Role of Music on Perceived Price in Retail Stores

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of music on consumption experience and to explore the relationship between the variables like perceived price, quality, consumer response, consumer experience and ambience in the context of retailing. The present study is a retail field study on atmospherics to investigate the relationship of consumer perceptions of music in retail stores with consumers' responses towards purchase of products. Data were collected in Mumbai using the store intercept method. The questionnaire was pilot tested before being administered at two hypermarkets. Research on music indicates that as a non service element, it can have a deep impact on consumer behaviour. Interesting findings revealed how music could influence the repeat visits of consumers and enhance the perceived value of quality and price. It also threw up information relating to how it can generate extra crowd to the store due to word of mouth publicity. When compared to stores where music was not played, it gave statistically different results between these two situations. Music does create a better shopping experience due to better ambience, comfort and the consumers spend more time leading to more purchases in retail stores. The research brings out the important issues for designing a musical environment in the retail stores to influence shopping experience and consumer responses.

Originality/Value: Such a study has been conducted for the first time in an emerging market. The role of the three new variables which could affect the retail store business were interesting research observations.