Background music pleasure and store evaluation - Intensity effects and psychological mechanisms

A field study was conducted to test, in a natural setting, the effects of b ackground music of different pleasure intensity (low and high) on store eva luation and to explore the underlying psychological mechanisms. One hundred ten shoppers (85 females and 25 males) in a mall outlet of a national reta il chain reported store evaluation, attitude towards the servicescape and t he sales personnel, and background music pleasure. Structural analyses (EQS ) revealed that pleasure intensity influenced store evaluation but not by d irect transfer of affect. Instead, results were indicative of a powerful me diating effect of the attitude towards the servicescape and the sales perso nnel. It was found that the attitude towards the servicescape, influenced b y pleasure intensity, in turn, affected store evaluation both directly and indirectly via its positive effect on attitude towards the sales personnel and a strengthening of the relationship between attitude towards the sales personnel and store evaluation. The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights re served.