CNN ran a survey that showed 70 percent of callers who are on hold in silence hang up within 60 seconds. Because the silence would make you think the line had perhaps disconnected, and the wait would actually feel longer. The idea is to fill the space and occupy your time.
This article was originally posted at:
https://medium.com/dev-channel/hacking-user-perception-to-make-your-websites-and-apps-feel-faster-922636b620e3