Influence of musical styles on customers attitude : experimental evidences in a retail store

This study aimed to compare the influence of different musical styles on customers’ behavior and attitude. An experiment was conducted in a retail store in the city of Uberaba (MG). In this experiment, three different musical styles were tested (country, axé and pop rock) and the absence of music was the control group. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire which sought to measure customer attitudes through three components (affective, cognitive and conative). Results indicated that the country musical style has more positive influence on customer attitude than other styles (axé and pop rock). Moreover, it was found that the consumers’ attitude was less positive in the scenario where there was no background music in the store, showing that music positively influences the attitude regardless of musical style.


INTRODUCTION
ccording to Milliman (1982), music may have other functions beyond entertainment.It can be used to improve the store's reputation, increase employees' satisfaction, and thus, decrease staff turnover, and also to influence the client's buying behavior.However, according to the same author, studies investigating the effects of music on customer's behavior are limited and inconclusive, which leads decision on the use of music to be often based on intuition or folklore.This fact is unfortunate, since music is an important tool which can be easily used and controlled by managers.
Moreover, Dubé and Morin (2001) believe that the amount of research invested in precise selection of the musical style of the store is small compared to investments made in other marketing decisions.
Many companies know the influence of elements such as music on customer behavior.
For Morrison and Beverland (2003), music is an important variable of store ambience and influences the creation of experience with the store and connection to the emotions of customers.Furthermore, Kotler and Keller (2006) mention that supermarkets found that different rhythms of music affect the average purchase time and average spending of customers in the store.
Thus, one can observe the potential impact music can have in the store ambience on various aspects of customer behavior, such as attitude, time and money spent, image and store choice and also satisfaction.The customer expresses its buying behavior in the store, it is also in the store where it develops its attitude and satisfaction, and is where marketing decisions converge to.Therefore, decisions about the store, its ambience, and internal and external display are important and should be made in order to stimulate greater productivity in the sales area (PARENTE, 2000).
According to Parente (2000), store ambience should be understood as a psychological feeling the retailer develops on the customer inside the store.In order to develop the ambience, retailers use resources.i.e., music that affects human senses.Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, and Best (2007, p.372) state that "the ambience of the store is influenced by attributes such as lighting, layout, presentation of goods, accessories, flooring, colors, sounds, smells, and the clothes and behavior of the sales and service staff." However, out of all these attributes, according to Levy and Weitz (2000), music is considered one of the most relevant and with greater impact to influence the customer in the store ambience.BBR, Braz. Bus. Rev. (Engl. ed., Online) Vitória, v. 9, n. 3, Art. 5, p. 94 -118, jul.-sep. 2012 www.bbronline.com.brSharma and Stafford (2000) indicate that music needs to be used strategically in an effort to ensure the adjustment between the image of store brands with and the desired positioning.Some musical styles may be more appropriate to some stores, and lack of image adjustment can lead to negative results (MACHLEIT; EROGLU, 2000).
This article aims to define which music style (axé, country or pop rock) most influences a more positive customer behavior.How adequate music can communicate important messages that allow customers to infer product quality (Zeithaml, 1988), this article will be useful for retailers to understand customer behavior in relation to the music used inside their store and thus, allowing them to develop its ambience in a less empirical manner.
From the results of this study, retailers in the industry portrayed in this survey (shoe and clothing stores) will be able to have more subsidies to define which musical style is more appropriate for the internal ambience they wish to create, as to achieve a specific target audience or even use music in a strategic manner to control the flow of customers or sales volume.
With respect to the theoretical contribution of this study to the marketing area, as there is little theory on this subject published in Brazil (FERREIRA, 2007, CARVALHO;HEMAL, MOTTA, 2001), it is believed that it will be of great relevance, seeking to fill the theoretical gap in Brazilian studies on the effect of music on customer buying behavior.In Brazil, in addition to the fact that there are no publications on the subject, it is also uncommon for experiments to be performed.Many international studies use this form of research, which suggests that performing experiments is the best method to measure the impact of music on customer behavior.Furthermore, variables can be consciously manipulated or controlled by the researcher in an experiment, thus providing more convincing evidence of a causal relationship than descriptive or exploratory projects that do not allow the manipulation and control of variables (MATTAR, 2005).
It should be noted that, according to Dubé and Morin (2001), the amount of research on satisfaction with ambient music in a natural context is very scarce, which makes the contribution of this research relevant, since the experiment of this study was conducted in a clothing and shoe store,, located in an inland city in the state of Minas Gerais.This sector was chosen as object of study because of its great economic importance.According to the IBGE, the shoes and clothing sectors represent together, a 0.8% growth in sales volume between December/2009 and January/2010.Other more subjective reasons which led to this choice, was assuming that the purchase of these products is a process that requires the customer to stay inside the store for considerable time, since one needs to try out these products before This study starts by reviewing the literature with issues that provide the theoretical basis of the research.Then, we present the results of an experiment aimed at measuring the influence of musical styles on customer behavior.

