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The Effect of Musical Style on Restaurant Customers' Spending
Abstract
Classical music, pop music, and no music were played in a British restaurant over the course of 18 evenings. The mean spend per head for each table was calculated for starters, main courses, desserts, coffee, bar drinks, wine, overall drink bill, overall food bill, and total spend. Total time spent in the restaurant was also measured. A MANOVA analysis revealed that there was an overall significant difference between the conditions with classical music leading to higher spending than both no music and pop music. Univariate analyses indicated that there were differences between the conditions on mean spend per head on starters, coffee, total spend on food, and overall spend. These findings were consistent with the limited previous research, which indicated that the playing of background classical music led to (a) people reporting that they were prepared to spend more and (b) higher actual spending. The results indicate that restaurant managers can use classical music to increase customer spending, and the results are discussed in terms of three possible explanations for this.
... However, the results of the limited studies that have examined the influence of background music and music style on coffee purchase likelihood have been ambiguous. For instance, while North et al. (2003) found that classical music gave rise to greater spending on coffee than pop or no music, in an earlier study by North and Hargreaves (1998), no significant differences were found between music conditions with respect to coffee spending. These inconsistencies may be ascribable to variables such as customers' musical preferences or perception of the store atmosphere, or features of the musical pieces played, such as tempo and volume, which have been found to influence consumer behavior (e.g., Biswas et al., 2019;Caldwell & Hibbert, 2002;Knoeferle et al., 2017;McCarron & Tierney, 1989;Milliman, 1982Milliman, , 1986Smith & Curnow, 1966;Spence et al., 2019). ...
... These inconsistencies may be ascribable to variables such as customers' musical preferences or perception of the store atmosphere, or features of the musical pieces played, such as tempo and volume, which have been found to influence consumer behavior (e.g., Biswas et al., 2019;Caldwell & Hibbert, 2002;Knoeferle et al., 2017;McCarron & Tierney, 1989;Milliman, 1982Milliman, , 1986Smith & Curnow, 1966;Spence et al., 2019). Moreover, inconsistencies regarding the influence of music style on coffee purchase likelihood might be linked to the arousal level of the music pieces played during North and Hargreaves' (1998;North et al., 2003) experiments as well. As aforementioned, people tend to drink coffee for functional reasons, such as arousal. ...
... In other words, coffee drinking often is associated with high arousal levels (e.g., Chan & Maglio, 2019). However, North and Hargreaves' (1998;North et al., 2003) studies do not provide enough information to properly examine these alternative explanations. ...
Coffee is a tremendously popular beverage throughout the world. According to recent studies, consumption of this caffeinated drink is influenced, inter alia, by variables related to store atmosphere, including background music. Findings in this regard, however, have been rather limited and ambiguous, and raise the question of whether music style, specifically classical versus pop, influences coffee purchase likelihood. In four studies, the authors sought to address this question, finding a positive correlation between music arousal level and coffee purchase likelihood, regardless of music style (classical or pop). In other words, an increase in music arousal level appears to enhance coffee purchase likelihood. The results, thereby, support the music congruity hypothesis. The article concludes with a discussion of research and managerial implications as well as directions for future research.
... In particular, the marketing literature has shown how the structural components of music (musical tempo, volume and mode), the preferential dimension (liked or familiar music, high level of fit, popular music) or genre (e.g., classical, jazz) have an influence on the evaluation and satisfaction of a store or a service, the time spent in the store, purchase intentions, sales volume and patronage behaviour [15]. In particular, classical music has been associated with more consumers' spending [18,[24][25][26]. One of the aims of this body of research is to understand which music is the most appropriate in different contexts, e.g., different kind of shops, bars or restaurants. ...
... In Japanese-themed and a Mexican-themed restaurant chains in Singapore, a mixture of pop and traditional music increased consumers' expenditure. [18,19,[24][25][26][27][51][52][53][54][55][56] Combination of structural properties ...
... In particular, classical music was shown to increase the time spent in a shop, sales volumes and the prices that consumers are willing to pay. People tend to spend more and select more expensive products [24][25][26]55]. Classical music also increases the positiveness of the reviews or the venue [24]. ...
Psychological research has long demonstrated that preferences can be influenced by stimuli coming from the environment. Music, as an external stimulus influencing people behaviours, purchasing processes and spending, has been widely analysed in consumer behaviour and marketing literature. Here, we focus on the effect of music genres on preferences and willingness to pay for selected ecosystem services of a Nature Park when they are elicited with a Discrete Choice Experiment. This aspect is important in non-market valuation because music can represent an element of context-dependence for the assessment of individual choices, so that the assumption of preference stability does not hold, and welfare estimates may be biased. The results of a generalized mixed logit model evidenced a significant effect of music on preferences. If elicited preferences depend on the context on which the survey is implemented, wrong information to decision makers is provided when the choice context is altered by an uncontrolled external stimulus. This result is particularly important for applied researchers and policy makers. First, the use of protocols and guidelines that instruct respondents about the ambient background when answering a questionnaire is highly recommended, particularly for online surveys. Second, specific genres of music should be used in educational and ecosystem services conservation campaigns and also piped in visitor centres and virtual tours to encourage nature conservation and improve visitors’ sensitiveness for the environment.
... One particular characteristic is music. Background music can affect the taste of wine [14] and increase the pleasantness of the taste experience leading to enhanced appreciation of the holistic dining experience [10,61] Additionally, compared to a pop music background, a classical music background influenced costumers to purchase more expensive wines in a wine store [62] and to spend more in a restaurant [61]. North and colleagues explained their findings by the upmarket atmosphere of classical music inducing the congruent behavior of spending more [61]. ...
... One particular characteristic is music. Background music can affect the taste of wine [14] and increase the pleasantness of the taste experience leading to enhanced appreciation of the holistic dining experience [10,61] Additionally, compared to a pop music background, a classical music background influenced costumers to purchase more expensive wines in a wine store [62] and to spend more in a restaurant [61]. North and colleagues explained their findings by the upmarket atmosphere of classical music inducing the congruent behavior of spending more [61]. ...
... Background music can affect the taste of wine [14] and increase the pleasantness of the taste experience leading to enhanced appreciation of the holistic dining experience [10,61] Additionally, compared to a pop music background, a classical music background influenced costumers to purchase more expensive wines in a wine store [62] and to spend more in a restaurant [61]. North and colleagues explained their findings by the upmarket atmosphere of classical music inducing the congruent behavior of spending more [61]. This is certainly plausible, but another possibility is that classical music increased the pleasant experience, which in turn enhanced the appreciation of the dining experience. ...
There is lack of research on effects of red wine on consciousness when drank in wine bars designed to enhance the pleasurableness of the wine drinking experience. Effects of a moderate dose of red wine (≈ 40.98 g of ethanol) on consciousness were examined in a naturalistic study taking place in a wine bar located in one of the most touristic areas of Lisbon, Portugal. One hundred two participants drank in one of three conditions: alone, in dyad, or in groups up to six people. Red wine increased pleasure and arousal, decreased the awareness of time, slowed the subjective passage of time, increased the attentional focus on the present moment, decreased body awareness, slowed thought speed, turned imagination more vivid, and made the environment become more fascinating. Red wine increased insightfulness and originality of thoughts, increased sensations of oneness with the environment, spiritual feelings, all-encompassing love, and profound peace. All changes in consciousness occurred regardless of volunteers drinking alone, in dyad or in group. Men and women did not report different changes in consciousness. Older age correlated with greater increases in pleasure. Younger age correlated with greater increases in fascination with the environment of the wine bar. Drinking wine in a contemporaneous Western environment designed to enhance the pleasurableness of the wine drinking experience may trigger changes in consciousness commonly associated with mystical-type states.
