Film rentals and procrastination

We report on a field study demonstrating systematic differences between the preferences people anticipate they will have in the future and their subsequent revealed preferences. We examine the film rental and return patterns of a sample of online DVD rental customers over a period of four months. We predict and find that people are more likely to rent DVDs in one order and return them in the reverse order when should DVDs (e.g., documentaries) are rented before want DVDs (e.g., action films). Similarly, we also predict and find that should DVDs are held longer than want DVDs.