moving? How time metaphors influence perceived temporal distance

Abstract

Consumers often use spatial metaphors to describe time. Through six studies, the present research demonstrates that time metaphors influence consumers' perceptions of the temporal distance to future events. Specifically, an ego-moving metaphor, which characterizes the movement of the self across a timeline from present to future, leads consumers to perceive a target event as more temporally distant than a time-moving metaphor that illustrates the movement of the event from future to present. This time metaphor distance effect arises because the ego-moving (vs. time-moving) metaphor hinders psychological arousal and thus makes the events seem more temporally distant. We also demonstrate a downstream consequence of this effect: by lengthening the perceived temporal distance, the ego-moving (vs. time-moving) metaphor leads to greater consumer impatience in a waiting context.