... 13 For example, Areni and Kim 14 found that customers in a wine cellar spent more when classical music rather than top 40 music was played, arguing that classical music stereotypically primed wealth and affluence, resulting in customers spending more. 15,16 Musical fit is thought to operate by raising the salience of items by priming related concepts in memory. Once primed, these concepts appear to influence product perception and "guide" purchasing behaviour. ...
... Consistent with prior research, classical music has often been stereotyped as connoting wealth, affluence, and luxury. 14,15,13,106 Future research may investigate whether it is possible to adapt both classical music and sound effects in order to create a perfect fit for a luxury sports car ad. ...
A study is reported that was designed to investigate the influence of various kinds of sonic accompaniment on consumers’ perception of a high-end luxury sports car. Using a between-participants experimental design, groups of 40 participants viewed a short car ad. The groups heard either classical music, pop music, sound effects, or listened in silence. The results revealed that participants perceived the car’s power, driving excitement and engine technology to be highest when the ad was paired with sound effects. Meanwhile, participants perceived the car to be most elegant and indicated the highest price for the car when the ad was paired with classical music. Those participants who watched the ad in silence rated lowest for all aspects of the car’s characteristics, including indicating the lowest price for the car. Interestingly, the participants admitted that music/sound effects influenced their perception of the advertised luxury sports car. This implies that specially curated sound design may help to highlight specific characteristics of a car.
... The pitch remained consistent across all three conditions. Many similar studies (North et al., 2003;Roballey et al., 1985) have featured a no-music condition; however, one study (McElrea and Standing, 1992) only examined the differences across various music tempo conditions. We chose the latter method because we also aimed to examine the differences associated with simple variations in music tempo. ...
... Recent literature has explored the effects of music on eating behavior, with a focus on music style, speed, and preference (Cui et al., 2021). Studies have found that music style (Hussain et al., 2021;Lindman et al., 1987;Novak et al., 2010;North et al., 2003), speed (McElrea and Standing, 1992;Milliman, 1986;Roballey et al., 1985), and preference (Caldwell and Hibbert, 2002) play a role in altering food intake. In this study, the type of music used was categorized as jazz or bossa nova, genres are chosen for their perceived neutrality in terms of taste. ...
Background
The effects of the different tempos of background music (BGM) on food intake and eating speed have not been fully studied.
Aim
The study aimed to investigate the influence of changing the tempo of BGM during meals on food intake and to explore strategies to support appropriate eating behavior.
Methods
Twenty-six healthy young adult women participated in this study. In the experimental phase, each participant ate a meal under three separate conditions: fast (120% speed), moderate (original, 100% speed), and slow (80% speed) BGM. The same music was used for each condition, and appetite before and after eating, the amount of food consumed, and eating speed were recorded.
Results
The results showed that food intake (g, mean ± standard error (SE)) was slow: 317.9 ± 22.2, moderate: 400.7 ± 16.0, and fast: 342.9 ± 22.0. Eating speed (g/s, mean ± SE) was slow: 28.1 ± 2.8, moderate: 34.2 ± 2.7, and fast: 27.2 ± 2.4. The analysis showed that the moderate condition showed greater speed than the fast and slow conditions (slow–fast: p = .008; moderate–slow: p = .012; moderate–fast: p = .004). Moreover, the food intake in the moderate condition was significantly higher than that in the slow and fast conditions (moderate–slow: p < .001; moderate–fast: p < .001), and there was no significant difference between the slow and fast conditions in this regard (p = .077).
Conclusion
These results suggest that original tempo BGM led to higher food intake compared to the faster and slower tempo conditions. These findings suggest that listening to music at an original tempo during meals may support appropriate eating behavior.
... However, participants also felt the music could be a distraction from the game as well as their ability to socialize. Therefore, teams should closely evaluate the type or style, as well as level and duration of music, since consumers' perceptions of atmospheric music have been shown to influence both attitudes and behaviors (e.g., Areni & Kim, 1993;North & Hargreaves, 2003;North et al., 1999). ...
... In conclusion, the results of this study serve to reinforce the positive relationship between involvement and loyalty (Funk, 2008;Funk et al., 2004). In addition, findings also appear to be support previous research analyzing the influence the servicescape (Hightower et al., 2002;Wakefield & Blodgett, 1994, 1996Wakefield & Sloan, 1995), as well as atmospheric music (Jacob, 2006;Milliman, 1986;North & Hargreaves, 1998;North et al., 2003), has on creating emotional responses amongst consumers, which ultimately influence behavioral responses (e.g., time allocated, affiliation, repurchase). ...
... Areni and Kim [31] and North et al. [32] demonstrated that liquor stores and restaurants that played classical music in the background had higher sales and that their cus-tomers chose more expensive commodities. North and Hargreaves [33] and North et al. [34] showed that customers purchased more German wines than French wines when a wine shop played German music and purchased more French wines than German wines when the wine shop played French music. ...
... Areni and Kim [31] and North et al. [32] demonstrated that liquor stores and restaurants that played classical music in the background had higher sales and that their customers chose more expensive commodities. North and Hargreaves [33] and North et al. [34] showed that customers purchased more German wines than French wines when a wine shop played German music and purchased more French wines than German wines when the wine shop played French music. ...
The music environment of a restaurant is an important factor that affects consumer behaviors during the dining experience, especially silent dining behaviors among people who are not encouraged to talk in the context of COVID-19. This study empirically analyzed the influence of consumers’ background music preferences on their emotions and behavioral responses during their dining experience at a high-end Chinese restaurant. A total of 393 valid samples were obtained through purposive sampling and snowball sampling. The research tools used in this study included a personal background information questionnaire, four Oriental and Western music conditions, a background music preference scale, a scale for evaluating emotions during the dining experience, and a behavioral response scale. The results showed that the subjects preferred the Chinese classical music—the Butterfly Lovers Concerto. Background music affected the participants’ emotions during their dining experience, and different background music conditions resulted in significant differences in emotions and behaviors. The consumers’ emotions, during their dining experience significantly predicted their behaviors under all four music conditions. The greatest contribution and value of this study stem from the finding that the background music at a restaurant can arouse specific positive emotions in consumers during their dining experience and thus affect their eating behavior.
... As the background music playing in the store can create emotional bonds between the consumer and the store (Morrison & Beverland, 2003), the role of the background music is important; thus, it is vital that it matches the store image overall (Spence & Puccinelli, Grewal, et al., 2014). Indeed, playing classical music has increased sales both in wine shops (Areni & Kim, 1993) and in restaurants (North et al., 2003;Spence & Piqueras-Fiszman, 2014). Further, background music has also been found to influence product sales through consumers making associations between what is being played and the products, e.g., playing ...
