Silence really is golden — at least for retailers — as a study has found that ditching background music in stores can boost sales.
Researchers examined the impact of playing different music at 16 branches of the same fast-food chain over five months and found that silence raised sales by 4 percent compared with random popular songs.
Sven-Olov Daunfeldt, of HUI Research in Stockholm, who led the study, said: “When you recognize a song, you might have mixed feelings about it, and it might make you more aware of how long you have been in a shop, encouraging you to go elsewhere.” However, the study suggested that the problem was not necessarily music itself, but the type of music. Mr. Daunfeldt said: “Silence is…
Source: The Times
