Imagine for a moment that a baby has fallen lightly asleep in their mother’s arms, you carry them to their crib, put on some music to lull them to sleep, and start drumming. Now, imagine this: It is the day of the celebration of a 15-year-old party, it begins with the dance between the father and his daughter, she goes to the center of the dance floor with her radiant dress, her father sees her proud, they prepare to dance and the DJ, ready for the occasion, hits play and transcendental meditation music begins to play.
In these examples, it is very easy to see how in the mind of each one of us there is an ideal music for each occasion and when this does not happen, we feel a little awkward. We have preferences to choose music to exercise and that energizes us, another to focus our attention when we study and a very different one when we want to share with a loved one. The brain, throughout its life, due to the influence of culture, has very marked associations that, if not respected, can generate displeasure and this translates into an experience that we do not want to repeat.
Let’s think about a restaurant. What is the ideal type of music so that the environment generates full enjoyment? Many businesses are not fully aware of the importance of music in the experience we design for our customers. This not only strengthens the personality of the brand, the ethnicity and identity of the environment we design, but also the behavior of the diner.
Music influences the customer in multiple ways. Two of the most important are the following: The first is emotion, since the melody has the power to change its state. For example, in the blink of an eye, we go from joy to melancholy when we listen to Yesterday by the Beatles. The second is the movement of the body. The rhythm, tempo or BPM (bits per minute), make the brain tune in and align the movements of the body with each beat. It seems incredible, but every bite, every cut we make, the speed at which we bring the glass to our mouths, is altered. It is a choreography. Imagine eating an arepa listening to reggaeton. How quickly would you finish the plate?
Thanks to the knowledge that has been developed in neurogastronomy and gastrophysics, today music libraries are designed to optimize the restaurant experience, this is known as audio branding. The body asks for different things throughout the day and understanding this makes a difference when choosing our musical strategy.
Have you ever wondered what your brand sounds like? Answering this is the first step to improve your customers’ consumption experience through music.
We co-created this content with @neurogastronomo to promote the growth of your business.