Sensory encounters are an essential component of the customer experience. However, most of the research conducted thus far has used self‐reported measuring techniques to address sensory experiences, which have limitations in holistically capturing the sensory encounters. Text analysis coupled with online reviews provides valuable customer experience information and at the same time, the data contains many suggestions regarding consumers’ sensory experiences. Consequently, online review data can be used to gain insights into how consumers’ sensory experiences—visual, olfactory, auditory, gustatory, and tactile—are represented in the dynamics of online reviews. Using a data set of 13,575 online reviews from Trustpilot and expanding upon the vocabulary of senses, we investigate how customers’ sensory experiences during grocery shopping relate to online review ratings. We discover that the interaction is more complex than one might think because the review star rating rises in the presence of visual and gustatory cues, while the effects of auditory, olfactory, and tactile cues are not demonstrated. We recommend marketers to monitor eWOM related to their own brand, as it can provide indications of what kind of sensory experiences customers have encountered.
... Classical music encouraged people to select more expensive products, but there was also a correspondence between cuisine and the atmosphere. Customers in Mexican or Japanese-themed restaurants preferred a mixture of pop and traditional music and increased their spending accordingly [North et al., 2003]. ...
This paper studies how music affects restaurant customers' perceptions and choices when ordering. Music is a factor that affects the operation of the human brain. The human brain has a memory system that uses the amygdala to rate experiences as positive or negative and their capacity. These memories lead humans to reconsider each experience as repeatable or non-repeatable. When evoked under specific conditions resembling a past situation, certain feelings and emotions can dredge up memories and affect behaviours accordingly. Music is a factor that relates to specific experiences more often, providing the stimulation that the brain needs. The study explores the influence of music's tempo, genre, and loudness as part of the restaurant ambience as a stimulus that guides the perception based on memory, not reality. Music develops specific feelings and emotions based on one's previous experiences. Those feelings and emotions affect one's perception and can lead to a different decision than when the influence of music is absent. The research scrutinises the role of music in affecting the emotional environment and, thus, the customer's overall perception of their needs and desires. The alternation of their perception leads to decisions depending on the specific conditions. The study's outcome is that music can affect how we perceive a situation, leading us to a different behaviour regarding menu selection.
... Kunkel and Berry (1968) suggested that customers develop an impression of a store by comparing it to their expectations and returning to buy more. On the other hand, store image, described by North et al., (2003) as a store's identity and a determinant in first-time purchases. Consumers evaluate a store's image based on merchandise quality, ambience, assortment, convenience, and service (Beristain and Zorrilla, 2011;Dodd and Lindley, 2003;Diallo and Cliquet, 2016). ...
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to provide insight on how factors such as store image, private label brand, perceived risk, price consciousness, word of mouth, perceived value, private label brand familiarity, and passion for local influence consumers' propensity to make a purchase. Design/ Methodology/Approach: Using both digital and traditional survey methods, we were able to obtain data from 429 customers. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using AMOS 21. Findings: This study tested a model that incorporates Store-Image, Price Consciousness, Private Label Brand, Perceived Risk, Word of Mouth with Purchase Intention, and Vocal for Local with Purchase Intention. Hypotheses five and six were reinforced by word-of-mouth and vocal for local. Originality/value: According to the originality of this study, PLB grocery shoppers are influenced by the appearance of the store. According to research, retail image is defined as the store's atmosphere as well as its product assortment. PLBs are used to differentiate the store's environment and its assortments. Customers ought to have a positive impression of the Private Label Brand.
... Mitochondrial biogenesis is necessary to maintain mitochondrial function, and numerous studies have demonstrated that faulty mitochondrial biogenesis contributes to long-term diabetic complications [8][9][10]. A metabolic sensor protein called Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) has a significant role in mitochondrial biogenesis and antioxidant defence by deacetylating the target transcription factors such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) [11][12][13][14][15]. Studies have shown that SIRT1 also deacetylates nuclear factor-erythroid2-related factor (Nrf2), promoting the transcription of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes like NQO-1, HO-1, and SOD2 [16,17]. ...
... Mitochondrial biogenesis is necessary to maintain mitochondrial function, and numerous studies have demonstrated that faulty mitochondrial biogenesis contributes to long-term diabetic complications [8][9][10]. A metabolic sensor protein called Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) has a significant role in mitochondrial biogenesis and antioxidant defence by deacetylating the target transcription factors such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) [11][12][13][14][15]. Studies have shown that SIRT1 also deacetylates nuclear factor-erythroid2-related factor (Nrf2), promoting the transcription of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes like NQO-1, HO-1, and SOD2 [16,17]. ...
Piceatannol (PCN), a SIRT1 activator, regulates multiple oxidative stress mechanism and has anti-inflammatory potential in various inflammatory conditions. However, its role in Diabetic insulted peripheral neuropathy (DN) remains unknown. Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are major contributing factors to DN. Myriad
studies have proven that sirtuin1 (SIRT1) stimulation convalesce nerve functions by activating mitochondrial functions like mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy. Diabetic neuropathy (DN) was provoked by injecting streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 55 mg/kg, i.p to male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Mechanical, thermal hyper-
algesia was evaluated by using water immersion, Vonfrey Aesthesiometer, and Randall Sellito Calipers. Motor, sensory nerve conduction velocity was measured using Power Lab 4sp system whereas The Laser Doppler system was used to evaluate nerve blood flow. To induce hyperglycemia for the in vitro investigations, high glucose (HG) (30 mM) conditions were applied to Neuro2a cells. At doses of 5 and 10 µM, PCN was examined for its role in SIRT1 and Nrf2 activation. HG-induced N2A cells, reactive oxygen exposure, mitochondrial superoxides and mitochondrial membrane potentials were restored by PCN exposure, and their neurite outgrowth was enhanced.
Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) directed mitochondrial biogenesis was induced by increased SIRT1 activation by piceatannol. SIRT1 activation also enhanced Nrf2-mediated antioxidant signalling. Our study results inferred that PCN administration can counteract the decline in mitochondrial function
... Mitochondrial biogenesis is necessary to maintain mitochondrial function, and numerous studies have demonstrated that faulty mitochondrial biogenesis contributes to long-term diabetic complications [8][9][10]. A metabolic sensor protein called Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) has a significant role in mitochondrial biogenesis and antioxidant defence by deacetylating the target transcription factors such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) [11][12][13][14][15]. Studies have shown that SIRT1 also deacetylates nuclear factor-erythroid2-related factor (Nrf2), promoting the transcription of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes like NQO-1, HO-1, and SOD2 [16,17]. ...
Background:
Silibinin (SBN), a sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) activator, has been evaluated for its anti-inflammatory activity in many inflammatory diseases. However, its role in diabetes-induced peripheral neuropathy (DPN) remains unknown. The SIRT1 activation convalesces nerve functions by improving mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy.
Methods:
DPN was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 55 mg/kg, i.p. in the male SD rats whereas neurotoxicity was induced in Neuro2A cells by 30 mM (high glucose) glucose. Neurobehavioural (nerve conduction velocity and nerve blood flow) western blot, immunohistochemistry, and immunocytochemistry were performed to evaluate the protein expression and their cellular localisation.
Results:
Two-week SBN treatment improved neurobehavioural symptoms, SIRT1, PGC-1α, and TFAM expression in the sciatic nerve and HG insulted N2A cells. It has also maintained the mitophagy by up-regulating PARL, PINK1, PGAM5, LC3 level and provided antioxidant defence by upregulating Nrf2.
