Music use in restaurants is a useful check on how music can impact sales and duration of stay in a restaurant. It’s clear that the type of music, the specific restaurant and the type of customers all have a significant impact on the positive and negative effect. For example, “slow music tempo increases time spent in the restaurant (longer time)” which can mean more sweets and more drinks bought but not always. Additionally, “fast music tempo caused the customers to perceive that they had received a fast service which was deserving of a larger tip” and “fast music tempo may put the customer in a good mood which can also lead to a larger tip.”
It seems the best approach is to test different styles of music at the same time of the day and look at the data around sales and food & drinks purchased to see if there is any impact. Doing this across different times of the day and day of the week can take a long time but if you are looking at a 20% increase in sales when you get it right (as some research has stated) its going to be worth it.
