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The purpose of this paper is to examine the psychological influence that the presence of music has on consumers’ evaluations of the service environment. Specifically, it investigates how emotion regulation processes and the impact of emotions/mood are linked to consumers’ evaluation of service and product quality.

An exploratory study was conducted using industry professionals in order to garner insight about the value of music and its benefits in the service environment. A field experiment was then conducted to test hypotheses.

Industry professionals offer implicit theories about the value of music. Specifically, they propose that music can be used to help customers regulate emotions and improve mood, enhance the customer experience and help in attracting new consumer segments. Results from the field experiment found that those exposed to music were likely to improve mood, express more favorable evaluations of the service and product quality of the establishment, as well as exhibit stronger intentions to continue to patronize the establishment.

Using live music in the service environment can be beneficial to organizations by improving customers’ emotional/psychological status as well as their evaluation of the consumption experience.

This research contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating how emotion regulation processes and the impact of emotions/mood are linked to consumers’ evaluation of service and product quality. Also, support for mood congruency judgment is found. Participants in the field study who had been exposed to music indicated that they made efforts to improve their mood and subsequently had more favorable judgments of service and product quality.

Organizations can benefit significantly from the growing capabilities of the internet. As the Web facilitates purchasing and reduces the costs of marketing, companies can connect with customers through the use of storytelling. This study aims to examine how small businesses leverage the use of storytelling to engage with customers and drive revenue and online reputation management.

Both qualitative and quantitative insights are offered in two studies. In Study 1, interviews were conducted with business owners to explore the efforts made by their companies to connect and engage with consumers online. Study 2 builds on the findings from Study 1 and uses survey methodology to test a model which outlines how storytelling can foster engagement with customers.

Results indicate that story content is positively related to emotional content and the personal connection an individual feels toward a firm’s products. Furthermore, user-generated content moderates the relationship between story content creation and personal connections. Findings also demonstrate that personal connection is essential to customer engagement. Ultimately, engagement can lead to revenue generation from social commerce as well as increased reputation management activity.

This research demonstrates how small businesses can use the power of storytelling to immerse and transport audiences in such a way that customer beliefs and attitudes toward the firm are impacted in a favorable way. By telling its brand story well, firms have the power to increase the value of their products.