Could playing Taylor’s Swift’ Shake It Off or Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance in stores make people buy more? A new study suggests it can.
The study found that people tend to buy more in stores that play fast-tempo music in a crowded environment.
This may explain why certain clothing and grocery stores, such as Abercrombie and Fitch or Trader Joe’s, play loud, fast-paced music.
While previous research has shown that crowded stores can have a negative effect on customers, this study suggests that store managers can harness the positive effects of moderate crowd density by using fast-paced music.
People tend to buy more in stores that play fast-tempo music in a crowded environment, research has found. This may explain why certain clothing and grocery stores, such as Abercrombie and Fitch or Trader Joe’s (pictured), play loud, fast-paced music
The study, conducted by researchers based in Norway and Germany, found that when stores aren’t crowded, fast-paced music has little effect on spending.
Previous research suggests that in-store crowding can lower customers’ spending, limiting the overall benefits of store crowds.
Crowds present a dilemma to store to retailers: One the one hand, a busy store with many customers is desirable from a store manager’s perspective, as more customers typically typically leads to higher sales.
HOW THEY DID THE STUDY
Crowds present a dilemma to store to retailers: One the one hand, a busy store with many customers is desirable from a store manager’s perspective, as more customers typically typically leads to higher sales.
Could playing Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ in a crowded store help boosts sales? New research suggests that it can
But on the other hand, high numbers of people and the feeling of crowding can lead to negative psychological effects on customers.
Researchers sampled 460 small stores and recorded a total of 43,676 observations about customers’ shopping basket value and the number of purchased items.
The researchers created two playlists based on music played by the largest national commercial radio station at the time of the 2014 study.
They split the songs into two lists: Songs with a tempo of more than 107 beats per minute were categorized as fast, and songs with 82 beats per minute or less were categorized as slow.
Compared to stores with no music, as a store became more crowded, average shopping basket value was 8 per cent higher.
Specifically, there is an inverted u-shape effect of customer density on spending, meaning that customers’ individual shopping basket value decreases in crowded stores – but the effect is reversed when fast in-store music plays.
But on the other hand, high numbers of people and the feeling of crowding can lead to negative psychological effects on customers.
However, the authors of the new study say that this negative effect can be mitigated by adjusting store ambiance, specifically by using certain types of in-store music.
To test their idea, the researchers designed a study to determine whether and to what extent music played a role in influencing shoppers when stores were more or less crowded.
People tend to buy more in crowded stores that play fast-tempo music, which artist Lady Gaga (pictured) is known for
The researchers conducted six-week field experiment across a chain of grocery convenience stores in Northern Europe.
They sampled 460 small stores, and recorded a total of 43,676 observations about customers’ shopping basket value and the number of purchased items.
The researchers created two playlists based on music played by the largest national commercial radio station at the time of the 2014 study.
They split the songs into two lists: Songs with a tempo of more than 107 beats per minute were categorized as fast, and songs with 82 beats per minute or less were categorized as slow.
Compared to stores with no music, as a store became more crowded, the researchers found that the average shopping basket value was 8 per cent higher.
Compared to stores with no music, as a store became more crowded, the researchers found that the average shopping basket value was 8 per cent higher. Shopping basket value was higher because shoppers were buying more items, rather than more expensive ones
Specifically, there is an inverted u-shape effect of customer density on spending, meaning that customers’ individual shopping basket value decreases in crowded stores – but the effect is reversed when fast in-store music plays.
The researchers also found that shopping basket value was higher because shoppers were buying more items, rather than more expensive ones.
Based on these results, the researchers say that in-store music can help counter the negative effects of crowded stores.
Researchers conducted six-week field experiment across a chain of grocery convenience stores in Northern Europe. They sampled 460 small stores, and recorded a total of 43,676 observations about customers’ shopping basket value and the number of purchased items