Research has shown that the qualities of music played in a retail environment, such as tempo, volume, and genre, can impact customer buying behavior. Slow music leads to customers spending more time in a store and increased sales, while fast music has the opposite effect. Loud music causes customers to spend less time shopping but does not affect purchase amounts. Playing classical music causes customers to spend more money by choosing more expensive wine bottles rather than buying more bottles. Holiday music increases purchases of holiday-related goods. The type of music can signal what kinds of products should be bought.

1. How
MUSIC
impacts
buying
behavior.

2. EVERYONE
loves when their favorite song
comes on the radio.

3. Whether you
ROCK OUT
shamelessly,

4. or quietly acknowledge the
tunes with a head nod.

5. It’s hard to deny the universal
LOVE for music.

6. But how does this love
for MUSIC impact our
buying behavior?

7. Research suggests :
qualities of music
impact buying
behavior in a retail
environment.

8. TEMPO#1

9. In a New York City grocery store, the
effect of music TEMPO on shoppers’
buying behaviors was POWERFUL.

10. PLAYING
SLOW MUSIC
LEAD TO…

11. Significantly more
time spent in the
store.

12. AND a SIGNIFICANT
INCREASE in gross
product sales when
compared to behavior
when fast music was
playing.

13. The effects of
TEMPO were
also explored in
a restaurant
environment.

14. Slow music caused
customers to spend a
significantly higher
DOLLAR AMOUNT on
alcohol and spent
MORE TIME eating.

15. While fast music
led to a faster meal
and shorter wait
times for incoming
patrons.

16. Each of these effects
might be wanted in
different restaurant
environments (ex: a 5-
star restaurant versus a
late-night diner.

17. VOLUME#2

18. LOUD music leads
to less total time
spent shopping
when compared to
soft music.

19. And causes
females to think
less time has
passed than
actually has.

20. But, volume does not
correlate to how much a
shopper purchases.

21. Young
shoppers are
more likely to
spend more
time shopping
when music is
being played in
the
foreground…

22. Whereas older shoppers
are more likely to spend
more time shopping when
music is in the background.

23. Either way, using
music volume to
influence behavior is
not a ‘one size fits all’
tactic.

24. GENRE#2

25. One study
investigated the
effect of playing
Top-40 pop music
versus classical
music in a wine
store.

26. Playing
classical
music led to
MORE money
being spent by
shoppers.

27. Interestingly, the
shoppers DID NOT buy
more bottles of wine
when this music was
being played but rather
chose the MORE
EXPENSIVE bottles.

28. During the holiday
season, shoppers
buy more holiday-
related goods when
Christmas music is
playing in the store.

29. From these findings, it
seems the type of
music playing can
send a signal about
what kind of goods
should be bought.

30. Want to learn more
about how the
nuances of music in a
retail environment can
affect shopping
behavior?

31. Check out our blog:
blog.motivemetrics.com