Word: musicalities
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...long been known that sound can alter emotions and behavior. So why not use it to amplify profits? Treasure's agency acts like an audio interior designer, removing invasive noises or rescoring unappealing music. It sounds simple, but while many businesses have mastered the art of influencing shoppers through sight (with alluring displays) and smell (say, by piping the odor of fresh coffee throughout a store), few have focused on the smart use of sound, says retail psychologist Tim Denison of the British Retail Think Tank. But that's changing. U.S. firm Muzak used to be the butt of jokes...
...Indeed, says Treasure, without some outside help, retailers often misjudge their own customers. In 2005, for example, the Sound Agency swapped nursery rhymes and kiddie pop for relaxed classical music at a chain of British toy shops. The toy chain thought its stores were for kids, says Treasure, and forgot that the spending power belonged to parents who didn't want to be bombarded with Baa Baa Black Sheep. With the new music in place, he claims, sales jumped...
...rule seems clear for retail soundscapes: slow is good. As people's biorhythms often mirror the sounds around them, a gently meandering mix of classical music or soothing ambient noise encourages shoppers to slow down and relax. And, says Denison, an unhurried consumer is exactly what retailers want: "If customers are moving less quickly, they're more likely to engage with a product and make a purchase...
...have been what kept the government from acting sooner against the Red Mosque clerics and students, whose anti-government campaign began in January when they occupied a children's library. Emboldened by the government's inaction, students set out on a vigilante rampage in the capital, harassing video and music shops for promoting un-Islamic behavior and kidnapping alleged prostitutes. Each new episode was met with feeble government response or half-hearted negotiations...
...Well, there is the music. Despite worries that some of the acts would play to acres of empty seats, the top shows in London and New Jersey were all but sold out, and more than 400,000 people arrived for a free concert on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach headlined by Lenny Kravitz and Macy Gray - even though a Brazilian judge had only authorized the concert days before. Even the smaller shows seemed well-attended, if a bit schizophrenic: the Tokyo concert segued from the gentle folk of Japanese pop star Cocco, who tearfully sang about manatees threatened...