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A literature review of relevant empirical research examining the influence of background music within the context of service environments is presented. Studies revealing significant relationships between specific musical variables and desired consumer behavioural outcomes are displayed in a visual framework entitled the Musicscape. This framework draws on Bitner’s model of the Servicescape, which highlights music as just one of a range of ambient conditions influencing behaviour. The Musicscape provides an extended version of Bitner’s Servicescape model by focusing in detail on just one of these elements, the musical variable. Additional figures demonstrate an even more focused breakdown of Musicscape interactions by including arrows which identify the direction of significant relationships revealed in empirical studies. The framework portrays in visual terms the inherent complexity of attempts to influence response and subsequent behaviour by using music within a service environment.

Despite the relatively low cultural status of department store music, it is proposed that music – the shopping soundtrack – is capable of transforming perceptions of the environment in which it is heard, and eliciting immediate emotional and behavioural responses, thus underlining the influence of music, regardless of whether it is passively heard as a background element or actively listened to as a live performance in a dedicated venue.

This study addresses a gap in the marketing literature for introspective research evaluating the experience of music in service environments. It draws upon auto‐ethnographic data through which participants ponder their own consumption experience and provide detailed, subjective accounts of events and memories.

When considering the effects of music upon emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses, it highlights the importance of musicscape response moderators.

The service environment appears more exciting and attractive and may encourage increased spending when background music is congruous with other servicescape elements. Music with positive autobiographical resonance elicits pleasurably nostalgic emotions, positive evaluations and longer stay. However, the aural incongruity of unexpected silence in music‐free zones produces feelings of discomfort leading to negative store evaluation and departure.

Qualitative data are deliberately represented using typically positivist discourse to encourage resolution of the inherent tension between interpretivist and positivist perspectives and stimulate increased methodological integration (e.g. through future studies of music combining quantitative and qualitative data).

Background music is considered an intangible element but has a close attachment to emotional reaction and memory. Background music is constantly present in our everyday lives, whether for distraction, recreation or mood enhancement. It can be heard in the supermarket, in lifts, cafés or hotels. Music has been identified as important in the construction of autobiographical memories and emotions of individuals. Many premises use music to enhance customers' emotions, and hoteliers try to use music in their lobby to increase the likelihood of customer experience. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the impact of background music as an intangible element in hotel lobbies on customer satisfaction. More specifically, this study aims to draw a connection between the musical variables (musicscape) in hotel lobbies with regard to the gender and age of guests and how hotel businesses can make use of this intangible element to enhance their guest's satisfaction. Sound marketing is an overlooked area in hospitality and tourism research. A mixed-method approach has been employed in this study, including a questionnaire and online interviews. The result shows that background music in hotel lobbies has a significant impact on customer satisfaction and the time they are willing to spend in the lobby. Moreover, different musical variables have obvious influences on the experience of guests of different ages and genders. The results of this study provide theoretical and managerial recommendations on the importance of sound marketing in a hotel lobby setting.

The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review that highlights significant findings from empirical research examining the impact of music within various real and simulated service environments.

The paper examines the results of studies that have manipulated specific musical variables (genre, tempo, volume, and liking), and attempts to identify consistent patterns of findings to guide managers and researchers. The studies focus upon a range of dependent variables including evaluation of the environment, perceived wait and stay duration, consumption speed, affective response, and spending. Possible explanations for apparently inconsistent findings are discussed.

A variety of studies reveal the positive influence of musical congruity upon desired outcomes. Future research proposals identify the need to examine defining‐attribute and prototype theories of musical congruity.

The review highlights a range of implications drawn from the studies that will be of value to service organization managers who use music as a key component of their servicescape in order to enhance desired cognitive and affective responses.

The main research questions critically examine online videos that draw attention to a local community of musical practice, noticing how these can potentially be included within the tourism promotion strategies. This paper develops a case study of four videos realised by the Louth County Board of the organisation Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ) in Co. Louth, Ireland, as a part of the FleadhFest 2021 initiative. It highlights the role that virtual spaces have in enhancing a sense of belonging to a music/festival community as well as the possibility that visual and audio supports have in promoting and celebrating a destination and its cultural features.

The analysis involves a netnographic examination of these videos (Janta, 2017), informed by the concept of “tourist gaze” (Urry, 1990; 2002) and influenced by film-induced tourism studies (Beeton, 2005).

Results show how festival and event organisers responded to COVID-19 social restrictions by creating a virtual space for celebrating music heritage and local musicscape, placing an emphasis on local musical scene.

The research aims to inform future developments in how the organisation operates within and engages with virtual space, its members and a wider audience.

This is the first study to consider the virtual activities of CCÉ from an ethnomusicological as well as tourism, perspective.

The purpose of this review is to examine the influence of music on consumption experience and explore the relationships between musical variables and consumer responses in the context of retailing.

The paper is based on the review of studies conducted over last 30 years, empirical and conceptual, dealing with a large number of music‐related variables and their impact on various dimensions of consumption experience.

The studies report that music influences consumption experience at cognitive, emotional, and behavioural levels, specifically with regard to attitudes and perceptions, time and money spend, and moods and feelings, in retail experience. The influence of music is moderated by customer and store profiles, purchase timings, and other ambience factors.

The study provides important insights into critical issues related to influence of music, for future research.

The research brings out important issues for designing musical environment in the retail stores to influence shopping experience and consumer responses.

Based on a critical review of important studies, the present paper proposes a framework to understand the effect of music on consumption experience in retail stores.