Can music influence what we purchase? To find out, I dove into the psychology of music

In the first episode of my Nudge podcast, I interviewed the fantastic psychologist Dr. Adrian North, who conducted one of the seminal studies on the psychology of music.

Back in 1997, the researchers stocked an English supermarket with four types of French and German wines, all similarly matched in cost, dryness, and sweetness. For two weeks, the store speakers either played German oom-pah music or French accordion music. North and his colleagues would switch the music daily and measure the effect on sales.

Turns out, 83% of wine purchaseers bought French wine when the accordion music was playing, while 65% of purchaseers picked German bottles when the Bavarian music was on.

North interviewed these purchaseers as they left the store, but no one claimed the music had an effect on their purchase — yet it clearly did.

marketing psychology, how music matching influenced wine purchases

Is the connection between music and purchaseing behavior still relevant?

North’s study had some important results, but it’s worth noting that this study is almost three decades old and has a relatively compact sample size of just 82 people.

So, are the findings still relevant today?

Well, in 2017, researchers at Montclair State University found that playing Italian music in a university cafeteria increased sales of their Italian dish (chicken parmesan). When playing Spanish flamenco tunes, they increased sales of paella.

It’s clear that music does seem to shape what we purchase. And maybe even what we want to eat?

Indeed, during a recent trip to Paris, I couldn’t assist but stop at the local boulangerie each morning for a coffee and croissant. Thinking back, I realized that they routinely played French café-style music. Perhaps that’s what drew me in.

What else can music influence? Turns out, quite a lot …

In his book Pre-Suasion, Robert B. Cialdini writes that music created children 3x more likely to assist their peers. Similarly, in Get It Done, Ayelet Fishbach shared how music can increase gym reps by 50%. And Nick Kolconcludea’s work in Imagine Reading This Book displays that sad music creates exciting life landmarks feel further away.

Yet, the study on music that’s arguably most influential involves (more) supermarket shoppers.

In Ronald E. Milliman’s study (aptly titled “Using Background Music to Affect the Behavior of Supermarket Shoppers”), he monitored the flow of shoppers as they navigated a supermarket in the southern U.S. Over nine weeks, he found that customers spent 38% more when slow music (60 BPM) was played compared to quick music (108 BPM).

marketing psychology, how music influenced shopping

Milliman and his team concluded that the pace of the music influenced the speed of the shoppers. In other words, a slow tempo slowed down the pace of shopping, giving the customers more time to purchase. Compelling, right?

In his wonderful book Sensehacking, Charles Spence desperately tested to find companies that have applied this insight into music and tempo (and were willing to talk about it).

One of the few public examples is Chipotle.

According to Spence, Chipotle carefully controls the tempo of the music in all of its 3,500+ stores. They deliberately play quicker music at busy times of the day to speed up their customers and shorten the long lines.

Chipotle’s in-hoapply DJ is quoted as declareing, “The lunch and dinner rush have songs with higher BPMs becaapply we necessary to keep the customers relocating.”

During the quieter periods, the store plays slower tunes to keep customers lingering and keep the store busy.

So, the next time you find yourself chomping down on your lunchtime burrito or reaching for that bottle of German wine, take a minute and question yourself: “What music is playing right now?”

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