Jasmine Moradi

• Researchers have created a new system called Soundtrack Your Brand
• The system plays music that reflects a brand’s values rather than random songs
• In a trial, 16 branches of Mcdonald’s implemented the system in Sweden
• Results showed that the soundtrack made customers spend 10 percent more 

If you find yourself splashing out an extra portion of chips next time you’re in Mcdonald’s, you might have the restaurant’s music to blame. Major restaurant chains, including Mcdonald’s and TGI Fridays, are installing specially-designed sound systems that make customers spend as much as 10 percent more.

The system, called Soundtrack Your Brand, plays music that reflects a brand’s values, evoking a range of positive emotions in customers and increasing guest satisfaction.

Researchers from HUI Research, a research-based consulting firm in Stockholm, conducted the largest-ever academic study of background music, to design the system.

Professor Sven-Olov Daunfeldt, who led the study, said: ‘This is, without doubt, the largest field study on the influence of music in restaurants to date, and we’ve analyzed an enormous pool of data.

‘When done right, music has a major positive effect on sales, largely stemming from guests purchasing more items such as desserts and sides.

‘Play the wrong music, and you just might find that you’re alienating that very same customer and selling significantly less.’

While most restaurants play music in an attempt to shape their customers’ experience, they choose their songs casually and without much thought. But the researchers believed that the right music could have a huge return for restaurants. 

Over the course of five months, across 16 Mcdonald’s restaurants in Sweden, the researchers analyzed a pool of nearly two million unique transactions. The researchers compared the sales impact of playing a carefully selected choice of music that fit the chain’s brand, with playing random popular music.