How Stores Are Manipulating You With Music

As you head out shopping this season, take note of the music that’s being played in stores. You’re being manipulated to spend more money. From the Wall Street Journal:

It is the factor that can keep shoppers happily browsing in the store for hours—or drive them out the door in a huff.

Retailers are fine-tuning their stores’ playlists as they wake up to the power of music to communicate a brand message and put shoppers in the mood to spend. One shopper’s favorite song can make another shopper cringe.

Big chains turn to specialists like Mood Media, based in Austin, Texas, and PlayNetwork, in Redmond, Wash., to design store playlists that match the values and design aesthetic of the brand and the lifestyle of its shoppers. Retailers might offer specific descriptions of their core customers and suggest specific artists and songs.

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