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Title: The Effect of Background Music on the Amount of Time Spent in Stores 

General introduction of topic: 

The general issue of concern in this paper is to identify how retailers influence consumers particularly for the physical stores. The practice of retail has been an integral sector that has driven the economy to greater heights. This issue is important as it highlights the significant measures that retailers can undertake in the quest to increase the number of customers at the particular store or influence them to stay longer. It is evident that music has a psychological effect in ensuring significant behavioral outcomes as will be investigated in this paper. 

Study 1: 

Yalch and Spangenberg (1990) conducted an experiment to evaluate the impact of foreground and background music on apparel shoppers’ behavior in the store. Interviews conducted on the shoppers showed that majority preferred foreground music, but their moods and incidence of unplanned purchases were not influenced. The shoppers’ perception of their shopping time varied in the type of music as per their ages. The authors also found that the impact of music did not vary with the music type according to age and had little influence with the time of day. They concluded that music should be varied across different areas of the store that appeal to different-aged customers to achieve optimal impact. 

Transition from study 1 to study 2: 

Regarding the choice of music to play in a store, it appears that choosing different types of music to appeal to different-aged customers in different areas of the store is the most appropriate measure for influencing increased sales. 

Study 2: 

Yalch and Spangenberg (1993) studied retail zoning and its impact on shopper behavior in terms of age and gender. The authors played three types of music in two departments of the store in 90-minute segments and over a two-week period. The shoppers were interviewed to identify their mood, the time and money spent, along with an evaluation of their perceptions of the store and its products. The findings showed that appropriate type of music would influences making purchases and higher spending. Foreground music influenced middle-aged (25-49) shoppers to spend more money and time shopping while older shoppers (above 50) shopped longer and purchased more when background music was playing. However, the analysis showed that while different music in the store influences differently for particular age, it does not interact with gender. The authors also found that the moods of consumers did not explain the effects of music, but the consumers’ perceptions of the store partially did. Other factors were found to affect how customers reacted to the different conditions of music. In this regard, the study concluded that music impacts shopping behavior by stimulating cognitive associations, but does not alter emotional states. 

Transition from study 2 to study 3: 

While, based on research, differentiating the type of music in different departments and areas of the stores, the common response on apparel shoppers is stimulating cognitive associations to increase the time spent shopping and purchases made depending on age differences. The perceptions of the shoppers did not show significant impact of music type on the emotional states. 

Study 3: 

Research indicates that shopping behavior is closely associated with environmental factors. Yalch and Spangenberg (2000) conducted a simulated shopping experiment to identify the changes in emotional states with time fixed or variable where shoppers are exposed to music of varying degrees of familiarity. The customers reported their perceptions of the shopping duration, moods, and evaluations of products. Customers revealed that they shopped longer when exposed to familiar music, but actually did so when unfamiliar music was playing. Shorter actual shopping time when familiar music is playing is associated with increased arousal while longer perceived shopping time in the same condition was related to unmeasured cognitive factors. 

Transition from ALL studies to your hypothesis: 

The choice of music influences the time and money spent during shopping activities while enhancing the perceived experience of the shoppers in the duration. One study found that choice of music based on its appeal to customers had affected perceptions of their shopping time based on the type of music and the age of the consumer, but had little impact on their moods and unplanned purchases. The effects of music did not vary with type of music depending on age, or time of day. Another research found that differentiating the type of music with the parts of the store influenced cognitive stimulation of customers to whom the apparel appeals. An alternative study showed that the degree of familiarity of music led to perceived increase in shopping duration despite a shorter actual period, but significantly improved merchandise evaluation. Taken as a whole, the research studies showed that music influenced shoppers to increase purchases and time spent shopping when the choice of music is directed to a particular group. However, the relationship with the altering the moods of the consumers is insignificant, but particularly important in identifying the perceptions of the merchandise. 

Hypothesis: 

Ultimately, the choice of background music played in different areas of a store and directed at a particular age group influences overt shopping behavior that may be beneficial to retailers such as increased time spent in the store and purchasing quantity of merchandise, but presents the possibility of unpredictable or undesirable aspects like evaluation of merchandise and the store. 

REFERENCE ARTICLE COVER SHEET 

Yalch, R. F., & Spangenberg, E. (1990). Effects of store music on shopping behavior. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 7 (2), 55-63. 

Yalch, R. F. & Spangenberg, E. (1993) ,"Using Store Music For Retail Zoning: a Field Experiment", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 20 , eds. Leigh McAlister and Michael L. Rothschild, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 632-636. 

Yalch, R. F., & Spangenberg, E. (2000). The effects of music in a retail setting on real and perceived shopping times.  Journal of business Research ,  49 (2), 139-147. 

Leenders, M. A., Smidts, A., & El Haji, A. (2016). Ambient scent as a mood inducer in supermarkets: The role of scent intensity and time-pressure of shoppers.  Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.05.007 

Soh, K. L., Jayaraman, K., Choo, L. P., & Kiumarsi, S. (2015). The impact of background music on the duration of consumer stay at stores: An empirical study in Malaysia.  International Journal of Business and Society ,  16 (2), 247-260. 

Highlighted section # ___	Information/detail from article	Explanation of WHY you’re including this piece of info in your paper (or: why is it important for readers to know this info?
Yalch 1990	Fore ground music influenced the higher level of activity during shopping than background music.	It reflects the importance of type of music in eliciting particular emotions during shopping.
Yalch 1993	Background music influence women of an older age to make a purchase and spend more money as opposed to foreground music. The latter influenced younger men to make a purchase and spend more money.	The importance is in the type of music as it affects different ages in shopping behavior.
Yalch and Spangenberg (2000)	Greater pleasure and arousal was reported among shoppers in a variable shopping time, but reduced dominance when familiar music was played. There was significantly high perception of time spent when familiar music plays compared to unfamiliar music.	This highlights the influence of degree of familiarity on emotions of the shopper while also observations made between perceived and actual time spent.
Leenders et al. (2016)	Ambient scents have an important impact on the mood of the consumers and the time spent shopping.	Its importance is evident in noting the variety of atmospheric factors that affect consumer behavior resulting in higher benefits for the retailer.
Soh et al. (2015)	Study identifies the tempo of music has a positive impact on the emotions and mood of the consumer influencing them in their purchase behavior.	The importance of background is seen in the positive impact in encouraging shopping behavior in a store.

ATTACH YOUR HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLE TO THIS SHEET 

Yalch 1990 

Yalch 1993 

Yalch and Spangenberg (2000) 

Leenders et al. 2016 

Soh et al. 2015