Exeter College Lecturer Dr Sarah Evans-Howe publishes The Role of Temporality in Customer Experience

Dr Sarah Evans-Howe, Departmental Lecturer in Management and College Tutor at Exeter College, has published her latest book, The Role of Temporality in Customer Experience: Why Time Matters to Customers (Palgrave Macmillan, November 2025), offering a fresh perspective on how time shapes consumer behaviour. 

In this innovative study, Dr Evans-Howe explores the evolving concept of temporality – from philosophical reflections on the meaning of time to its commercial measurement and management in modern economies. She argues that today’s consumers live in an intensely time-conscious world, yet marketing theory has often overlooked the central role that perceptions of time play in shaping experiences of consumption. 

The book introduces a new model of consumer perceptions of temporality, designed to help scholars and practitioners better understand how customers experience waiting, duration, anticipation, and memory within service encounters. Moving from a historical overview of ideas about time through to practical recommendations for managing customer journeys, the study demonstrates how a deeper awareness of temporality can improve service delivery and overall customer satisfaction. It speaks to students and academics seeking new approaches to consumer behaviour, as well as to professionals working in marketing and hospitality. 

Dr Evans-Howe teaches marketing, entrepreneurship and innovation, and general management on the undergraduate Economics & Management programme at Oxford, and also contributes to the EMBA and Summer School programmes at Saïd Business School. Her research interests include digital marketing, services marketing, luxury and experiential consumption, and hospitality management. 

The Role of Temporality in Customer Experience is available from Blackwells and other major booksellers.