Can music influence what we buy? To find out, I dove into the psychology of music

Within the first episode of my Nudge podcast, I interviewed the incredible psychologist Dr. Adrian North, who carried out one of many seminal studies on the psychology of music.

Again in 1997, the researchers stocked an English grocery store with 4 kinds of French and German wines, all equally matched in price, dryness, and sweetness. For 2 weeks, the shop audio system both performed German oom-pah music or French accordion music. North and his colleagues would change the music each day and measure the impact on gross sales.

Seems, 83% of wine patrons purchased French wine when the accordion music was enjoying, whereas 65% of patrons picked German bottles when the Bavarian music was on.

North interviewed these patrons as they left the shop, however nobody claimed the music had an impact on their buy — but it clearly did.

Is the connection between music and shopping for conduct nonetheless related?

North’s examine had some necessary outcomes, however it’s value noting that this examine is nearly three many years outdated and has a comparatively small pattern dimension of simply 82 folks.

So, are the findings nonetheless related as we speak?

Effectively, in 2017, researchers at Montclair State College discovered that enjoying Italian music in a college cafeteria elevated gross sales of their Italian dish (hen parmesan). When enjoying Spanish flamenco tunes, they elevated gross sales of paella.

It’s clear that music does appear to form what we purchase. And perhaps even what we need to eat?

Certainly, throughout a latest journey to Paris, I couldn’t assist however cease on the native boulangerie every morning for a espresso and croissant. Considering again, I spotted that they routinely performed French café-style music. Maybe that’s what drew me in.

What else can music affect? Seems, quite a bit …

In his e-book Pre-Suasion, Robert B. Cialdini writes that music made youngsters 3x extra probably to assist their friends. Equally, in Get It Completed, Ayelet Fishbach shared how music can enhance fitness center reps by 50%. And Nick Kolenda’s work in Think about Studying This E-book exhibits that unhappy music makes thrilling life landmarks really feel additional away.

But, the examine on music that’s arguably most influential includes (extra) grocery store consumers.

In Ronald E. Milliman’s study (aptly titled “Utilizing Background Music to Have an effect on the Habits of Grocery store Customers”), he monitored the stream of consumers as they navigated a grocery store within the southern U.S. Over 9 weeks, he discovered that clients spent 38% extra when sluggish music (60 BPM) was performed in comparison with quick music (108 BPM).

Milliman and his workforce concluded that the tempo of the music influenced the velocity of the consumers. In different phrases, a sluggish tempo slowed down the tempo of buying, giving the shoppers extra time to purchase. Compelling, proper?

In his fantastic e-book Sensehacking, Charles Spence desperately tried to seek out corporations which have utilized this perception into music and tempo (and had been prepared to speak about it).

One of many few public examples is Chipotle.

In line with Spence, Chipotle rigorously controls the tempo of the music in all of its 3,500+ shops. They intentionally play sooner music at busy instances of the day to hurry up their clients and shorten the lengthy strains.

Chipotle’s in-house DJ is quoted as saying, “The lunch and dinner rush have songs with larger BPMs as a result of we have to maintain the shoppers shifting.”

Throughout the quieter intervals, the shop performs slower tunes to maintain clients lingering and maintain the shop busy.

So, the subsequent time you end up chomping down in your lunchtime burrito or reaching for that bottle of German wine, take a minute and ask your self: “What music is enjoying proper now?”