An approach to investigating the emotional determinants of consumption durations: Why do people consume what they consume for as long as they consume it?

Abstract

Previous work in consumer research has left questions concerning the duration of consumption largely unexplored and, in particular, has neglected the possible role of emotions in determining the length of time that consumers devote to consumption experiences. This study proposes an approach to investigating these questions and illustrates its application to the context of examining the connection between emotional responses and listening receptivity to music. Specifically, Russell, Weiss, and Mendelsohn's (1989) Affect Grid was used to select a set of musical stimuli judged as varying widely in pleasure and arousal. In an individually administered listening task, 58 subjects listened to these musical selections in different random orders for as long as they wanted before rating their feelings on the Affect Grid. Listening time was measured unobtrusively when rewinding the tapes between sessions with subjects. As hypothesized, the results show that log (tempo) strongly affects arousal, that listening time follows a nonmonotonic relation which peaks at intermediate levels of arousal, and that these peaks shift from left to right as pleasure increases.

Let the music play or not: The influence of background music on consumer behavior

“…In a similar fashion, Vida et al (2007) found that music that is perceived to fit the store image had a positive affect on the length of shopping time, which indirectly influenced consumers' expenditure. In sum, music appears to impact a variety of dependent variables, such as affective ones (mood, arousal pleasure, emotion) (Bitner, 1992;Tansik and Routhieaux, 1999), financial returns (value of sales, quantity purchased, gross margins) (North et al, 2000(North et al, , 2003, attitudes and perception (liking, brand loyalty, service quality) (Chebat and Gelinas-Chebat, 1993;Grewal et al, 2003), temporal effects (duration perceived/actual, time to consume) (Holbrook and Gardner, 1993), and behavioral variables (patronage frequency, store choice, in-store traffic flow) (Turley and Milliman, 2000;Garlin and Owen, 2006).…”

The purchase versus illegal download of music by consumers: the influence of consumer response towards the artist and music

“…Music itself has been the subject of a lot of research regarding its use in advertising (e.g., Alpert & Alpert, 1989;MacInnis & Park, 1991) and in classical conditioning (e.g., Kellaris & Cox, 1989) as well as regarding its effects on purchasing behaviour (e.g., Milliman, 1982). Certain studies have also looked at the aesthetic dimensions of music (e.g., Holbrook, 1982) or at the effects of tempo on behavioural intentions and emotional arousal (e.g., Holbrook & Gardner, 1993). However, although music fi gures importantly in the lifestyles of many people (Konečni, 1982), no study explores the music-related factors that explain why people choose to either purchase music (Lacher & Mizerski, 1994), download music, or listen to music without feeling compelled to own it.…”

Achat ou téléchargement illégal de la musique chez les consommateurs: Le rôle des réponses à l'artiste et à la musique

“…: Holbrook, 1982) ou aux effets du tempo sur les intentions de comportement et l'éveil émotionnel (ex. : Holbrook & Gardner, 1993). Cependant, bien qu'elle soit une composante majeure du style de vie d'un grand nombre d'individus (Koneč ni, 1982), aucune étude n'explore les facteurs relatifs aux oeuvres musicales expliquant pourquoi les gens choisissent soit d'acheter la musique (Lacher & Mizerski, 1994), soit de la télécharger, soit encore de l'écouter tout simplement sans ressentir le besoin d'en faire l'acquisition.…”