Influencing Consumer Behavior With Music

Source: Image by João Braun from Pixabay

Music is widely used to motivate human behaviors and to influence mindset. Background music plays an important role in our everyday lives (eating, drinking, shopping, and driving). It is an important environmental cue that affects consumers’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors. Music can subconsciously influence our moods and purchasing behaviors (North and colleagues, 2016).

1. Musical tempo

The mood and meaning conveyed by music are determined by musical features such as pitch, timbre, and tempo. Among them, music tempo is the most important feature that influences the expression of music (Juslin, 2019). Tempo is the speed at which a piece of music is played.

Research studies have shown that the tempo of background music influences consumers’ pace of action. For example, listening to fast-tempo music speeds up the rate at which people eat, walk, and drive (they feel more hurried). Consumers spend more time in the grocery store when the background music is slow as they browse a range of products.

2. Priming effect

Music can prime certain thoughts and associations. For example, a study (North, 2016) exposed customers in a supermarket drinks section to either French music or German music. The results showed that French wine outsold German wine when French music was played, whereas German wine outsold French wine when German music was played. The type of wine they had bought had been influenced by the music that was playing. However, a majority of customers denied that the type of music playing influenced their choice of wine.

So, different musical styles give rise to very different atmospheres. Pop music might lead to the perception that a coffee shop is lively and youthful, and classical music might lead to the perception that the café is upscale and sophisticated.

3. Time perception

Music is a powerful emotional stimulus that changes our relationship with time (music can distort “clock time”). Time does indeed seem to fly when listening to pleasant music. Hearing pleasant music seems to divert attention away from time processing.

The effect appears to be greater in the case of low-arousing (calm) music with a slow tempo. For example, music is used in waiting rooms to reduce the subjective duration of time spent waiting or in supermarkets to encourage people to stay for longer and buy more (Droit-Volet et al., 2013). Music keeps workers happy when doing repetitive and otherwise boring work. Thus, situations that induce anxiety, like exams, dental offices, or work contexts, could benefit from the presence of music.

4. Music preference

People tend to prefer music that is neither too complicated (difficult to follow) nor too simple (too predictable). The highest pleasure is associated with intermediate values. That is, the stimulus is optimally engaging without being either too simple (leading to boredom) or too complex (confusing). That is, too simple or too familiar music would tend to be perceived as boring, while too complex or unfamiliar music would tend to be incomprehensible. Both would lead to a loss of interest and liking.

5. Decision-making

Music has a strong emotional component that can influence decision-making. Evidence shows that high arousal induced by music can lead people to feel impatient when making choices over time (Sun, 2023). For example, music-induced happiness or high-arousal emotions make people perceive delays as being longer and thus lead them to prefer smaller but immediate rewards. In contrast, slower and more relaxed music could increase carefulness. Listening to slow music may be beneficial for accuracy because it slows thinking speed, allowing for more careful consideration.

In sum, music can have a powerful influence on customers’ impressions of business environments. There can be no single “right” type of music for all environments. The key issue is how to select music that addresses the most important marketing goals for each individual setting. For example, if the goal is to turn the tables faster and seat more customers, faster music is typically used. However, at quiet times, it makes sense to play slower music in the hope that customers will stay longer and spend more money.