Conclusion:
SBN has shown neuroprotective potential in DPN through SIRT1 activation and antioxidant mechanism.
... The music constitutes a part of atmosphere in a background context in terms of accompanying offered food or other products, i.e. being a tool. In terms of foods or other products representing music or that is represented by music, numerous studies have been conducted on the concept of background music in different fields (see Baker, Grewal & Parasuraman, 1994;Milliman, 1982Milliman, & 1986North, Shilcock & Hargreaves, 2003). These may serve as an example to the relationship of gastromusicology with interdisciplinary studies. ...
Music, in addition to being listened to live on stage or from a record, is a commercial tool used by people. It is known that music is used by businesses under various occupational groups to increase representation capability of their products, address a particular audience, stimulate shopping or create an atmosphere. The purpose of this study was to determine the genre(s) of music preferred by boutique burger establishments, to research the purpose(s) for preferring such music genres, and to identify whether there is a music genre that represents boutique burger. During preliminary studies conducted in line with this purpose, it was determined that Caferağa Neighborhood of Kadıköy District in İstanbul province has had improving social, cultural and gastronomic characteristics that were maintained throughout the years, and boutique burger establishments also gained prominence as social and gastronomic spaces in the recent years. 8 boutique burger establishments, which were shaped by the relationships between space, taste and music, were identied in Caferağa Neighborhood, and a gastromusicological study has been conducted with ethnographic methods in line with the purpose in question. In this qualitative study based on descriptive assessment, data was collected by application of observation and interview techniques on 6 managers, 4 cook-managers, 10 cooks and 16 customers in a total of 8 businesses. The data on research problem was analyzed with descriptive analysis and it was determined that boutique burger was represented by various American popular music genres such as Electronic (House, Electro House, Deep House, Techno), Funk, Pop, Rock, Country, Jazz, Reggae, Rap, Chill-out, R&B and Hip-hop.
... Further, the type of music differently affected children's or adults' cognitive learning and consumption habits, being the highly arousing genres more linked with kids and the relaxing ones with adults (Cassidy & MacDonald, 2007;Hallam et al., 2002;Kumar et al., 2016;North, Shilcock, & Hargreaves, 2003;O'Hare, 2011;Schellenberg & Hallam, 2005;Schellenberg & Weiss, 2013). ...
Music is essential for human development, and its distribution throughout almost all individual and social environments has generated significant research far beyond the arts, as it has become a subject of inquiry in academic learning. To analyze the influence of music habits on academic performance, 123 undergraduate students were voluntarily surveyed about music habits and academic scores for a core subject were registered. The most preferred genres were Pop and Rock, followed by Reggaeton, while the least preferred were Electronic and Asian. No particular individually analyzed habits as far as the type, frequency of listening or the number of years the subject has listened to music determined general academic performance, but a negative effect of listening to any preferred genre over the fact to suspend or pass the subject while studying was observed. Besides, students who used to listen to Pop/Rock and Asian music daily and since they could remember had better academic scores. Incorporating music research in science learning would provide a better comprehension of its relevance in academic environments.
... Among customer-employee, customer-environment, and customer-customer interactions, Wu and Liang (2009) found physical environment factors to have the strongest influence on consumer experiential value in luxury hotel restaurants. North et al. (2003) compared the effects of playing classical music, pop music, and no music in restaurants, revealing that classical music led to higher customer spending. Countryman and Jang (2006) identified five atmospheric elements of hotel lobbies, and found color, lighting, and style to be significant predictors of guests' overall impression of lobbies being beautiful, inviting, and comfortable. ...
As COVID-19 prevention efforts have become normalized, conflicts between guests and hotel staff, who must adhere to government protocols, can have a serious impact on host-guest interactions. Drawing on interaction ritual chain theory, this research explores the ritualized mechanism of host-guest interactions during the pandemic from the perspectives of staff and guests. By combining video ethnography and interviews, this study identifies the ritual ingredients, processes, outcomes, and collective symbols of COVID-19 prevention measures. Based on the attitudes and performance paths of staff and guests, the interaction chain may become longer or shorter, and result in guests becoming "insiders" or "outsiders" and leaving the interaction space. An integrated model of host-guest interactions based on interaction ritual theory is proposed.
... Because FID reading usually occurs in a bank branch where customers are normally exposed to the buzz of other people talking or to a soft background music, we decided to analyze the influence of auditory stimuli on anchoring, as a further explanatory variable. In many contexts such as restaurants, shops, and waiting rooms, music is continuously played in the background while consumers are engaged in other activities (North et al., 2003). Previous studies have indicated that the presence of music is positively related to pleasure, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions (Roschk et al., 2017). ...
When reading a financial disclosure document, subjects are faced with multiple information cues and might simplify decisional complexity by relying on heuristics. This study explores whether, in an attempt to filter information from the Payment Account Fees Information Document (FID), subjects anchor their evaluation to a specific item, leading to biased financial choices. By detecting the visual search strategy in 70 subjects through eye tracking, we observed that people exhibited systematic visual anchoring to the top of the document, which corresponds to the Liquidity section that displays the Annual Fee. Moreover, data revealed that subjects sometimes fail to recognize the most advantageous products. This mainly occurs when the Annual Fee is high, even if the other charges compensate for that amount, clarifying the link between visual search strategy and financial decisions. Data also showed the role of financial literacy in modulating attention, as poorly financially literate subjects are more prone to anchoring bias. The findings contribute to the neuroeconomics literature on anchoring effect and highlight practical implications for financial regulators and managers involved in the ergonomics of documents.
... En cuanto al efecto que el uso de la música tiene sobre el comportamiento del consumidor los estudios ofrecen diferentes resultados (Baumann y Gayer, 2017). Mientras hay investigaciones que confirman que la utilización de música incrementa 15 minutos la presencia del cliente en el local (Andersson Et al., 2012;Sullivan, 2002) se pueden encontrar estudios que no han hallado diferencias significativas en el comportamiento entre utilizar música o no hacerlo (Wilson, 2003;North Et al., 2003). ...
La creciente importancia de los portales de compra online frente al retail físico, hace necesario el desarrollo de estrategias en el punto de venta para que los consumidores sigan acudiendo a las mismas a comprar. Y, en este sentido, una de las grandes diferencias (por no decir el punto fuerte) entre la tienda física y la online es la experiencia física de poder tocar y sentir el producto. La tienda no debe ser entendida solo como un punto de venta, sino que se debe configurar como un espacio donde vivir experiencias. Y es aquí, integrada dentro de la estrategia de trade marketing, donde cobra especial relevancia el marketing de los sentidos. Partiendo de esta premisa, la presente investigación se centra en el estudio del marketing sensorial utilizado por las tiendas de moda del grupo Inditex Stradivarius y ZARA y, más concretamente, en como aplican estas técnicas en sus tiendas, desde el punto de vista del olfato, el oído, la vista y el tacto. Para ello se aplicará la metodología del análisis de contenido. De los resultados se desprende que estos establecimientos aplican de manera activa las técnicas de marketing sensorial, estando presentes en todas las tiendas, al objeto de mejorar la experiencia de compra de los consumidores.
... Characteristics of the physical settings such as the facilities, layout, music, scents, and temperature (ambient cues) influence approach (e.g., engage in valuable and helpful behavior toward other customers, share experiences with others, etc.) and avoidance (e.g., limited interaction with other customers) behaviors (North 2003;Spangenberg 1996). For example, seating arrangements in airports discourages comfortable conversation among travelers (Sommer 1974). ...
