Time warp: How marketers express time can affect what consumers buy

(Press-News.org) Which feels further back in time: the year 2016, or 10 years ago? And which feels closer: 2036, or 10 years from now? 

According to new research from the UBC Sauder School of Business, the way time is expressed—as a calendar year or as a length of time—can change how people experience the past and the future, and influence real consumer decisions. 

That matters because time-based language is everywhere and could affect how much people are willing to pay. For example, which whiskey would consumers be willing to pay more for: one that is '10-year-old’ or the one that was distilled in 2015 and bottled in 2025? 

There are five-year mortgages, 2020 model cars, used items described as “purchased two years ago,” vintage wines and “don’t pay until” furniture ads. While these phrases may seem interchangeable, the research shows they can create different impressions.  

The study found that when time is described as a length—a 10-year-old whiskey—people tend to perceive it as longer than when the same age is described using a year, such as a whiskey from 2016. The researchers call this phenomenon the “year-length effect.” 

When age is valued, consumers have more favourable perceptions when time is framed by length. On the other hand, when age reduces value—as with used goods—framing by year is preferable. 

“If the goal is to signal longevity, history or oldness, then you should use the number of years,” said Dr. Deepak Sirwani, an associate professor in the marketing and behavioural science division and co-author of the study. “If the goal is to signal something new, then you should use the boundary years. The same logic applies to the future.” 

To explore the impact of time framing, the researchers analyzed real-world auction data and conducted controlled experiments. Participants evaluated products and scenarios where time was expressed either as a span or as specific years, revealing consistent differences in perception. 

 These differences translated into measurable outcomes. In whiskey auctions, bottles described by length of time commanded about nine per cent higher prices. For used goods, the pattern reversed: sellers on Craigslist earned roughly 17 per cent more when they stated the purchase year rather than the item’s age.  

The impacts can be even farther-reaching, added Dr. Sirwani, and have implications for policymakers.  

“There is no right answer,” he said. “But these perceptions can be important when it comes to things like saving for retirement, or the impacts of climate change, or life-saving surgery—and a simple change in framing can influence those decisions.” 

So what’s driving this effect? According to Dr. Sirwani, people perceive the jump from a large number to another large number as smaller than a leap between two smaller numbers.  

“Our mental number line is logarithmic, meaning the difference between numbers feels smaller as they increase,” he explains. “The difference between 11 and 12 feels smaller than the difference between two and three. And the difference between 2020 and 2021 feels much smaller than the difference between one and two.” 

The bottom line is that marketers need to be mindful of how they express time, as subtle differences in language can shape how people think and decide. 

“There is no one framing that is better than the other,” said Dr. Sirwani. “It boils down to whether you would benefit from time feeling near or far.” 

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