How does music affect customer behavior and how can you take advantage?

Music has a psychological effect on people. According to “The State of Brick and Mortar 2017” report, 81% of respondents claim that background music lifts their mood and improves the overall atmosphere. Additionally, 37% of survey participants say they are more willing to make impulse purchases when feeling in the right mood. See more statistics below.

By using a music curation service in your venue, you can boost customer engagement, increase retention, and drive sales. However, to make background music an effective marketing tool, you need to understand its psychology.

Thanks to this, you’ll be able to create or find playlists that resonate with the environment’s ambiance and buyer preferences, leading to reduced churn and higher profit.

• What music characteristics affect customers?
• What should you consider when using music for business?
• Why is Moodby Play a great music curation service?

What music characteristics affect customers?

Music may have either a direct or indirect impact on consumer behavior. For example, fast-tempo music can force people to eat faster in the cafe. McDonald’s Corporation has been employing this technique for years, which allows the company to earn more. 

Since music can activate specific associations in the brain, playing a music curation service in your venue can help you indirectly affect customers to your advantage. 

Let’s consider direct and indirect music effects that may become crucial for your business. 

Direct effects of background music

1. Volume 

Representing the output music level varying from silent to loud, volume is one of the main factors that affects consumer behavior. Studies revealed that the purchase amount, or tab, in a restaurant, was larger when background music was soft in volume than when it was loud. 

While the average tab accounted for $21.63 in the first case, it was $18.57 in the second one. Experts also found that buyers tend to spend less time in stores when the music is loud. 

✅Key takeaway: Loud music can irritate customers, distracting them from conversations, product search, etc. So, make background music more soft in volume. 

2. Tempo 

The tempo of music directly affects people, causing them to eat, move, and browse faster. According to the research on music tempo effects on customers, conducted by C. Caldwell and S. A. Hibbert in 1999, slow background music positively impacts the money spent by consumers in restaurants. 

Music tempo also has a significant influence on the amount spent by people on drinks. Experts revealed that slow music forces visitors to order on average 3 drinks more per table compared to fast-paced compositions, resulting in a 40% profit increase. 

However, cafes and restaurants should not always play slow music. Everything is based on the venue’s concept and goals. If you aim to seat as many guests as possible throughout the day, you should find playlists or stations with fast-tempo music.

This is especially beneficial for fast-food restaurants like KFC and McDonald’s where the average check per person is unlikely to be high and the revenue depends on the number of visitors.

In stores, slow background music tends to decrease walking pace, which causes shoppers to search for products longer and purchase more. 

Milliman’s study investigated the influence of tempo on consumers in a NY grocery store and found that slow music encourages people to spend more time browsing goods. On top of that, this leads to a 32% sales uplift in comparison with customer behavior affected by fast-paced music. 

✅Key takeaway: Tailor the tempo of background music depending on the venue concept and customer expectations. Interestingly, in bars and restaurants, increasing music tempo is an efficient way to engage guests and encourage them to spend more. Professional DJs or playlists compiled by experts may help you to make this right.

3. Familiarity

When customers are familiar with and enjoy the music played in the venue, their mood lifts and they are likely to stay longer. Studies found that familiar music has a positive impact on buyers and significantly correlates with purchase intentions. 

Therefore, switching on songs familiar to the target audience may become a free and effective method to push up sales. The key to success is to know the preferences of your potential clients, whether it is pop, country, or retro.

However, you should take into account that familiar music can raise the cognitive load on consumers, complicating purchasing decisions. As a result, it may be more difficult for them to process complex information, for instance, in stores selling high-involvement goods like cars, computers, and home entertainment systems. 

In this case, a business can play instrumental music that doesn’t contain lyrics. Having no additional distractions, visitors will put a stronger focus on product choice.

✅Key takeaway: Familiar music may become a successful technique to delight customers and increase the volume of sales. However, you should consider the venue of concept first, since familiar songs can distract people and complicate buying decisions.

Indirect effects of background music

4. Genre

A music genre is an essential aspect that influences purchase amount. Analysts discovered that different kinds of music have different effects on perceived ambiance and the amount spent by survey participants. 

The study of the impact of background music on consumers in a wine store proved that playing classical music resulted in higher amounts spent by customers compared to Top-40 pop songs.

Another research found that participants were ready to spend more on utilitarian products when listening to country music. Meanwhile, when classical music was played, respondents were more prepared to buy social identity products than other investigated groups.

This way, businesses should pick genres that meet the audience’s needs and evoke the desired experiences. For example, classical compositions help create an elegant, luxurious atmosphere in the venue. Choosing energetic and joyful music like rock and R&B can motivate employees to perform tasks faster and with pleasure.

✅Key takeaway: Determine the concept of your brand and identify the target audience’s music preferences. Once this is done, you’ll be able to make music genres work for you.

5. Language

Music language also affects consumer behavior. The study revealed that French music can make buyers choose French wine over others. In turn, when German songs were switched on, the sales of German wines went up. Playing German music may cause shoppers to think of products associated with the country such as beer and bratwurst.

Experts say that background music with strong national associations evokes related knowledge and encourages people to purchase wine from that country.

✅Key takeaway: Play music in different languages to increase the sales of the required products and create the necessary ambiance.

What should you consider when using music for business?

Not only the tempo, volume, familiarity, genre, and language are important but long-lasting, regularly updated playlists. Although 20-/30-hour playlists seem to be long, they get boring very soon, which may irritate both staff and consumers. 

Many companies choose Spotify but algorithms often switch on songs that destroy the venue atmosphere. If using radio, you’ll have to put up with multiple ads and not suitable compositions. Additionally, it is crucial to prevent employees from playing whatever music they want.

To become a successful marketing tool, background music has to resonate with brand identity and customer preferences. However, manually creating and updating playlists takes a lot of time. 

So, is there any music streaming solution that allows for addressing all the issues? The answer is “Yes” and this is Moodby Play.

Why is Moodby Play a great music curation service?

Moodby Play is a B2B music curation service that offers an extensive library of regularly updated playlists and stations compiled by professional DJs or local experts. The platform includes over 2.5 million songs licensed for commercial use. You can browse playlists of different music genres adapted to different venues, from bars to spas and hotels.

Moodby Play provides:

• Pre-scheduled stations to suit customer moods throughout the day.

• Full control over the music played by your staff.

• No ads or interruptions and access from any device.

• The possibility to block songs in playlists.

• Easy setup, no hardware required to start streaming.

• Offline mode to continue playing music when the Internet connection is lost.

• Custom stations created by experienced music curators, especially for you.

• Jukebox app to keep guests entertained by playing the requested songs.

• Onboarding and technical support from our team.

Install Moodby Play music curation service to boost the audience’s satisfaction, improve customer loyalty, and increase revenue. Start a 30-day free trial!🎁