... For example, rock music has correlated with increased consumption of alcohol [36], while classical music appears to help reduce the intake of savory foods [37]. People also tend to spend more money at a restaurant when classical or jazz music is playing rather than pop music or no music at all [38]. Thus, to some extent, the spending of money is related to the amount of food consumed. ...
Food intake has been shown to be related to several environmental factors including the presence of music. However, previous findings of the relationship between music and food intake are inconsistent. In the present study, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively review the extent to which music is associated with food intake as well as to investigate potential moderators that might have contributed to the heterogeneity of the existing findings. Literature was searched on four databases (i.e., PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses) and Google Scholar. Nine articles published from 1989 to 2020 met our inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis was carried out via a three-level random-effects model. The overall effect size (i.e., Hedges’ g) was 0.19 (95% Confidence Interval: −0.003, 0.386; SE = 0.10, t = 1.99, p = 0.054), indicating a marginally significant but small effect size. Body Mass Index (F(1, 21) = 5.11, p = 0.035) was found to significantly contribute to the heterogeneity of effect sizes, with larger positive effects of music on food intake for individuals with higher BMI. However, music-related features did not significantly moderate the relationship between music and food intake. More experimental studies are needed to update the current meta-analysis and get a better understanding of this topic.
... Los resultados respecto al comportamiento del cliente indican efectos divergentes sobre la presencia de música en el punto de venta (Baumann y Gayer, 2017). Si bien algunos autores informan de una presencia 15 minutos superior del consumidor en la tienda (Andersson et al., 2012;Sullivan, 2002) otros trabajos no identifican diferencias significativas entre utilizar o no música (Wilson, 2003;North et al., 2003). ...
Frente a consumidores cada vez mejor informados y más exigentes, que también buscan que su compra se convierta en una experiencia y a la creciente importancia de los portales de compra onlinefrente al retailfísico, se hace necesario el desarrollo de estrategias en el punto de venta para atraer a los compradores y sigan acudiendo a las mismas, no sólo a realizar una compra, sino a pasar tiempo en la tienda. Y, en este sentido, una de las grandes diferencias (por no decir el punto fuerte) entre la tienda física y la onlinees la experiencia física de poder tocar y sentir el producto. La tienda no debe ser entendida solo como un punto de venta, sino que se debe configurar como un espacio donde vivir experiencias. Y es aquí, integrada dentro de la estrategia de trade marketing, donde cobra especial relevancia el marketing de los sentidos. Partiendo de esta premisa, la presente investigación se centra en el estudio del marketing sensorial utilizado por las tiendas de moda del grupo Inditex y, más concretamente, la influencia que el uso de dichas técnicas tiene en el comportamiento de compra de los consumidores y en cómo estos perciben la generación de experiencias. Para ello se aplicará la metodología cuantitativa de la encuesta a una muestra de la población cuyas respuestas se estudian a través del software estadístico SPSS. De los resultados se desprende que si bien el uso de estas técnicas tiene una influencia positiva en los consumidores desde el punto de vista de la experiencia de compra, realmente no les influyen en la decisión de compra final.
... Como ya hemos comentado, la música es un elemento de diseño importante en el área de compras que afecta a las decisiones conscientes e inconscientes de los consumidores (Banat y Wandebori, 2012) y que, por tanto, impactará significativamente en su intención de compra. De este modo, el estilo de música puede influir en la percepción de calidad (Agmon, 1990) y el gasto que conlleve la compra (Wilson, 2003;North et al., 2003;Spence y Piqueras-Fiszman, 2014). Como resultado, un ambiente agradable prepara al consumidor para tomar una decisión repentina de comprar un producto no planificado (Donovan y Rossiter, 1982;Verplanken y Herabadi, 2001), contribuyendo así a la rentabilidad financiera del establecimiento (Herrington, 1996). ...
Este trabajo trata del marketing auditivo, una de las estrategias comerciales más utilizadas en la disciplina del merchandising. La sección teórica del trabajo comienza con el desarrollo de cada una de las variables musicales objeto de estudio y como pueden afectar teóricamente (de una forma y en un grado u otro) a las distintas características y cualidades de los consumidores. Finalmente, se ha realizado un planteamiento general para poder abordarse en futuras líneas de investigación.
Restaurants have expanded their significance beyond dining alone and become places of emotional communication.
Studies have shown that there is a cross-modal association between listening to music and eating. This study aims to explore the influence of music style on individuals’ food preferences and provide evidence for understanding multi-sensory research. Twenty seven participants participated in the experiment. The experiment consisted of two parts. Firstly, participants completed basic information; and then completed the food choice task after being stimulated by four different styles of music and simultaneously recorded EEG data. The behavioural results showed that: compared with low-calorie foods, individuals selected more high-calorie foods. In addition, individuals selected more high-calorie foods than low-calorie foods during the jazz music; while individuals selected more low-calorie foods than high-calorie foods during the classical music. The ERP results showed that: The N1 amplitudes were smallest during the classical music and greatest during the rock music; the N450 amplitudes were smallest during the jazz music. P2 amplitudes were smallest during the rock music and greatest during the classical music. P3 amplitudes during jazz music were the greatest. Pearson analysis showed that body satisfaction was positively related to classical-P3, Jazz-P3 and Rock-P3; BMI was negatively correlated with body satisfaction. Our study provides innovative practical perspectives for healthy eating.
This handbook is the first to comprehensively study the interdependent fields of environmental and conservation psychology. In doing so, it seeks to map the rapidly growing field of conservation psychology and its relationship to environmental psychology. The Oxford Handbook of Environmental and Conservation Psychology includes basic research on environmental perceptions, attitudes, and values; research on specific environments, such as therapeutic settings, schools, and prisons; environmental impacts on human well-being; and ways to promote a more sustainable relationship between people and the natural environment. This handbook presents an extensive review of current research and is a thorough guide to the state of knowledge about a wide range of topics at the intersection of psychology and the physical environment. Beyond this, it provides a better understanding of the relationship between environmental and conservation psychology, and some sense of the directions in which these interdependent areas of study are heading.
Purpose
The purpose of this commentary is discuss how musical intervention and imagined interactions can be used to deal with conflict. Music has been called the universal language because of its tonality and rhythm. It affects conflict and aggression and helps people to deal with stress. Research is reviewed showing physiological arousal with background music. The effects of music on aggression are summarized in terms of emotional regulation, catharsis and empathy, and the use of mental imagery in the form of imagined interactions, including relational maintenance catharsis and conflict linkage, is discussed. The incremental sound organizer (ISO) principle of music therapy is discussed as a mechanism to affect emotions while listening to music. Finally, a tool to measure the emotional effect of music on listeners is discussed in terms of the musical mood wheel.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a commentary on the effects of background music on reducing aggression.
Findings
Music can reduce aggression, depending on how it is used. Music affects how we manage our emotions, reduces stress, provides catharsis and can be a distracting element. Music can enhance empathic feeling; induce positive moods, social bonding, physiological changes and neurobiological changes; and affect our arousal.
Research limitations/implications
Music therapy and musical intervention can be applied to conflict resolution.
