The effects of music in a retail setting on real and perceived shopping times

This article extends research linking shopping behavior to environmental fa ctors through changes in emotional states. With time fixed or variable duri ng a simulated shopping experiment, shoppers were exposed to music varying by degree of familiarity. Afterward, subjects reported their perceptions of shopping duration, their emotional states, and their merchandise evaluatio ns. Analyses revealed that individuals reported themselves as shopping long er when exposed to familiar music but actually shopped longer when exposed to unfamiliar music. Shorter actual shopping rimes in the familiar music co ndition were related to increased arousal. Longer perceived shopping times in the familiar music condition appear related to unmeasured cognitive fact ors. Although emotional states affected product evaluations, these effects were not directly related to the music manipulations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sci ence Inc. All rights reserved.