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Music and shopping
音樂與購物
Beware of Beethoven
謹防貝多芬
What you hear affects what you buy online
你所聽到的會影響你在網上購物時的選擇
EVER since Muzak started serenading patrons of hotels and restaurants in the 1930s, piped-in music has been part of the consumer experience. Without the throb of a synthesiser or a guitar's twang, shoppers would sense something missing as they tried on jeans or filled up trolleys. Specialists like Mood Media, which bought Muzak in 2011, devise audio programmes to influence the feel of shops and cater to customers' tastes. The idea is to entertain, and thereby prolong the time shoppers spend in stores, says Claude Nahon, the firm's international chief. Music by famous artists works better than the generic stuff that people associate with Muzak. The embarrassing brand name was dropped in 2013.
自從19世紀30年代Muzak開始為酒店和餐廳提供背景音樂開始，耳邊回蕩著的音樂就成了消費者體驗的一部分。消費者在試穿牛仔褲或往購物車里挑商品的時候，一旦沒有混音器的震動作響或吉他的琴音，就會似乎覺得缺少了點什么。此類專業公司如Mood Media，設計音頻方案以影響顧客對商店的感覺，迎合消費者的品味，且其在2011年收購了Muzak。該公司的國際業務總監Claude Nahon說這一創意是為了使消費者感到愉悅，并因此延長消費者留在商店里的時間。比起普通的音樂，著名藝術家的音樂能更好的使消費者與背景音樂建立聯系。這一尷尬的品牌名稱在2013年被放棄。
Online shopping is an under-explored area of merchandising musicology. A new study commissioned by eBay, a shopping website, aims to correct that. Some 1,900 participants were asked to simulate online shopping while listening to different sounds. Some results were unsurprising. The noise of roadworks and crying babies soured shoppers' views of the products on offer. Chirruping birds encouraged sales of barbecues but not blenders or board games.
網上購物是銷售音樂學有待開發的一個領域。由購物網站eBay委托進行的一項新研究就是為了完善它。約1900名參與者被要求在不同的背景聲音下模擬網上購物。一些結果并不讓人意外。道路施工的噪音以及嬰兒的哭聲讓顧客對所提供的商品感到失望。鳥的嘰喳聲有利于燒烤工具的銷售而不利于攪拌機或棋盤類游戲的銷售。
Sounds associated with quality and luxury seemed to be hazardous for shoppers' wallets. The study found classical music and restaurant buzz caused them to overestimate the quality of goods on offer and to pay more than they should. That backs up earlier research which found that shoppers exposed to classical music in a wine store bought more expensive bottles than those hearing pop.
與品質和奢華相聯系的聲音似乎可以使顧客的錢包大出血。研究發現古典音樂和餐廳的雜音可以使顧客高估所提供的商品的質量，并使他們的花銷比本應該的更多。這一點支持了一個早期研究發現：在酒行里，暴露在古典音樂中的顧客會比聽著流行樂的顧客購買更貴的酒。
EBay wants consumers to avoid such unhealthy influences when shopping online. It has blended birdsong, dreamy music and the sound of a rolling train—thought to be pleasant but not overly seductive—to help them buy more sensibly. Retailers could presumably counter by cranking up the Chopin. “Classical music does seem to be the way to go” if your only interest is the narrow one of squeezing as much money as possible from your clientele, says the study's author, Patrick Fagan, a lecturer at Goldsmiths, part of the University of London.
EBay希望消費者在網購時能夠避免這些不健康的影響。混合了鳥鳴、夢幻般的音樂以及火車轉輪聲的音頻—被認為是令人愉悅的，但不過于誘人的音樂—使得顧客購保持理智的同時又購買更多的商品。零售商們想必會通過把播放著肖邦音樂的音箱聲音調大來彼此競爭。Patrick Fagan，倫敦大學分部—金史密斯學院的講師，該研究報告的作者稱：“古典音樂似乎就是正確的選擇”，如果你唯一的興趣就是狹隘的想要從你的客戶身上榨取盡可能多的錢。
Few traditional shops are likely to use that tactic. H&M, a clothes retailer, airs “trendy, up-tempo” music from new artists, while Nespresso's coffee boutiques go for “lounge-y” sounds, says Mr Nahon. Grocery stores, with a broad following, play top 40 hits. The tempo tends to be slower in the mornings, when shoppers are sparser and older, and becomes more allegro as the day goes on.
很少有傳統商店會使用這一策略。Nahon先生說，服裝零售商H&M會播放來自新興藝術家的“新潮，快節奏”的音樂，而雀巢咖啡精品店會選擇“lounge-y”這類懶洋洋的音樂。有著廣泛顧客群的雜貨商店會播放排行榜前40名的單曲。早上，顧客比較稀少且多為老年人時，就播放節奏舒緩的音樂，而隨后逐漸變快。
Using the classics to set tills ringing may not be an option, but audio architects are thinking up new tricks for bricks-and-mortar stores. Mood Media is experimenting with an inaudible “digital tag”, attached to in-store soundtracks, which activates an app on shoppers' phones. The app can tempt them with discounts or provide more information about products. With luck, this will trigger more sales than a blast of Beethoven.
使用傳統方式把收銀機設置收銀掃描時會響的模式可能不是一個好的選擇，但是音頻架構師正為實體店鋪構思新策略。Mood Media正在試驗一種無聲數字標簽，其與店內背景音樂聯系在一起，且其可激活顧客手機上的一個應用程序。此應用程序可以提供折扣吸引顧客購買或為顧客提供更多產品信息。幸運的話，這將比貝多芬一段激蕩的音樂引發更高的銷售量。