Practical implications
The ISO principle of music therapy is designed to deal with changing a person’s emotions as they listen to a medley of music. The mood of the person is measured using a series of scales reflecting a continuum of sadness to happiness, and the music is designed to match the mood of the patient to the music being played and/or listened to, which in turn fosters the achievement of an altered state of consciousness. For example, if you are angry, start with music that is loud and gradually switch to a more tranquil piece of music. “The vectoring power of music is that we change the mood or emotion of persons from one affective pole (joy) to its opposite (anger) through small incremental changes in the rhythm and intensity of the music” (Honeycutt, 2003, p. 82).
Social implications
Background music in music psychology literature is often referred to as musical intervention. Background music can help us recall positive and negative scenes as the music triggers endorphins in the brain (Salimpoor et al. , 2011). Background music is intended to enhance the surrounding context without drawing significant attention. It is often played in spaces such as restaurants, stores, offices or public places to create a certain mood or ambiance.
Originality/value
It is important to note that the effectiveness of musical intervention in reducing aggression can vary based on individual preferences, the specific type of music used, and the context in which it is applied. Additionally, while music intervention can play a role in aggression reduction, it is often most effective when used as part of a comprehensive therapeutic approach.
Pazarlamada duyuların etkisi yadsınamaz. Duyular bağımsız olarak çalışmaktan ziyade birbiriyle sinerji oluşturarak algıyı etkilemektedir ve algıyı yönetebilmek pazarlamada oldukça önemlidir. Özellikle lokanta, kafe gibi yemek ve içecek
hizmeti veren işletmeler ile gıda reklamcıları için duyu etkileşimini ve algıyı anlamak pazarlama faaliyetleri için göz önünde bulundurulması gereken mühim konular arasındadır. Araştırmalar, duyular ve duygular aracılığıyla tüketiciler ve
işletmeler arasında güçlü bağlar kurmanın mümkün olduğu
göstermektedir.
Yemeğin görselliği ve kokusu, tadı hakkında beklentiler yaratırken yemekte kullanılan tüm fiziksel unsurların dokusu, yapısı, görünümü, rengi, yemek esnasında çalınan müzik ve birçok görsel, işitsel, dokunsal unsur ile koku ve tat duyuları
birbiri ile entegre olarak gıdanın algısını etkileyebilmektedir.
Çalışmanın konusu olan tat ve müzik ilişkisi üzerine birtakım çalışmalar mevcuttur. Bu çalışmalarda ses tonundan, notalara, müzik türüne, müzik ve sunum sırasına, yemeğin etnik kökenini belirlemeye kadar müzikle ilgili birçok unsurun tat algısını (tat almanın hedonik yönleri, algılanan asitlik, meyvelilik, tatlılık, burukluk vb.) etkilediği görülmüştür. Dolayısıyla bu unsurların işletmeler, pazarlamacılar, satıcılar yada araştırmacılar açısından iyi anlaşılması, algının yönetilmesini ve tüketici davranışlarının yönlendirilmesini de sağlamaya yardımcı olabilir.
Travel and tourism advertising is critical in developing positive associations to attract visitor patronage and build sustainable post-pandemic tourism. An important part of an advertising message is delivered through voice and other aspects of audio, for example, music. However, how audio features impact viewers of travel and tourism advertisements remains unexplored in the research. This study implements advanced audio analytics to test how various features impact upon viewers. The results show that voice quality is important in developing positive affect; advertisement viewers prefer speakers with quieter voices (less mean intensity) that have a higher level of clarity (higher harmonics-to-noise ratio). This can be explained via the heuristic route of the heuristic-systematic model. Music tempo was found to be important in stimulating reactions from advertisements, with faster music being associated with a higher level of positive affect. The paper concludes with practical and theoretical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research.
Il volume analizza il panorama giuridico che compone il diritto della pubblicità,
caleidoscopio di regole tutt’altro che armonico. Attraverso un’opera
di sistemazione concettuale della disciplina, con approccio progressivamente
analitico, l’autore esamina nel dettaglio i diversi prismi della comunicazione
commerciale, all’inizio presentata nella sua complessità
fenomenica. La pubblicità viene introdotta nella dimensione del diritto costituzionale,
civile e autodisciplinare, successivamente indagata quale pratica
commerciale nei rapporti business to consumer e in quelli business to business,
dunque declinata secondo le discipline speciali dei diversi media comunicativi
e di alcune, particolari, categorie merceologiche. All’analisi della disciplina
sostanziale segue, infine, l’approfondimento degli strumenti di tutela
contro le forme illegittime di pubblicità, di cui vengono esaminate luci e
ombre al cospetto del particolare fenomeno trattato.
Quorum Sensing es una experiencia gastrosónica para tres comensales. Una sopa se sirve en una vajilla de vidrio especial (Vajilla Emocional), diseñada como resultado de un proyecto de investigación sobre asociaciones de formas y materiales con emociones musicales. Las acciones de cada comensal producen vibraciones aplicadas al cuerpo de los demás. El marco conceptual de los proyectos Quorum Sensing y Vajilla Emocional es múltiple: relacionar la experiencia humana con la de otras especies, aumentar táctilmente el sentido de presencia en la comensalidad, un enfoque multisensorial y transmodal del diseño de objetos y una reflexión sobre el uso de celulares y tabletas en la mesa. A futuro Quorum Sensing puede funcionar como dispositivo experimental para investigar estos aspectos así como el impacto de las vibraciones en la percepción de la comida.
Consumers react to external stimuli they encounter in store environments, especially if they are unexpected, novel, or salient. Often, however, consumers do not go shopping purely driven by stimuli, but rather driven by goals. In this case, they selectively pay attention to those stimuli that presumably bring them closer to their consumption goals. With the knowledge of the mechanisms of this goal-oriented top-down perception, retailers can design their assortment and the store environment in such a way that they become relevant for certain target groups. In the further course it will be shown, using the example of background music, that stimulus perception does not refer to individual characteristic expressions of environmental stimuli in isolation, but that multisensuality – entirely in the sense of Gestalt psychology – is an interaction of sensory perceptions. Finally, recommendations for musical design at the POS are derived from various studies on the effect of music.
This study empirically investigated the extent to which auditory marketing strategy relates to customers experience in bar & restaurant businesses in Port Harcourt. The quantitative research method which utilized a cross-sectional survey research design was adopted in the study. The target population comprised of all the customers of 113 bars and restaurants in Port Harcourt as listed in https://www.manpower.com.ng. This population is an infinite population; hence the Godden (2004) infinite sampling technique was deployed which gave us a sample size of 384. Three hundred and sixty two (362) copies of questionnaire out of the distributed 384 were valid and used for the study. The main research instrument (copies of questionnaire were validated through expert checking while Cronbach Alpha Test was used to check for its reliability. The findings of the study showed that auditory marketing strategy has significant positive relationships with the measures of customers' experience (customer satisfaction and customer repurchase intentions). Hence the study concluded that auditory marketing strategies significantly influence customers' experience in bar & restaurants businesses in Port Harcourt. Hence, the study recommends management of bar & restaurants applications of auditory marketing cues such as the right kind of music played, the tempo and volume of the music since it has proven to help influence the mood of the customers to relax and have a pleasant experience.
