makes 研究:圣诞音乐刺激购物欲望 Christmas music makes us spend more

研究:圣诞音乐刺激购物欲望 Christmas music makes us spend more  

Endless loops of songs like "All I Want For Christmas" in shops during the festive season don't just drive us mad - they also make us more careless with our money
academics have warned.
While repeated renditions of "Jingle Bells" may seem like an innocent attempt to raise customers' spirits during the nigare of Christmas shopping
the songs also have a more subtle impact.
Background music
or "Muzak"
can be used by marketers to impose cultures - such as the mercialisation of Christmas - onto consumers and influence their behaviour
experts said.
专家说，背景音乐，俗称Muzak，可以被市场营销人员用来向消费者施加圣诞节商业化等文化影响力并影响他们的行为。
Dr Alan Bradshaw of Royal Holloway
University of London
said: “Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood
influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy. In other words
this is an attempt to manipulate your shopping habits in a way that you might barely be aware of.
“Often we are told that we have the freedom to choose where we want to shop
but during Christmas the use of music in this way is so ubiquitous that our freedom to choose disappears.”
Dr Bradshaw and Prof Morris B Holbrook of Columbia University examined the phenomenon and found that retailers often "dumb down" the music played in shops to relax customers
meaning it is easier to control their behaviour.
It is thought that slowing down the tempo of music in shops can trick customers into thinking less time has passed
and therefore spend more time perusing the shelves
for example.
Some providers of background music have been known to promote their services by claiming they can boost profits by controlling the behaviour of customers.
A mon trick is to take a popular current song and record an instrumental version which can be slowed down or sped up at different times of the day to influence behaviour in different ways
Dr Bradshaw said.
Background music is often classed as "Muzak" in recognition of the Seattle-based pany which began producing its soft-sounding melodies in the 1930s.