Do You Really Hear In-house Music?

By Author: Steve Greshner
Total Articles: 2
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People are sometimes surprisingly unaware of things going on around them, particularly if they're in an environment that doesn't seem out of the ordinary. One aspect of our everyday lives that seems to be omnipresent, yet often goes unnoticed, is marketing.

People are sometimes surprisingly unaware of things going on around them, particularly if they're in an environment that doesn't seem out of the ordinary. One aspect of our everyday lives that seems to be omnipresent, yet often goes unnoticed, is marketing.

Advertisements assail us from the TV and radio, the internet, our mailboxes and email. Billboards and posters are present at every turn. Because our environment seems to be saturated with marketing ploys from every angle, we tend to not notice them.

Or do we?
Scientific studies have shown that even when we aren't consciously aware of advertisements and other marketing tactics, they will often still penetrate to our subconscious. Some of the effects of those subliminal messages and sensory branding efforts can be surprisingly durable, with slogans and jingles sticking in our minds for decades.

The ...
... most effective marketing seems to be via subliminal messages. Subliminal messaging was first talked about in the mid 1800s, but market researcher, James Vicary, gave it high visibility in 1957, by claiming that he could cause people to make specific purchases, using messages hidden in advertising.

On the opposite side of the coin, also in 1957, an American author and journalist, Vance Packard, published The Hidden Persuaders, a book in which he attacked the use of covert marketing techniques. His book opened a lot of eyes, and began a storm of research that has endured to this day.

Formal Research into the Effects of In-house Music
A trio of researchers conducted a number of formal studies in the late 1990s, measuring the effects of background music on consumers in various public venues. A. North, D. Hargreaves and J. McKendrick found that customers in a store claimed to find the business "cool and modern" when fast tempo music was played, but found it "tired and dull" when slow rock music was offered.

Similarly, customers interviewed after exiting, said they found the atmosphere of a bar to be "invigorating" if the music was also energetic.

Another of their studies showed a 12% increase in worker productivity when fast music was played, versus no music, and a 22% increase with fast music over slow music.

The most exciting results, however, came from their 1999 study, The Influence of In-Store Music on Wine Selection. Over a two week period, they played stereotypical German or French music in the store on alternate days.

On the days that French music was played, French wines outsold the German wines 3 to 1, and on the days that German music was played, the German wines outsold the French 2 to1. Exiting customers were interviewed and disclaimed any awareness of the music, denying that it had influenced their selection.

The notion that customers can be steered, totally unaware, to purchase a particular product over another, has created another storm of research, usually behind closed doors (big brands are always willing to invest in techniques that can yield even fractional increases in market share).

But a number of researchers that are more open with their findings also addressed the issue, and as a result, we are learning a lot more about how the human subconscious works, and as a byproduct, how that can be applied to marketing.

Putting In-store Music to Good Use
There's a lot more to the optimal use of in-store music than just connecting a CD or radio to your PA system, however. Knowing what sort of music to play, in accordance with your offering and your customer persona is a key element, and timing plays an important role, as well.

Being able to accurately predict how certain music might affect customers' shopping decisions can be beneficial to a store's sales numbers. But a deeper understanding can allow the store management to actually direct its clientele to purchase specific products... totally unaware that they're being directed.

It's also worth mentioning that replaying music in a store legally requires the payment of royalties to the copyright holders, and the fines for failing to do so can be very substantial. The federal courts can levy fines of up to $150,000 for copyright infringement. Per case.
This all means that some in-depth knowledge of the psychological factors involved in subliminal messaging is an absolute necessity. It also can be a very time-consuming task to track and administer royalty obligations.

Which is why we have seen new service providers emerge, specializing in supplying in-store music and sensory branding, often as turnkey services. These service vendors can provide all or a portion of the different aspects of effective in-store music programming, to include the following:

1. Compiling a collection of music appropriate to the business' typical customer persona;
2. Customizing the presentation of that collection to suit specific products;
3. Tailoring the schedule to take advantage of the best possible timing;
4. Shouldering the responsibility for copyright royalty compliance;
5. Preparing various announcements that can be interspersed between songs;
6. Supplying equipment and installation, if needed.

These providers employ specialists that can determine what will direct your customers to take a specific action and direct the preparation of appropriate programming for your business. They can also give you the flexibility to modify that programming as needed, in order to allow you to deliver timely messages.

The Results can be Amazing
Marketing is thought by many to be a matter of presentation - packaging, display, arrangement, association, even tactile and olfactory - but subliminal audio messaging can be the most powerful technique of all, when properly implemented.

Look for an in-store music provider in your area and let them explain how they can help you increase your sales in the areas most important to you. You may be amazed at the results it can achieve for your business.
Resource: http://retailradio.biz