How shop music affects the brain
Shop music or the music played in stores while you shop has been shown to effect just how and what you buy. What you may believe are impulse buys could actually be influenced by the shop music in the store.
Interestingly enough the Marks & Spencer store group is removing shop music altogether. The decision was made after ‘extensive research and feedback’ which came from both customers and staff.
It is likely that M&S could be giving up an aspect of the stores which has been proven to manipulate customers.
What shop music makes you spend more?
According Market Bosworth, Leicestershire research it is suggested that diners spent on average £2 more per head when they are listening to classical music versus pop music.
Ravel’s Bolero and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake inspires more sales than tracks like Cher’s Believe and Club Tropicana by Wham.
Shop music is referred to as “muzak” since the 1920’s when someone named General George Squires patented the process of transmitting music over electrical lines. The cringe worthy name is the combination of ‘music’ and ‘Kodak’ to form the early 20th century hi-tech name. It’s also referred to as ‘elevator music’ because of its early use in skyscrapers to calm people’s nerves when elevators were still new and unfamiliar.
In the 1940’s ‘muzak’ was used to relax workers in order to improve productivity. Marks & Spencer started playing shop music in 2006 and while they have decided to quit doing it now, they are not up for sharing their play lists.
Paul Stokes tried to log the tracks he heard while out shopping in London, he quit soon after and said…
“It was all either faceless audio wallpaper, or the same pop hits of the day produced by Pharrell Williams. Experts say you should only notice the music one in three tracks. The rest of the time it was there to provide a sense of comfort and calm.”
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