STORE IMAGE AND AMBIENCE
Image may be the impression we have of something when we see, hear or feel it (JOLY, 2007).Images can have two areas, the ones of visual representations (drawings, engravings, paintings) and the immaterial area, which are images from our mind (visions, fantasies, imagination, mental representations).These areas are not separated; visual images arise from the mind of whom produced them, and mental images originate from virtual objects (SANTAELLA, NOTH, 2008).
In marketing, we use the concept applied to the store ambience.For Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2005), store image is the perception that the customer has on the store.
Such perception influences the customer in deciding on what stores to buy from.According to the authors, measuring the image is a very important activity, since it is the perceptual reality which customers buy products in.Levy and Weitz (2000) found that when the retailer creates a clear and distinct image of the retail mix, reinforcing this image through the products, he can maintain customer loyalty.Loyalty with the store can be defined as non-biased (not random) behavioral response, expressed in time, for any decision-making unit, in relation to a store or a set of stores (BLOEMER;RUYTER, 1998).This response is a function of psychological processes that result in commitment to the brand.This means that loyalty to the store involves more factors than just repurchasing at the store, which requires some degree of preference or dedication.Garton (1995) suggests that the scope of store loyalty requires the customer's selfimage and the store image to be as similar as possible.Therefore, Levy and Weitz (2000) indicate that retailers must know what the image customers have of their store and must especially make sure that this image is consistent with what their customers want.
Bloemer and Ruyter (1998) conducted a study in a department store to identify the relationship between loyalty, satisfaction and store image.The authors concluded that loyal customers are more satisfied with the store and therefore have a more positive image of this According to Rhee and Bell (2002), the strength of customer loyalty in the store is an important indicator of the "health" of the store.This same observation is made by Knox and Denison (2000), who found the importance of the development of a corporate retail strategy in order to manage customer loyalty and prevent buyers from switching stores.This corporate strategy can comprehend the management of the store ambience, of which music is part of.Hawkins, Motherstaugh and Best (2007) state that, in general, regardless of the specific characteristics of the customers of the target market, the attributes that affect the choice of the retail store are: store image, retail brands and retail advertising.According to the authors, store image is the perception the customer has of all the attributes associated with a retail store.
One of the earliest studies was performed by Lindquist (1974), who found out nine dimensions and 23 components of these dimensions of store image.These dimensions and components are shown in Chart 1.The literature review performed by Miranda, Kónya and Havrila (2005) confirmed the factors that influence customer satisfaction during purchase, store location, nature and quality of goods in inventory, pricing strategy, in-store promotions, sales staff, physical attributes, ambience and loyalty cards.Hawkins, Motherstaugh and Best (2007) observed that the ambience of the store is a mainly affective or sentimental element by nature.According to Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2005), store ambience is made up of the physical properties of the retail ambience, built through colors, lighting, smells and music, designed to influence the customer to purchase.For the authors, the retail ambience can express the personality and image of the store to the customer.Therefore, the image that the customer has of the store is often linked to the ambience this store features.
For Levy and Weitz (2000), one of the goals that retailers need to have when designing or redesigning a store is the store ambience to be consistent with their image and their overall strategy.According to the authors, in order to achieve this goal, retailers need to define their target customer and design a store that meets the needs of these customers.It should be noted that store ambience is not synonymous of store image, but, part of it.Store image is formed by the ambience and all the other elements of the retail mix that determine its position, so, it is a broader concept.
The store ambience affects the mood and emotions of buyers as well as their willingness to visit and stroll through the store.The ambience of a store may even influence customers' judgments about the quality and image of the store (HAWKINS; MOTHERSTAUGH, BEST, 2007).The influence of music, a component of store ambience, on buying behavior is presented below.

INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON BUYING BEHAVIOR IN THE STORE
Music is one of the components of store ambience that can be easily changed by the retail manager.This variable can be used to influence customer behavior, controlling the pace of store traffic, attracting or distracting the attention of customers or even creating an image of the store.Another effect that music may have is to overload the brain to inhibit the customer's ability to evaluate a product.So it may be that some customers are extremely angry and exit the store, while others may buy even more products for having their resistance to sales presentation decreased (LEVY; WEITZ, 2000).
One may note, therefore, that music can have a substantial effect on store ambience, influencing the time spent in the store, the mood of the customer and the overall impression of the store (HAWKINS; MOTHERSTAUGH, BEST, 2007).For example, the study of Beverland et al. (2006) examined the consistency between ambient music and the evaluation of the brand and found that customers with little experience with the brand see the music in the store as an important indicator of brand quality and image.
One can assume that different musical styles can evoke different feelings and have different influences on the attitudes of customers.This topic of the literature review presents a selection of experimental studies that observed this possible influence.Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2005) address the development of store ambience through the involvement of the human senses, in order to affect the buying behavior of the customer.The authors use music as an example of influence in purchasing: music at low volume encourages greater social interaction between buyers and sellers; and faster or slower music influences time spent at the store and classical music provides a sophisticated image to the store.Milliman (1982) studied the relationship between daily volume of gross sales and ambient music in a supermarket through an experiment, by testing three situations: without music, with light and heavy music.The study results showed that with the lighter song, there was a higher sales volume, while the lower sales volumes were associated with heavy songs.
The author believes that this result is associated to the variation of customer flow in the store, since by moving along slower inside the store, the customer tends to buy more; and moving quickly, due to the fact that music is heavier, they tend to buy less.This assumption was verified by Milliman (1982), who observed that the rate of traffic flow within the store was significantly slower with light music than heavy music.Yalch and Spangenberg (2000) also studied the effect of music on the time spent in the store.They conducted an experiment to determine how time spent in purchases could be affected by the type of music played on the ambience.The authors concluded that customers spend less time during their shopping when they are listening to familiar music.The authors also assessed emotional responses from customers regarding the music being played and concluded that they feel more pleasure when listening to unfamiliar music are compared to familiar music.
Besides ambient music, the study by Mattila and Wirtz (2001) included the aroma in the ambience and sought to understand the relationship of these variables with customer behavior.The authors selected music and scents that represent high and low excitement to perform an experiment.Music was used in a fast and slow manner, and the aroma with more striking and smoother fragrances, in order to represent high and low excitement, respectively.
The results showed that, when the excitement level of the aroma and music was appropriate, the assessment of customers in relation to emotional responses, to satisfaction, to buying impulse and to the dimensions of pleasure were more positive.The authors concluded that when the ambience stimuli act together to provide a consistent ambience, individuals tend to react more positively.
With specific regard to comparisons between musical styles, one can cite the work of Ferreira ( 2007), who performed two experiments.The first was held in a movie rental store located within a private university.The selected styles were classical music and pop music.
The experimental results indicated that classical music was better assessed by customers of the video store, following the baseline condition, while pop music had the worst rating.
Although the estimated time spent in the store has varied much among participants, the greatest length of stay was estimated in the manipulation of pop music.It was also under this condition that the largest number of participants who rented movies, the greatest amount of average rentals and the largest number of rentals of the newly released movies occurred.The results also showed there was success in handling the music on the perception of pleasure associated with the ambience.
The second experiment was similar to the first, but was held in a mall.Three conditions were created: condition 1 -music normally used in ambience, without manipulation; condition 2 -MPB; and condition 3 -Christmas songs.Some of the results presented by the experiment demonstrated an increasing preference of ambient music under condition 1 to 3, with the worst assessment for the baseline and best assessment for Christmas songs.A greater number of customers did not realize the music in the MPB condition and fewer in the Christmas song condition.The highest turnover was observed in the MPB condition, however, it was the one with the lowest estimated average length of stay at the mall.
Despite the differences in variables compared and methodologies presented in the experiments described above, all conclude that there is some kind of influence of music on customer behavior.Thus, it is believed that music arouses emotions that influence the customers' attitudes, therefore this concept is discussed below.

