Music might boost customer experience, but can lead to exhaustion, low morale, says academic
Have you ever walked into a store and found the music so annoying that you had to leave? Now imagine working there all day long with the same track looping in the background.
A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology finds that it might affect people’s mood or even their ability to focus.
The researchers found that when background music was “out of sync” or not aligned to employees' preferences, it affected their mood and energy. The music led to a feeling of exhaustion and negative actions in performance, such as working more slowly and talking negatively about the workplace.
When the background music was aligned or “in sync” with employees’ preferences, it had the opposite effects, leading to less exhaustion and more positive actions from employees such as them going out of their way to help others.
“What we realized was that although organizations play background music to enhance customer experience and possibly boost their business, on days when that music does not really match what employees want or need to listen to, it can impact employees in this negative way. It can actually backfire for the organizations,” says one researcher, Harshad Puranik, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago.
The research included two groups: 166 online participants, and 68 professionals working in healthcare offices, retail stores, and dining halls. Participants rated music they liked to listen to, what was being played in these places and the impact it had on their emotions.
Puranik says music has a psychological impact on everyone in different ways. Many times, when people listen to it, it's to satisfy or meet an underlying need, he says. Some people listen to music to help focus, while others may use it to manage emotions and feel more energized.
“We give an example of a barista who is working in a café. Now, on some days, the barista may want to listen to loud, fast-paced music, perhaps to feel energized—to maybe deal with the morning rush hour. But on other days, the same barista may want to listen to soft and calm music, perhaps in order to handle some angry customers so that they are calm during that interaction,” he explains.
Scientists from Harvard have found that music has a powerful effect on people's emotional state. It can alleviate stress, improve overall well-being and be used as a clinical tool. In fact, Harvard research has also shown that music can help people with epilepsy reduce the frequency of seizures.
Workers in service industries, Puranik says, are in “unique” circumstances because they don't really make the decisions about the music that plays or get away from it—unlike other employees who may work in offices and can play music on their own devices. They have the opportunity to adjust their music and play something beneficial for themselves, he says.
The researchers also found that participants who were not good at “stimulus screening”—the ability to focus on one sensory input at a time—were often unable to ignore background music and concentrate on tasks effectively.
“It can be a draining environment for them, because they may try to focus on their work. But if the music is not what they want to listen to, it can be distracting. And trying to continue to focus on their work can take a toll on their levels of exhaustion,” Puranik says.
Although the research didn't focus on music's influence on employees’ productivity, he notes that “positive or negative behaviours that are aimed at the organization have an impact.”
The mismatch in music can influence an employee's mood negatively or positively, which in turn affects how they behave at work, Puranik adds.
So, how can employers be more mindful of how background music affects employees? Puranik says through providing more autonomy and accommodations, as discussed in the research paper.
“Service organizations cannot really do away with music completely, because at the end of the day, research shows that it does impact customer experience, oftentimes positively,” he explains. “But employers can take some small steps to help employees at the same time.”
In situations where there is no rush or during downtime in the store, a manager, he says, could give employees the chance to choose the type of music being played—or to play their own. Additionally, Puranik says organizations could have break rooms without music, so affected employees could come to the room to avoid the music—or listen to music on their own devices to help recharge.
When it comes to workers who are low in stimulus screening, he stresses that managers should think more about providing accommodations.
These are “small steps, but ones which can have an impact on the employee experience,” Puranik says.
