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Effects of retail ambient music volume levels on food purchases: implications for retail atmospheric strategies and consumer wellbeing
University of South Florida, USA.
Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Marketing.
Portland State University, USA.
2018 (English)In: 2018 AMA Winter Academic Conference: Integrating Paradigms in a World Where Marketing Is Everywhere, February 23-25, 2018, New Orleans, LA: proceedings / [ed] Jacob Goldenberg, Juliano Laran & Andrew Stephen, American Marketing Association, 2018, Vol. 29, p. C-2-C-2Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Research Question

While different music volume levels are being used for different strategic reasons across stores/restaurants, in this research, we examine whether manipulating music (and noise) volume might also influence consumers’ food purchases in retail and restaurant settings. We address the following research question: Could low (vs. high) volume ambient music influence consumers’ choice and purchase behavior related to healthy versus unhealthy foods? In one of our experiments (study 3), we also examine the effects of ambient noise.

Method and Data

Study 1 was a field experiment conducted at a café conducted in collaboration with the café management. The study had two manipulated conditions corresponding to low (55dB) versus high volume (70 dB) ambient music. As predicted, a higher percentage of healthy items were sold when the ambient music loudness level was low (vs. high) (42.92% vs. 32.49%; χ2 = 4.79, p < .05). Then studies 2a and 2b replicated these findings in lab settings. Study 3 was a 2 (noise volume: low vs. high) ¥ 2 (prime: relaxation vs. control) between subjects experiment. The results showed that the effects of high versus low volume ambient music on food choice persisted in the control condition but got attenuated for the “relaxation primed” condition. Study 4 was conducted as a field experiment at a major supermarket, in collaboration with the store management. The experiment had two manipulated conditions (low vs. high volume ambient music). Consistent with our hypothesis, low (vs. high) volume ambient music led to higher degree of purchases of healthy items as a proportion of total food purchases (Proportion low-volume = 44.16% vs. Proportion high-volume = 42.92%; χ2 = 73.75, p < .001).

Summary of Findings

The results of two field experiments and three lab experiments demonstrated that high (vs. low) volume ambient music leads to greater degree of unhealthy food purchases.

Key Contributions

While there is extant research on factors that influence purchase of healthy versus unhealthy foods, this is the first research to demonstrate the effects of ambient music on food purchase behavior. In other words, the results of our experiments show that consumers tend to have higher preference for healthier options when ambient music or sounds is of low volume versus when it is at high volume or absent. Relaxation induced by music/sound volume levels seems to be the underlying process for these effects. Our findings have implications for shedding insights into the cross-modal influences of auditory cues on food choices. The findings also have strong implications for consumer health and wellbeing along with relevance for retail atmospheric strategies.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Marketing Association, 2018. Vol. 29, p. C-2-C-2
National Category
Business Administration
Research subject
Economy, Marketing
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-73732OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-73732DiVA, id: diva2:1202614
Conference
2018 AMA Winter Academic Conference (American Marketing Association): Integrating Paradigms in a World Where Marketing Is Everywhere, New Orleans, LA, USA, February 23-25, 2018
Note

Extended abstract

Available from: 2018-04-27 Created: 2018-04-27 Last updated: 2020-06-08Bibliographically approved

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Lund, Kaisa

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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
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