How in-store music increased French wine sales by 330%

Every day we’re bombarded with music that we didn’t choose to hear. From advertising jingles, hold-music on a busy phone line, Top 40 pop blaring at the dentist, to the smooth jazz pushing you through the aisles of your local grocery store. Sometimes, this music can be a welcome soundtrack to our day (Top 40 beats the sound of the dentist’s drill!), be downright annoying, or sometimes doesn’t even register our attention. 

Whether all of this music registers consciously or not, an increasing number of studies indicate that music can have a powerful effect over our perception, feelings, and actions. To find out whether in-store music could influence purchasing behavior, researchers conducted a field study in a UK supermarket to observe how in-store music impacted wine purchasing choices. When French music was played, buyers bought more French wine. Conversely, when German music was played, German wine outsold the French. However, when participants were asked whether the music influenced their choice, most said it didn’t. ^1,2