If I operated a store I wouldn't play any music in it, unless it was some clothing or music store meant to target a certain audience. Music in stores like Old Navy or markets feels inappropriate to me because there are too many different types of people who shop there. Music just seems unnecessary most of the time. I think the tempo study is interesting. I feel it's tiring to stay in stores that play faster songs.
My local Walgreen's plays really depressing adult contemporary music like John Denver or Debby Boone and it makes me want to get out of there as fast as possible. I was in line and they started playing an old Juice Newton song and it made my time in line feel really long.
It definitely can influence me, usually it influences me to leave the store. Some store music I don't even notice, but some years ago when I still went to malls occasionally I noticed a number of stores that were for younger women played music that I found absolutely terrible. The lyrics were just dragging me down and making me feel very unhappy to be hearing this and even know that such music is out there. I refused to buy from those stores and never went back because of it. Who wants to listen to some woman singing about an emotionally abusive relationship as if it is normal? That just makes me feel like trash.
Actually, now that you mention it, it is quite true for me. I might not do it consciously but good music makes the entire shopping experience pleasant for me and I usually do pleasant things slowly to make the experience longer. However, I am usually able to resist buying things that I didn't plan to buy before so this strategy might not work for people like me. Judging from the store's perspective, it doesn't hurt at all to spend a little extra time to choose which music might be liked by a lot of their customers so that their shopping experience becomes more enjoyable. If it fails to influence the amount of stuffs they buy like you said, at least it can still influence their decisions to come back and shop more.
The music doesn't matter too much to me. However, I think holiday music puts us in good spirits and has us buy more presents during the Christmas season. I do notice that when I'm shopping for clothes for myself, if I enter a story with some strong fun music playing that has a feisty appeal to it, I may try on more clothes and open myself up to more styles. I don't think the music influences the buying power when I'm shopping for myself though.
Unless a song comes on that I like, I pretty much ignore what ever is playing. I know music can influence customers though! I used to work in a toy store, and we had to play these super ANNOYING children's CD's that we also sold, and people HATED them. Like seriously, people would ask multiple times a day how I stood the music, cause they all hated it so much. So, one time when the boss was a away for a weekend, I brought in one of my own mix CD's that I made. It was full of Peggy Lee, Edith Piaf, Andrew Sisters, Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby and Postmodern Jukebox songs. I also threw in some old songs in French or Italian! And guess what? People loved it! They browsed the store slower, smiled at the songs, bought more, and left with smiles on their faces. Unfortunately, I never got to play the mix again, but hey my boss never found out so. But yes, music can influence people quite a lot at times.
I've never really thought about it much, but yeah I guess it does change the way I shop depending on the music that's playing. In stores like Wet Seal and Forever 21 that I shop in often they usually have popular, hip music for teens and I really like that, especially when I know and love the song so I can sing and dance along to it. If the music gets me into a good mood then I'm probably a lot more likely to spend my money in that store.
Our grocery store almost always plays fast pop music but I think it's just because it does well enough and has too many customers so if they played something slower it would probably only crowd the cashier area at some point. I don't think it fits the atmosphere of the store to play something slow anyway since I always associate slow and relaxing music with an environment that's a bit more posh.
What an interesting question! Music affects me in a huge way so if the music in a store is torture to listen to I am going to want to get out of there as fast as I can. Fortunately, I happen to live in a city where music is a huge part of the culture, and I have diverse music tastes so I rarely have any issues. If anything, I have to try and stop myself from singing along or from dancing in the aisles, lol. It's worse for me when there's weird or awful music in a restaurant. That can be downright painful!
It really depends on my mood, but if it's dreadful music I will leave or not even go in, but if the music is okay it can put me in a good mood. Does it make me shop more? Not really, but it does make me stay there until I have finished hearing my favorite song. Music is a good idea in some places as it stops you hearing people argue or children screaming, which can happen in grocery stores, so that's maybe why they do it!
Depends. I myself would love if my favourite shop would start playing death metal music, I'd just keep coming back again and again, but that would turn most of the other customers away. Music always influences the shopper's mood, so calming music may lead in a calm client, who may end up purchasing products with care, so that's an advantage.
No, music doesn't affect me in that way because I always make sure I have a set budget. What music does do to me is put me in a good mood, and it sort of enhances my shopping experience. It has to be the right type of music and at the right volume though. There's a store I like that I constantly find myself resisting going in because it plays VERY loud rave; it doesn't matter what day or what time of day! I love their clothes, but hate their music; so I no longer go in there!
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Because when I enter a store I am set to buy certain things. If I dislike the music and stuff like that it will push me out of the store more quicker. The good store music is the one you will not even notice, background music. Sometimes I hear a good old song I like over the speakers and i'll be more inclined to remember the pleasant experience in the store.
I'm not really sure. I think that if the music stores play does influence what we buy then it's likely a subconsious thing. But it really wouldn't surprise me, with all of these enticing advertisements/commercials you see on the TV nowadays which trick you into buying things and use physchology to make you depend on a product etc, it really wouldn't surprise me if some geniuses have found a special or certain type of music that makes us spend more when we're shopping!
There is always heavy metal playing in both of the video game stores in my town. Without fail! There is always a long line as people are part-exchanging their goods. I don't mind it myself - at least the music is quite complex, but there are plenty of mums and kids who use the stores and I always wonder what they think of it.
No, the music played while I'm shopping doesnt really effect how I shop at all. To be honest I'm the kind of person who spends a lot of timr shopping. I like to get in and get out as quickly as possible. I dont like to stroll leisurely through stores. So I dont really have time to pay attention to what music is being played.
Music makes me either feel calm and relaxed or agitated. If a store is playing boring music then I am going to be bored and feel like their wardrobe is tired and bored. If the store is too trendy then I start to feel like I am in a teen store and make a quick exit to the door!
It doesn't influence me very much. If a song comes on that I like or I am familiar with I might sing along with it, but besides that my attention is on the pieces or food in the stores and getting what I came for.
Yes, at stores and at restaurants. There is a time and a place for it, but there are many instances where it makes shopping miserable for me and I cannot wait to get out of those places. I was just complaining about this the other day actually with regards to Dollar General Stores. Many of the ones in our area have a tendency to blast country music, which drives me up a wall. It all sounds the same, and the lyrics and singing are so corny, the songs are so repetitive, I can't stand it. Sorry country fans, but it's not my cup of tea. Another place that irks me is Save-a-Lot. I think the stores have to pay some sort of licensing in order to play music in them, which is perhaps why Save-a-lot seems to play all this weird 2nd rate music from artists I've never heard of before. There is probably some company out there that licenses music to stores from unknown artists at a discount rate or something. Again, the songs are horribly corny and very low quality. To make things worse, they play the same few songs over and over again. I wouldn't mind it if they just played some non-jarring pleasant instrumental jazz or something like that, which is what many places used to do, but now they play these awful pop/country songs that are so juvenile and loud and obnoxious it really irritating.
It probably won't affect if will go there again just because of the music but if there is good music it will probably make me enjoy my time there. If i do enjoy my time there i will most likely go again but it is usually not just because of the music
