Case Study on Consumer Behavior Graduate series

The Interaction of RetailDensity and Music Tempo:Effects on Shopper Responses

The Interaction of RetailDensity and Music Tempo:Effects on Shopper Responses

Jude, PetraJude, Petra

IntroductionIntroduction

• Retail stores have operated on the assumption that atmospheric cues help shopping behaviors and outcomes

• Two factors are vital in consumers in acting positively or negatively– Music– Crowding (density)

• No study done on the effects of shopping behavior and crowding– Only studies on cognitive and emotional

outcomes

IntroductionIntroduction

The purpose is to examine the simultaneous effect of in-store density and music on shopping behaviors and evaluations

It is proposed that “the interactive effect of retail density and background music tempo will have a significant influence on consumers’ cognitive and behavioral outcomes

BackgroundBackground

• Density is the “root cause of the crowding experience.”

• Highly dense conditions leads the perception of crowding – Leads to less favorable opinion from the

consumers• Music affects various behaviors

– Traffic flow– Dollar sales– Interaction with sales people

BackgroundBackground

• Information and processing schema incongruity theory – “when faced with stimuli that are mildly

incongruent with prior expectations, individuals will engage in more elaborative information processing.”

• People react affectively to moderate incongruity over extreme congruity – Extreme incongruity: when the consumer cannot

resolve or reason about the situation without making fundamental changes in his/her existing cognitive structure.

BackgroundBackground

– Moderate Incongruity: the consumer can resolve the situation without changes in the cognitive structure

• Hypothesis: In the moderately incongruent conditions of high (low) density and slow- (fast-) tempo music, hedonic and utilitarian evaluations of the shopping experience will be more favorable than in the congruent conditions of high (low) density and fast (slow) music

MethodsMethods

• Sample– 347 respondents– 29.2% are between 23-54– Most were 35-44– 59% female

• Mall intercept method with questionnaire (main lobby of mall)

• Density was determined high or low depending on the time of day

• Measurement was the number of people within a given space.

• Music calibrated with Muzak, using adult contemporary genre

MethodsMethods

Measures Hedonic and utilitarian evaluations were

measured with Likert-format items Behavior questions were yes or no Behavior questions included whether or

not the respondent talked to other shoppers, planned to buy, made unplanned purchases etc

MethodsMethods

Results Hedonic and utilitarian evaluations

non-significant effect for music tempo and density

Significant interactive effect The hypothesis was confirmed, as the

highest means occur for moderately incongruent conditions of fast music/high density and slow music/low density. Similar results occurred for utilitarian evaluations.

MethodsMethods

Behavior and Behavioral intentionsSignificant effect for densitynon-significant effect on music tempo non-significant effect for interactivity Shoppers spent on average $65.41 on

dense times and only $34.12 on low-density times

According to the existing research, how do a) & b) affect consumers (behaviorly and cognitively)?

a) Density

b) Music

Density

Music

What theory is the study based on?

The schema incongruency theory

Moderate incongruent situations more favorable than the extreemly congruent and incongruent scenarios.

How did researchers define moderate incongruity and congruity in this study?

Moderate incongruity

Moderate congruity

Are there previous studies about the affect of music tempo and density on consumer’s behavioral responses?

If yes, can you give some examples?

How did researcher measure density?

And how did they calibrate music tempo?

Density was measured by

Music tempo was either or bpm

What specific behavioral and cognitive responses are the researchers interested?

Behavioral:

Cognitive:

What advantages does this study have compared to the previous studies?

Did the researchers find an interactive effect of retail

density and music tempo?

Yes:

Did the interactive cues influence cognitive and behavioral outcomes? If yes, how?

Yes:

Were moderate incongruent situations most effective/ favorable than the extreemly congruent and incongruent scenarios?

Were findings consistent with the schema incongruency theory?

Yes

Please talk about it’s limitations.

What did you think about the article itself? Was it well written and informative?

What are managerial implications of this article?

Based on this article, what future research can be developed?

Are you a task oriented shopper or a browser?

Do you agree with the conclusions drawn by this study?

Do you have similar or opposite experiences?

THANK YOU!THANK YOU!