We conducted three randomized experiments to investigate whether and to what extent citizens' expectations toward waiting times for public service delivery are influenced by reference points, either in the form of social or numerical references. Consistent with our theoretical expectations, our results provide convergent evidence of reference dependence. Specifically, informing citizens that waiting times are longer (shorter) relative to a social reference causes an increase (decrease) in expected waiting times. Additionally, due to an anchoring bias, priming citizens with a higher numerical value for waiting times extends their expected waiting times. Furthermore, in line with the expectancy-disconfirmation model, citizens' satisfaction with the service is causally impacted by the extent to which actual performance exceeds their expectations.

中文翻译：

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公民公共服务期望决定因素的实验证据

我们进行了三项随机实验，以调查公民对公共服务等待时间的期望是否以及在多大程度上受到参考点（无论是社会参考还是数字参考）的影响。与我们的理论预期一致，我们的结果提供了参考依赖性的收敛证据。具体来说，告知公民等待时间相对于社会参考更长（更短）会导致预期等待时间增加（减少）。此外，由于锚定偏差，以较高的等待时间数值启动公民会延长他们的预期等待时间。此外，根据预期否定模型，公民对服务的满意度受到实际绩效超出预期的程度的因果影响。