THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON RESPONSES TO A DINING AREA

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of music on responses to a specific listening environment. A stall offering advice on welfare issues was set up in a university cafeteria. A loudspeaker situated by the stall played four different types of music, which varied in their complexity and style, and the design also included a silent control condition. Two hundred and eighty-five subjects completed a questionnaire concerning their liking for the atmosphere in the cafeteria, how happy they would be to return to the cafeteria, their likelihood of visiting the advice stall and their liking for the music. Several behavioural measures were employed, although only a measure of the number of people visiting the stall yielded a sample of sufficient size for statistical analysis. The results indicated that responses to the listening environment were predictably associated with responses to the music, and these effects are considered in terms of the style and complexity of the music employed.