New research on retail atmospherics shows that music volume directly impacts people’s food choices. The right music can evoke a desired emotional response from consumers and increase sales.
For example, slower music increases the average ticket size by encouraging customers to buy more beverages and other add-ons. It can also influence the amount of time they spend at their table.
Positive Atmosphere
The ambiance of a restaurant is an important part of the experience. When a restaurant has a great atmosphere, customers will feel relaxed and want to stay longer. This positive atmosphere will also help attract new customers and keep existing ones returning. Many things can influence the ambiance of a restaurant, such as the decor and lighting, but music is one of the most powerful tools.
According to research published in the Journal of Consumer Research, music for a restaurant can create a specific mood for the customer. For example, classical music can make customers feel sophisticated and high-class, while pop music can create a more fun and casual environment. The type of music played in a restaurant can also impact how much customers spend. Studies have shown that slow music can encourage customers to spend more than listening to fast-paced music.
Music has even been shown to increase altruism and empathy in some cases. Researchers found that when people listened to “chill-inducing preferred” music with a positive valence, they were more likely to agree to a request from a stranger that they would not have agreed to otherwise. The music’s positive valence helped them ignore that the request was selfish.
Satisfaction Increased
Many restaurant owners agonize over menus, pottery, lighting, and staffing but often overlook the music that plays in their establishment. Yet research has proven that music influences consumer buying behavior and has a powerful impact on customer satisfaction.
According to studies, customers exposed to slow, calming music enjoy their dining experience more than those subjected to upbeat, fast-paced music. Likewise, the tempo of music influences the pace at which diners eat and shop. Slower music encourages diners to linger and spend more, while faster music speeds up the pace of consumption and causes shoppers to move through a store more quicker.
In addition, a study of wine bottle sales at a wine store found that customers spent more when classical music was played than the top 40. The reason is that classical music evokes an image of sophistication and expensive taste, making customers more willing to spend more money on a high-end product.
Aside from providing pleasure and arousal, music can also evoke emotions and moods. It makes it an important tool for business owners to use in creating a desired atmosphere for their establishment. In a field experiment, researchers found that when people were exposed to mood-enhancing music, they made more favorable evaluations of the food and service quality at a restaurant.
Increased Sales
Research shows that music can influence a customer’s purchase behavior. Specifically, the type of genre, tempo, and music volume all impact customer behaviors. In a wine store, sales increased when classical music was played compared to the top 40. The classical music created a mood in the customers that modified their shopping and purchasing behavior. In addition, holiday music also increases sales in stores by pulling on a person’s emotions to make them buy more products.
Genre: The type of genre, such as holiday, soft rock, rap, or jazz, can also impact a customer’s behavior. For example, studies show that fast music can cause consumers to move through a store faster, while slow music allows them to spend more time exploring the merchandise and purchasing more items.
Tempo: The tempo of the music impacts how much time a consumer will spend at a restaurant, bar, or store. For example, a study found that when a restaurant played slow music for customers, they spent an average of 11 minutes longer at their tables versus restaurants with fast music playing in the background.
A growing trend in marketing tactics is the use of ‘music atmospherics,’ or music, to influence a consumer’s emotional and behavioral responses while they are in a retail location. With over 90 billion visits to retail locations annually, 79 percent of consumers notice the music playing at those locations, proving that auditory sensations are just as important as visual and tactile ones in influencing customer behavior and brand perceptions.
Increased Customer Loyalty
Music is a powerful way to influence customers. When used correctly, it can increase customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, and sales in your restaurant. Music can also be an effective way to differentiate your brand from the competition.
For example, if your restaurant serves fast food, high-tempo music can encourage quick turnover of tables, while slow music can increase dwell time and promote higher spending. If you are a restaurant that provides upscale food and service, classical or jazz music may be a good choice to convey an image of luxury and sophistication.
In a study published in The Journal of Consumer Research, researchers found that the tempo and volume of music can influence the amount of money customers spend in restaurants. They conducted experiments with various music tempo conditions to see how they influenced the purchases, length of stay, and other variables. The results indicated that BL-classical music was the most successful in influencing purchases and the duration of stay.
Other studies have shown that slower-tempo music increases the average ticket size, especially for restaurants with expensive menu items like fine wines. It can be attributed to the fact that classical and jazz music are often associated with elegance and sophistication, encouraging customers to purchase premium products.
