Adrian C. North, David J. Hargreaves, and Jennifer McKendrick (1997). In-store music affects product choice. Nature, 390, 132.

This field study investigated the extent to which stereotypically French and German music could influence supermarket customers' selection of French and German wines. Music with strong national associations should activate related knowledge and cause customers to buy wine from the country concerned. Over a two week period, French and German music was played on alternate days from an in-store display of French and German wines. French music led to French wines outselling German ones, whereas German music led to the opposite effect on sales. Responses to a questionnaire suggested that customers were unaware of these effects of music on their product choices. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for research on music and consumer behaviour, and their ethical implications for the use of in-store music.

N.B. This study does not have a formal abstract, and the above is the abstract taken from a longer report of the research.

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