"Arousal hypothesis" and the effects of music on purchasing behavior

Replicates, in a naturalistic setting, a prior finding which supported that portion of the "arousal hypothesis" which predicts that a certain degree of noise will actually increase activity. Music was varied from loud to soft in 8 counterbalanced experimental sessions in 2 large supermarkets (N = 1100). The "arousal hypothesis" seems to account for the results: significantly less time was spent in the markets during the loud session, although there was no significant difference in sales, nor in the customers' reported satisfaction.