TY - JOUR

T1 - Shopping soundtracks

T2 - evaluating the musicscape using introspective data

AU - Oakes, Steve

AU - Patterson, Anthony

AU - Oakes, Helen

PY - 2013/5/17

Y1 - 2013/5/17

N2 - PurposeDespite the relatively low cultural status of department store music, it is proposed that music – the shopping soundtrack – is capable of transforming perceptions of the environment in which it is heard, and eliciting immediate emotional and behavioural responses, thus underlining the influence of music, regardless of whether it is passively heard as a background element or actively listened to as a live performance in a dedicated venue.Design/methodology/approachThis study addresses a gap in the marketing literature for introspective research evaluating the experience of music in service environments. It draws upon auto‐ethnographic data through which participants ponder their own consumption experience and provide detailed, subjective accounts of events and memories.FindingsWhen considering the effects of music upon emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses, it highlights the importance of musicscape response moderators.Practical implicationsThe service environment appears more exciting and attractive and may encourage increased spending when background music is congruous with other servicescape elements. Music with positive autobiographical resonance elicits pleasurably nostalgic emotions, positive evaluations and longer stay. However, the aural incongruity of unexpected silence in music‐free zones produces feelings of discomfort leading to negative store evaluation and departure.Originality/valueQualitative data are deliberately represented using typically positivist discourse to encourage resolution of the inherent tension between interpretivist and positivist perspectives and stimulate increased methodological integration (e.g. through future studies of music combining quantitative and qualitative data).

AB - PurposeDespite the relatively low cultural status of department store music, it is proposed that music – the shopping soundtrack – is capable of transforming perceptions of the environment in which it is heard, and eliciting immediate emotional and behavioural responses, thus underlining the influence of music, regardless of whether it is passively heard as a background element or actively listened to as a live performance in a dedicated venue.Design/methodology/approachThis study addresses a gap in the marketing literature for introspective research evaluating the experience of music in service environments. It draws upon auto‐ethnographic data through which participants ponder their own consumption experience and provide detailed, subjective accounts of events and memories.FindingsWhen considering the effects of music upon emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses, it highlights the importance of musicscape response moderators.Practical implicationsThe service environment appears more exciting and attractive and may encourage increased spending when background music is congruous with other servicescape elements. Music with positive autobiographical resonance elicits pleasurably nostalgic emotions, positive evaluations and longer stay. However, the aural incongruity of unexpected silence in music‐free zones produces feelings of discomfort leading to negative store evaluation and departure.Originality/valueQualitative data are deliberately represented using typically positivist discourse to encourage resolution of the inherent tension between interpretivist and positivist perspectives and stimulate increased methodological integration (e.g. through future studies of music combining quantitative and qualitative data).

U2 - 10.1108/20442081311327156

DO - 10.1108/20442081311327156

M3 - Journal article

VL - 3

SP - 41

EP - 57

JO - Arts Marketing: An International Journal

JF - Arts Marketing: An International Journal

IS - 1

ER -