ATTITUDE
Attitude is one of the factors influencing customer behavior.Attitude can be defined as an underlying predisposition of the person in determining their behavioral response in relation to something (person, product, location, organization or event), and is the result of previous experiences, cognition and affectivity (MATTAR, 2005).In a context of customer behavior, an attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object (ASSAEL, 1995;SCHIFFMAN;KANUK, 2000).The object in question may refer to a product, product category, brand, service, possession, use of a product, people, countries, issues, advertising, price, media, or retailer.Therefore, it can be said that the actions are learning processes, since they can be confirmed or amended.
Psychologist Daniel Katz argues that people have certain attitudes because they serve some function.According to his theory, attitudes can have four functions: 1), utilitarian: related to the object being of any use; 2) ego defense; 3) knowledge function: related to the object adding something to the knowledge of a person; and 4) value-expressive: when the attitude expresses personal values (Sheth, MITTAL, NEWMAN, 2001).
Attitudes can be used to predict behavior, since they are the assessments customers perform regarding people, locations, brands products organizations, and other objects in terms of quality and desirability.(2001), who present feelings and beliefs along with actions that customers want to perform, as components of attitude.However, this last component is not explicit in the definition of Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2005).
To Assael (1995), the connection between these three components illustrates the hierarchy of effects of high involvement: beliefs about the brands / products influence their assessment (affection), which in turn influence the purchase intention.This hierarchy of effects suggests that marketing professionals should influence the beliefs of consumers to encourage positive attitudes towards the brand and to increase the chance of consumers of buying the product.
Once presented the concepts that provide the theoretical basis for this study, below are the methodological aspects of the field research

FIELD RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The survey conducted in this study is quantitative, causal conclusive, since the relationship of cause and effect relationship music and the attitude of the customer through an experiment is studied.The target audience for this research was customers of a clothing and shoe store in the city of Uberaba-MG, who attend to it on Saturdays between 2 and 4 p.m.This sector was selected because it is believed that there is a certain degree of customer involvement in the purchase and use of these goods, especially for the female audience and customers of this type of store spend reasonable time in the store, enough to being influenced by the ambient music.This study sought to obtain a probability sample of this population.To this end, customers were selected through an assortment: every two customers who left the store, one was selected to answer the questionnaire, which approaches the systematic sampling technique.
Data collection was performed using a structured questionnaire with questions that sought to assess the three components of attitude: cognition (thoughts), affection (feeling) and conation (action), presented by Sheth, Mittal and Newman (2001).There were four days of collection, on Saturdays.We selected three styles of music to be played in the selected store, based on the music commonly used in the store, together with the decisions and preferences

CHART 2 -QUESTIONS USED IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EACH COMPONENT OF ATTITUDE
The main hypothesis of this research is that the attitude of the customer regarding the store is influenced by music and different musical styles.It is believed that each musical style influences differently the behavior and attitude of the customer and that there are also differences for gender, income, age and educational level.In literature, experiments seeking to confirm this influence have been observed (FERREIRA, 2007, MILLMAN, 1982 MORRISON;BEVERLAND, 2003, ZEITHAMIL 1988).
In the experiment conducted in this work, neither pre-measure nor a comparison was performed between the data from the test group and the control group.Therefore, the According to the classification given by Malhotra (2006), we can consider this study as being performed in the field, representing the actual conditions of the market.Compared to the lab ambience, one is able to note a drawback is the smallest degree of control due the nom-isolation of the experiment.However, the artificiality of the laboratory environment can cause reaction error, because respondents could react to the situation, not the musical style.
Moreover, the experiment in a field environment tends to have more external validity than the laboratory ones, allowing the generalization of results.