We study a decision-framing design problem: a principal faces an agent with frame-dependent preferences and designs an extensive form with a frame at each stage. This allows the principal to circumvent incentive compatibility constraints by inducing dynamically inconsistent choices of the sophisticated agent. We show that a vector of contracts can be implemented if and only if it can be implemented using a canonical extensive form, which has a simple high-low-high structure using only three stages and the two highest frames, and employs unchosen decoy contracts to deter deviations.
We then turn to the study of optimal contracts in the context of the classic monopolistic screening problem and establish the existence of a canonical optimal mechanism, even though our implementability result does not directly apply. In the presence of naive types, the principal can perfectly screen by cognitive type and extract full surplus from naifs.
This study focusses on the impact of the background music on consumers' shopping experience during the festival seasons. The authors derived a new research model based on the environmental psychology model in the literature and then designed an empirical experiment to examine changes in consumers' non‐behavioural shopping outcomes under different conditions. The authors built a virtual shopping website and chose a traditional Chinese festival, the Mid‐Autumn Festival, as the experimental scenario in which the authors used a questionnaire to measure the differences in dependent variables formed by different treatments. Data from the online experiment showed that consumers' experience is more positive with music than without the background music, and the consumer's emotions play a mediating role. However, there is no significant effect of music with the theme of the Mid‐Autumn Festival compared to ordinary pop music, which proves that the theme of music does not affect consumers' experience in the online shopping scenario. These findings reflect the psychology and behaviour of consumers when using shopping websites and provide suggestions for shopping site design.
Purpose
Obesity among elderly consumers precipitates undesirable health outcomes. This study aims to investigate the effects of environmental cues on food intake of elderly consumers in an aged-care facility.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal study conducted over 17 weeks in situ within an aged-care facility with 31 residents investigated how auditory (soothing music), olfactory (floral-scented candle) and visual (infographic on health benefits of the main meal component) cues influenced food intake quantity during a meal, while accounting for portion size effect (PSE).
Findings
Analysing the cross-sectional results of individual treatments and rounds did not reveal any consistent patterns in the influence of the three environmental cues. Longitudinal analyses, however, showed that the presence of auditory and olfactory cues significantly increased food intake, but the visual cue did not. Moreover, PSE was strong.
Research limitations/implications
Extending research into environmental factors from a commercial to a health-care setting, this study demonstrates how the presence of auditory and olfactory, but not cognitive cues, increased food intake behaviour among elderly consumers. It also shows that a cross-sectional approach to such studies would have yielded inconclusive or even misleading findings. Merely serving more would also lead to higher food intake amount.
Practical implications
Environmental factors should be a part of health-care providers’ arsenal to manage obesity. They are practical and relatively inexpensive to implement across different health-care settings. However, the same environmental factors would have opposite desired-effects with normal or underweight residents, and hence, aged-care facilities need to separate the dining experience (or mealtime) of obese and other residents. Quantity served should also be moderated to discourage overeating.
Originality/value
While studies into managing obesity, particularly among older adults, have mainly focused on techniques such as pharmacotherapy treatments with drugs, dietary management or even lifestyle change, less attention has been given to the influence of environmental cues. This study, executed in situ within an aged-care facility, provided evidence of the importance of considering the impact of environmental factors on food intake to help reduce obesity.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the three-way interaction effects among congruence type (proximal vs distal) of nonverbal ad messages, assessment perspective (internal vs external) of verbal ad messages and social distance (close vs faraway) on consumers’ visit intention.
Design/methodology/approach
After developing the four categories of restaurant advertisements and scenarios for each type of social distance, the authors used 780 observations collected from Chinese consumers via the online survey platform Sojump and WeChat. The authors conducted ANOVA to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results reveal that in proximal congruence situations, consumers who feel a close social distance between themselves and their companions report higher visit intentions when exposed to internal versus external perspective-oriented ad messages; in distal congruence situations, external perspective-oriented ad messages elicit higher intention to visit advertised restaurant when consumers feel a far social distance between themselves and their companions.
Research limitations/implications
Future research can focus on the different categories of messages, such as functional and experiential messages, to find whether similar interaction effects are explored or not.
Practical implications
This paper suggests some practical implications for advertisers to maximize the impact of advertisements on consumers’ behavioral outcomes via combining the different characteristics of nonverbal and verbal messages effectively, especially according to their target consumers’ characteristics.
Originality/value
In the view of the three-way interaction effects, this paper offers a new lens on understanding how advertisements influence consumers’ behavioral outcomes, which could contribute to the advancement of advertisement theories.
Music is considered as an effective tool in shaping consumers’ responses to advertising. The present study examines the effects of mildly incongruent background music upon consumers’ responses to restaurant advertising. It integrates country of origin and genre congruity of music in a single congruity framework through focusing more closely upon the twin components of congruity (expectancy and relevancy) and examines how various quadrants of musical in/congruity affect consumers’ cognitive responses and behavioral intentions. Between-subjects experiment was conducted to explore participants’ responses to an advertisement promoting a fictitious Italian restaurant. Findings indicate how the deliberate crafting of musical incongruity can be used to engage and amuse consumers, proposing that resolving mild musical incongruity may enhance consumers’ attitude toward advertising, perception of brand image and quality, as well as their purchase intent. The present research develops, refines, and redefines the concept of musical congruity in advertising and offers the first empirical evidence for the positive effects of using purposeful, mildly incongruent music upon consumers’ cognitive responses to advertising as well as their behavioral intentions.
Purpose
Through investigation and comparisons between tourists and restaurant managers regarding their understanding of traditional music and their attitudes, expectations and assigned importance to it, this paper aims to identify the most problematic aspects of the (non)inclusion of traditional music in restaurant settings in tourist destinations.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a field survey of tourists and managers/owners of catering establishments in the four municipalities of Slovenian Istria.
Findings
The results show that tourists attach a relatively high importance to this element of cultural heritage and that it is not sufficiently included in the overall product of the destination and in the catering establishments. Differences in the understanding of traditional music between the two groups were also found.
Research limitations/implications
The research limitations are, namely, a relatively small sample of managers for the quantitative analysis, the particular nature of the chosen destination which does not allow generalization of the results and finally, the study was conducted in the high season when the structure of tourists is significantly different compared to that in the mid and low season.
Practical implications
The findings bring some useful insights into tourists’ expectations and understanding of traditional music as part of the tourism experience for catering establishments’ managers and destination management organizations. By addressing the identified gaps, they can enrich the overall tourism product of the destination, while catering operators can achieve better business results.
Social implications
The more frequent and cogent inclusion of traditional music in the hospitality sector would provide a new social function and raison d'être for this segment of cultural heritage, which is in danger of being forgotten in many tourist destinations.
Originality/value
This research addresses a widely overlooked area of two interrelated fields of research, namely, hospitality and cultural heritage. Unlike the majority of previous research on this topic, which only involves actual guests, the present research is designed as a comprehensive investigation and comparison of the attitudes of the general population of actual tourists in the destination (as potential guests of the inns/restaurants) and managers of catering businesses operating in the destination.
In the real world, PWYW businesses can either engage supervised payments or honour boxes where consumers can drop their loose change to make payments. As consumers can pay any amount (including zero) for PWYW payments, the current work delineates conditions under which higher payments can be encouraged. Findings from a series of field experiments show that low arousal music facilitates higher PWYW payments under an external influence (e.g., a salesperson), while high arousal music motivates consumers to make higher payments when they carry more versus less loose change. Further, the interactions of music with salesperson and loose change respectively drives higher payments through the subject’s internal reference price. The current work is novel in testing the influence of salesperson, loose change and music driving higher PWYW payments. The current work also provides managers with a strategic tool (e.g., ambient music) that will help drive higher PWYW payments.
