how music impacts what you buy
TRANSCRIPT
How MUSIC impacts buying
behavior.
EVERYONE loves when their favorite song comes on the radio.
Whether you ROCK OUT shamelessly,
or quietly acknowledge the tunes with a head nod.
It’s hard to deny people’s universal LOVE for music.
But how does this love for MUSIC impact our
buying behavior?
3Research suggests :
qualities of music impact buying behavior in a retail environment.
TEMPO
#1
In a New York City grocery store, the effect of music TEMPO on shoppers’ buying behaviors was POWERFUL.
PLAYING SLOW MUSIC LEAD TO…
Significantly more time spent in the store.
AND a SIGNIFICANT INCREASE in gross product sales when compared to behavior when fast music was playing.
The effects of TEMPO were also explored in a restaurant environment.
Slow music caused customers to spend a significantly higher DOLLAR AMOUNT on alcohol and spent MORE TIME eating.
While fast music led to a faster meal and shorter wait times for incoming patrons.
Each of these effects might be wanted in different restaurant environments (ex: a 5-star restaurant versus a late-night diner.
VOLUME
#2
LOUD music leads to less total time spent shopping when compared to soft music.
And causes females to think less time has passed than actually has.
But, volume does not correlate to how much a shopper purchases.
Young shoppers are more likely to spend more time shopping when music is being played in the foreground…
Whereas older shoppers are more likely to spend more time shopping when music is in the background.
Either way, using music volume to influence behavior is not a ‘one size fits all’ tactic.
GENRE
#2
One study investigated the effect of playing Top-40 pop music versus classical music in a wine store.
Playing classical music led to MORE money being spent by shoppers.
Interestingly, the shoppers DID NOT buy more bottles of wine when this music was being played but rather chose the MORE EXPENSIVE bottles.
During the holiday season, shoppers buy more holiday-related goods when Christmas music is playing in the store.
From these findings, it seems the type of music playing can send a signal about what kind of goods should be bought.
Want to learn more about how the nuances of music in a retail environment can affect shopping behavior?
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