Quality vs. quantity when time is scarce

How do consumers decide between quality and quantity, and what drives heterogeneity in quality choice? This paper introduces a tractable model of consumer choice in which quality sorting emerges endogenously from wage heterogeneity in the presence of time opportunity costs of consumption. Consumers must allocate more time to consume larger quantities, while quality allows consumers to increase utility without affecting their time budget constraints. The model predicts that higher-wage consumers choose higher quality while higher-wealth consumers choose higher quantity. This leads consumers to view quality and quantity as distinct concepts and offers a tractable alternative to discrete choice models, explicitly incorporating both dimensions.