Psychologists identify which musical chords to pull shoppers purse strings
Canny shop owner’s keen to maximise their takings might want to re-jig their store playlists if the results of a new scientific study are to be believed.
Psychologists have been seeking to pin down the relationship between what we hear and what we spend by conducting a series of experiments in which students were asked how much they would be prepared to spend on the purchase of goods ranging from a toothbrush to perfume.
When doing so the volunteers were subjected to either classical or country music, allowing researchers to determine what (if any) effect their ears were making on their tendency to quantify value.
The results, published in the Journal of Retailing, confirmed prior research which showed classical music to be perceived as representative of luxury goods whilst country music is a better fit for practicality and self-sufficiency.
In practice this saw individuals in the country music camp demonstrably attach a higher value to utilitarian products whilst those listening to classical music upped their valuations of the high end goods.
Intriguingly whilst playing appropriate music had a small positive effect on spending, playing inappropriate music had a much larger negative effect.