Worksheet for Organizing Literature Review

Title: The Effects of Music on Shopper’s Emotional State and Purchasing Behavior 

General introduction of topic: what is the broad/general topic of your paper? Why is this topic important? 

Prior studies have shown the numerous benefits that atmospheric factors have on shopper purchasing behavior in a retail store setting. The benefits include increased time spent in the store, positive evaluation of products, and higher purchases made. Music is one of the atmospheric factors that can influence the behavior of consumers. However, to achieve maximum benefits for the retailers it is important to identify the impact store music has on the moods and their desire to make purchases. This research is performed to prevent unpredictable and undesirable influences in the shopper’s behavior. 

Study 1: 

Smith and Curnow (1966) studied the effect of music on purchasing behavior. The research extends previous findings of the arousal hypothesis that emphasizes that noise of some degree increases activity. The authors put this theory to the test by playing store music ranging from loud to soft in eight counterbalanced sessions. The experiments are conducted in two large supermarkets with an approximate sample of shoppers at 1,100. The findings showed that less time was spent in the store by shoppers during the loud session as opposed to the soft session. There was insignificant change in sales with only slight increases during soft sessions. The overall satisfaction of the shoppers did not increase substantially during this change. The arousal hypothesis appears to account for the results of the research. The researchers concluded that unless the store music is louder than the auditory comfort, it will not have an impact on the total sales. Additionally, the store manager can manipulate the number of people in the store by increasing or decreasing the volume of the music. 

Transition from study 1 to study 2: 

Based on previous research, store managers can change between loud and soft music to manipulate the number of shoppers in the store at any given time and the time spent shopping, but the loudness of the music will not have an impact on the total sales of the store. 

Study 2: 

Soh, Jayaraman, Choo, and Kiumarsi (2015) studied the value added options offered to shoppers at a store like background melodious songs in prolonging their stay in the store and increasing business sales. The research looked critically at the relation between music tempo and time spent in the store through activities of 177 consumers. Three factors that the study sought to determine is whether tempo influenced consumer emotion, duration of stay in a shop, and whether emotions influence stay in a shop. Results showed that fast tempo of background music influenced more pleasure and arousal of respondents than slow tempo music. The latter however influences longer durations of spent in supermarket and restaurants, but no effect on florist, apparel, or book stores. The tempo of music has significant impact on the emotions of a consumer by regulating the mind to perform daily duties. It is essential for shop managers to understand how music affects consumers in different settings to choose the appropriate music and match with intended purpose. Playing background store music using the ideal tempo to match the goals of the business will help realize the set targets. 

Transition from ALL studies to your hypothesis: 

Store music has the ability to impact the emotions of the consumer and the resulting purchasing behavior in the business setting. One study found that the loudness of music played affected the duration of time a customer spent in the store, but there was little impact on the purchases made. In this regard, manipulating the music may be the ideal factor of ensuring positive purchasing behavior. An alternative study showed that music tempo influenced the emotions of a consumer. However, the business setting is critical to realizing retail benefits through the correct choice of music and matching with the goals of the shop. 

Your hypothesis: 

The tempo of music played in a store may influence the emotions of the consumer such as increasing pleasure and arousal that triggers obvious purchasing behavior like spending more time at the shop and desire to make more purchases, but the different store settings may elicit different influences on the consumer hence the need to understand the importance of matching music choice with intended purpose. 

REFERENCE ARTICLE COVER SHEET 

Smith, P. C., & Curnow, R. (1966). " Arousal hypothesis" and the effects of music on purchasing behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 50 (3), 255-256. 

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.