What a 302 redirect means
HTTP status 302 "Found" sends the visitor to the URL in the Location header but signals that the move is temporary. Browsers do not cache it permanently, and search engines normally keep the original URL in their index.
Historically, browsers turned a POST into a GET when following a 302. HTTP/1.1 added the 307 redirect for temporary redirects that must keep the request method.
When a 302 is the right choice
Use a 302 for moves you will undo: a seasonal landing page, a product that is out of stock for a week, an A/B test, geo or language detection that sends visitors to a local version, or a login wall that returns the visitor afterwards.
If the old URL is never coming back, use a 301 redirect. A 302 left in place for months is one of the most common redirect mistakes found in audits.
How Google treats a long-lived 302
Google says it passes ranking signals through 302 redirects just as it does through 301s. When a 302 stays in place for a long time, Google may decide the move is really permanent and index the target URL instead.
The risk is ambiguity: for a while Google may keep showing the old URL, or switch between the two. Stating your intent with the right code avoids that.
Example
The HTTP response of a 302:
HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://example.com/summer-sale
Cache-Control: no-cache