Why do they always play music in shopping stores?

[Mr Rayon]

Why do they always have music in shopping stores? What's the psychological explanation for this? Do people who listen to music tend to purchase more things from a department store? What are the most recent scientific evidence suggesting? Does everyone usually enjoy listening to music while shopping? I usually find it a bit distracting.

[scilearner]

It's like escaping reality and creating a virtual world. Customers would have a much more relaxed mind and are more likely to purchase goods. However for me the bigger question is how on earth do people spend like 6 hours shopping . There are so many better things to do in that time

Edited December 5, 2010 by scilearner

[ahhhhhz]

There has been research in the past supporting the notion that certain music does strengthen peoples' purchasing tendencies. I don't know about recent evidence. Many of the ways that dept. stores are laid out comes from research on consumers--the things that are clustered around the check-out counter for "impulse buys," the way the display gondolas are arranged, what's displayed on the gondola end-caps, etc.--the whole environment. I formerly ran several companies which did dept. store interiors and store fixtures, so I used to live and breathe this stuff. I can't even go into a store without studying how it's put together and presented.

Edited December 5, 2010 by ahhhhhz

[Anura]

Everyone loves music. Today I was in the library and the beatles were playing.