Store atmospheres are inherently multisensory and constitute an important driver of consumer behaviour. The research suggests that background music (as one element of the multisensory atmosphere) can influence consumer preference and choice. However, the findings have been inconsistent as far as how background music influences people’s preferences for healthy vs. indulgent foods is concerned. By considering different music genres, food types, and tastes/flavours, we aimed to disentangle the mixed results that have been reported previously. Across two experiments (including one pre-registered replication), the participants rated their preferences for each of several options (healthy savoury, indulgent savoury, healthy sweet, indulgent sweet) while listening to one of four music genres (Jazz, Classical, Rock/Metal, and Hip-hop). The results of the two experiments consistently demonstrated that the effects of background music on food preferences were dependent on the interaction between music genre, food type (healthy vs. indulgent), and taste/flavour (sweet vs. savoury). Crucially, listening to Jazz and Classical music increased people’s preferences for healthy savoury foods (e.g., vegetable sandwich) as compared with Rock/Metal music. Listening to Rock/Metal, Hip-hop, and Jazz music increased people’s preferences for indulgent savoury foods (e.g., a beef sandwich) as compared with Classical music. Additionally, listening to Classical music increased people’s preferences for both healthier (e.g., low-fat milk) and indulgent (e.g., milk chocolate) sweet foods as compared with the other musical genres. The mediating role of emotions was also documented in these experiments. Specifically, positive valence mediated the relationship between music genre and sweet as well as healthier savoury foods, while the feeling of arousal mediated the relationship between music genre and indulgent savoury foods. These findings suggest that auditory atmospherics may influence consumers’ food preferences. Practical implications for store managers concerning when to select and use specific types of background music are made.
Music is considered as one of the most important executional cues in advertisements. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon in the context of television and radio advertising, with more than 94% of advertisements incorporating a certain type of music. Music accounts for a significant commercial advantage in the context of advertising by producing favorable associations with the product/brand, contributing to the message, and by attracting consumers’ attention and enhancing message recall.
The eating environment is a complex phenomenon involving a number of factors which, either individually or synergistically, have the ability to influence the meal experience. The study of emotions in such circumstances is important as, for example, emotions have the ability to influence behavioral intentions, which in turn influence overall satisfaction and can be effective in the event of service failure.
The techniques used to measure emotions in a typical environment tend, for the moment at least, to be restricted to questionnaires, and more recently, interviews, although other techniques continue to be developed. The choice and nuances of a questionnaire require careful deliberation, as no single instrument represents the ideal, and may need to be adapted to fit the circumstances. Similar considerations also apply to interviews along with the sample size. Thereafter, the practicalities of the actual data collection are not something which should be left to chance and each aspect needs to be carefully thought through.
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to be a "Call to Arms" for researching the impact of the changes to the mind body and senses with age on the design of the Servicescape.
Design/methodology/approach
Personal insight on servicescape research from someone who is both researcher and a healthy aging individual.
Findings
The over 65’s represent the only growing part of the market in most of the developed world and hence are of growing importance to service businesses the past 20 years this age group, more than any other, has seen significant improvements in health and a consequential increase in spending. Age brings with it changes directly relevant to the evaluation of the service experience and to consumer co-production. Very little is known about the impact of those changes.
Practical implications
Service businesses urgently need to recognize the opportunity and develop a strategy to deal with it. They will need to develop age neutral servicescapes offering all ages the same quality of experience and the same co-production facilities.
Social implications
Ageism is one of the major issues facing society today. Consumer ageism is a real issue that permeates the design of the servicescape and potentially services research. Research of all kinds is urgently needed to attack ageism.
Originality/value
This paper provides fresh insights into an emerging area that needs to have a higher priority. It is based upon the existing research on the servicescape and a multi-disciplinary view of ageing.
This field study investigated the extent to which stereotypically French and German music could influence supermarket customers' selections of French and German wines. Music with strong national associations should activate related knowledge and be linked with customers buying wine from the respective country. Over a 2-week period, French and German music was played on alternate days from an in-store display of French and German wines. French music led to French wines outselling German ones, whereas German music led to the opposite effect on sales of French wine. Responses to a questionnaire suggested that customers were unaware of these effects of music on their product choices. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for research on music and consumer behavior and their ethical implications for the use of in-store music. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The effects of music tempo on number of bites per minute and total time of meal were studied. Eleven subjects unknowingly participated in the study. Three music conditions were used: fast tempo, slow tempo, and no music. A significant increase in the number of bites per minute was found; the effect was largest for fast-tempo music, which suggests arousal as a possible mediator. No difference was found in total time of meal. A questionnaire revealed no evidence that subjects were aware of the music.
This paper critically reviews the literature available and presents an empirical study that examines the effects of background music on in-store shopping behavior. It finds that music tempo variations can significantly affect the pace of in-store traffic flow and dollar sales volume.
This paper will critically review the limited literature available on the topic and present an empirical study that examines the effect of background music on the behavior of restaurant customers. It was found that music tempo variations can significantly affect purchases, length of stay, and other variables examined.
This review focuses on the research conducted over the years on the effects of facility-based environmental cues, or “atmospherics”, on buyer behavior. We review the pertinent literature by constructing a comprehensive table of the empirical studies in this area that focuses on the various findings associated with these investigations. This summary table indicates that atmospheric variables influence a wide variety of consumer evaluations and behaviors. In addition to discussing the findings and contributions of this literature stream, the article concludes by identifying gaps in the literature and suggesting potential future topics for atmospheric related research.
Examined the effect of playing traditionally French or German music on consumer purchases of French or German wine. Four French and four German wines matched for price and dryness or sweetness were displayed in a supermarket drinks section. Each of the 4 shelves contained 1 French and 1 German wine and appropriate national flags. The position of the wines on the shelves was changed halfway through the 2-wk testing period. French accordion and German Bierkeller pieces were played on alternate days from a tape deck placed on the top shelf. Shoppers buying wines were asked to complete a questionnaire. French wine outsold German wine when French music was played, whereas German wine outsold French wine when German music was played despite an overall bias in favor of French wine. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This exploratory study investigates the effect of music on the perceived characteristics of a commercial listening environment and on customers' purchase intentions therein. Three musical styles and also no music were played in a student cafeteria over the course of 4 days. Subjects' responses to a questionnaire indicated that different musical styles had different effects on the perceived characteristics of the cafeteria, and that classical music was associated with subjects being prepared to pay the most for food items on sale therein. There was also some indication that classical and pop music might have increased actual sales in the cafeteria, as compared with easy listening and silence. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for both commercial practice and our theoretical understanding of music and consumer behavior.
This review focuses on the research conducted over the years on the effects of facility-based environmental cues, or “atmospherics”, on buyer behavior. We review the pertinent literature by constructing a comprehensive table of the empirical studies in this area that focuses on the various findings associated with these investigations. This summary table indicates that atmospheric variables influence a wide variety of consumer evaluations and behaviors. In addition to discussing the findings and contributions of this literature stream, the article concludes by identifying gaps in the literature and suggesting potential future topics for atmospheric related research.