The role of music as a means of fooling old father time / Dr Vicky Williamson / Immedia Group

Music as pleasant time travel

Immedia Group's Dr Vicky Williamson writes ... This week I have been thinking about the role of music as a means of fooling old father time.
In times of increased economic diligence a shopping trip is likely to be seen by more and more people as a treat; something to be anticipated, savoured and enjoyed.
And even if a person is not a shopping fan, the experience should be as pleasant as possible in order to make for a good impression and foster favourable word of mouth.
A keen retail outlet should therefore use as many means as possible to boost our enjoyment. So what can be really annoying in a retail environment?
I’m pretty sure most of us would agree that waiting is close to the top of that list: Waiting at a till, waiting for a changing room, waiting for customer service or waiting for our shopping companion to browse through items that do not interest us.
Standing idle and frustrated, feeling precious leisure time slipping away. We’ve all been there! In a busy shop there is only so much that conscientious, hard working staff and a premium, frequently modified visual layout can do to minimise waiting times and the subsequent negative impact on the customer. What more can be done? There is an easy tool at the retailers’ fingertips that can have a magic effect on our sense of time – music. In truth, this is no secret.
This is one of the main reasons why telephone customer services often opt to use music during a waiting period. Background music has the potential to distort our sense of the passage of time, especially if it is well selected, enjoyable music. And – just a note for all the phone music planners out there – as long as it doesn’t repeat all the time!
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Retail pointers : Immedia’s music psychologist Dr Vicky Williamson taking it too personally

Taking it too personally ...  Dr Vicky Williamson Immedia's music psychologist

In my previous blog I discussed how music can improve any retail environment, as it demonstrates attention to care and quality and can create a more comfortable shopping experience for the consumer.

This week my real life retail story comprises a cautionary tale about letting individual staff choose their own music. Sometimes this strategy will work well; but not in this case.

I had been working in the centre of town a few weeks ago and as a result was facing a peak time rush hour train filled with exhausted London commuters. So instead I decided to do a spot of impulse window shopping along the high street to pass the time. Once on the high street I realised that I actually needed a few things for the bathroom and cleaning cupboard so I stopped in to a retailer for supplies.

Dr Vicky Williamson / What can science bring to music strategy?

Why Psychology is important to music...


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One question that might be on your mind is what can science bring to music strategy?

My name is Dr Vicky Williamson and I am an academic music psychologist and Immedia’s Scientific Advisor. The aim of this blog is to introduce you to the fascinating world of music psychology; my discipline and my passion, and to demonstrate why this new and exciting science has the potential to take music strategy to a new level.

Psychology is the study of human beings; how we behave, how we feel and how our minds work. Music psychology aims to understand our mind and behaviour with reference to one of our most powerful, regular and unique activities – producing and listening to music.

Music is an essential component of human life. There is not a single known human society on earth that does not use music in one form or another, and our love of music is completely unique in the animal world. Other animals use pitch and timbre to communicate simple messages (sometimes refer to as ‘song’) but we are the only being that engages in creative and spontaneous musical behaviours in order to influence our state of mind and body.