Balking

Balking is the act of a potential customer or participant deciding not to join a service system after observing its current state, estimated costs, or perceived risk. It describes a form of avoidance or nonparticipation and is used in psychology, behavioral economics, and operations research to explain why some individuals opt out before entering a queue or service process.

In queuing theory, balking specifically refers to an arriving customer who looks at the length of the queue or the expected waiting time and chooses not to join at all. A common modeling approach assumes a threshold rule: if the observed queue length or wait exceeds a person’s tolerance, they balk; otherwise they join. Thresholds vary across individuals and situations and can be estimated from data or experiments. Balking reduces the effective arrival rate to the system and can lower average waiting times and congestion, but it may also reduce revenue and utilization.

Balking is related to other customer behaviors such as reneging (joining a queue and then leaving before service) and jockeying (switching between queues). Factors influencing balking include actual queue length, service rate, price, perceived wait, time sensitivity, information availability, and personal preferences.

In practice, understanding balking helps managers design information systems, staffing, pricing, and other interventions to balance service levels and demand. Clear, accurate wait information and predictable service performance can reduce balking, whereas long or uncertain waits and opaque information tend to increase it.