The New York Times has an entertaining piece on culture and its role in how long people are apt to wait in line.

The article focuses on the new Disney Hong Kong theme park, which has had experienced epic lines thus far; apparently, part of the problem is that Asians are more likely to stand in line than other cultures, resulting in longer lines. (Or, could it also be that Disney simply lets in too many people?)

Here’s an excerpt:

Ms. Zhou, who has studied the psychology of queuing in Hong Kong, although not at theme parks, said there was a tendency among Asians and others in more collective cultures to compare their situation with those around them. This may make it more likely that they will remain in a line even if it is excessively long.

Ms. Zhou said this finding was rooted in a somewhat paradoxical observation: that it is the people behind a person in line, rather than in front, that determines the person’s behavior.

“The likelihood of people giving up and leaving the queue is lower when they see more people behind them,” Ms. Zhou said. “You feel like you are in a better position than the others behind you.”

By contrast, she said, Americans and others in more individualistic societies make fewer “social comparisons” of this sort. They don’t necessarily feel better that more people are behind them, but feel bad if too many people are in front of them. Lines in these cultures tend to be more self-limiting.

Here’s the full article. Hurry now before the Times locks it down; it looks like they just started “TimesSelect.”

The second installment of the Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index is out and the rankings have changed significantly, largely due to the fact that the survey now includes more countries (25 in all; the first edition included 11 countries).

Australia debuts in the number one spot, displacing Sweden. And the US falls to number 11…

Country Rankings
NBI 2005 Q2 Ratings
• Australia
• Canada
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• Sweden
• Italy
• Germany
• The Netherlands
• France
• New Zealand
• United States

I was surprised to see New Zealand so far down the list; I would have ranked it right up there with Oz. Currently, 1,000 respondents from only 10 countries are surveyed. You can download the full report here.
Going forward, it looks like they’ll be charging for reports. I imagine any country that wants to improve its share of international tourists will want to subscribe to this survey.

Do you display your phone number with dashes or periods?

ie: 555.555.5555 or 555-555-5555

The punctuation you choose says a lot about your company (or maybe just your choice of designer). And now it appears that there is a global angle to this story; according to this article, some folks believe periods are becoming popular in the US because they make phone numbers appear more international.

Here’s an excerpt…

Another phone buff, Roger Conklin of Palmetto Bay, Fla., thinks globalization played a role. “The Europeans have been using dots from the beginning of time. Americans adopted dashes. Now that the world is getting smaller, each tends to want to emulate the other, resulting in a mixture,” Conklin said.