RESULTS
In two hours of collection, each day of the experiments, approximately fifty customers left the store.Among the randomly selected customers, some refused to answer the questionnaires and among the respondents, six had to be discarded because they filled the questionnaire incompletely.
Eighty-three people participated in the experiment, from 14 to 73 years of age.In the country music style there were 20 individuals, 21 in axé, 20 in pop rock, and 22 in the control group (no music).Social levels were diverse, with a range of income that went from less the minimum wage to more than 20 minimum wages and level of education ranging from incomplete primary education to complete post graduation.Most of the selected customers were women between 20 and 49 years of age with income ranging from 1 to 5 minimum wages and who had completed high school.Next, the results generated in each scenario of the experiment will be presented and compared.

Comparison between experimental groups and control group
Data received from the questionnaires were analyzed as follows: the responses generated by means of questions ranging from "0-10" were grouped according to the dimensions of attitude, we calculated the average rating given to each question and, then, we calculated the average scores of all the questions.The result generated is known as "general average".The question that identifies the length of stay in the store was analyzed separately.
The average length of stay in the store, in minutes, was calculated for each scenario of the experiment.The results of the data analyses, comparing three musical styles and the absence of music, are summarized in Table 1.The greatest average and greatest length of time in the store were generated by customers who have been exposed to the country musical style, indicating that this style influences a more positive attitude of the customer, comparing with other scenarios.The lowest average was generated for the group that had no music.Thus, we can conclude that music affects the attitude positively.This fact confirms the hypothesis of the research that the attitude the customer in relation to the store is influenced by the music.
On the question of the questionnaire in which a grade, 0-10, was attributed to the ambient music, there was an option for those who had not noticed the ambient music or for no ambient music in the store.However, even in the scenario where there was no ambient music, few people stated they did not notice the music and many graded it.From the customers who participated in the experiment, some did not buy any product in the store the day and time when answered.But, according to the data generated, at least 50% of the customers in each scenario bought something in the store.

Social-economic comparisons
The social-economic comparisons are presented in accordance with each stage of the experiment.On the first one, the country music was used.Below are tables comparing the data by gender, income, education level and age of the participants exposed to country music.When we used the country musical style in the experiment, the overall average of the ratings given by men and women showed a subtle difference (Table 2).The highest average was for men (9.60).In relation to the time when the participants were in the store, the women remained much longer.While the average length of stay of those was 40.59 minutes, the men's was 15 minutes.Regarding the general average, we can say that men have a more positive attitude in relation to the store than women, but, however, women stayed longer in the store.income, the highest scores were given by participants earning 5-7 minimum wages (Table 3), indicating that middle-class customers have a more positive attitude in relation to the store and they would probably prefer this musical style.The lowest scores were from the participants with incomes between 1 to 3 minimum wages, which indicates that customers of lower social class have a less positive attitude.Regarding the time inside the store, participants who stayed longer were those with incomes between 3 and 5 minimum wages.The level of education did not generate large differences in average scores (  The store's customers exposed to country musical style who had the highest scores were in the age of 50 years or more (9.69),indicating that country musical style creates a more positive attitude to older customers (Table 5).Customers who spent more time inside the store, in that scenario, were aged up to 30 years (41.25 minutes), and those who had the lowest length of stay, on average, customers aged from 50 years up (18.33 minutes).This can be explained by the fact that older people have less physical condition to stay for long periods in places with large gatherings of people than younger people.
The following, social-economic data of customers who participated in the experiment who were exposed to axé music will be compared.The average of scores given by customers and the length of stay were higher for female customers (9.7 and 37.14 min.)(table 6), so one may conclude that women have a more positive attitude than men in relation to the store for the axé music, moreover this is a musical style preferred by them.Regarding educational level, the highest average scores were generated by the participants who reported having up to primary education (9.53), which indicates that customers with lower education level have a more positive attitude in relation to the store for the axé music (Table 8).
The participants of the experiment that generated the highest average scores were those who were older than 50 years of age (9.85) (Table 9), indicating that these customers have a more positive attitude in relation to the store for the axé music than the newer customers that generate the lowest scores (8.58).There was a noticeable difference between the scores of customers with up to 30 years from others.This may mean that older customers have a higher preference for the axé music with respect to newer customers.Below, we will describe the data collected from the store´s customers who were exposed to the pop rock music.Regarding gender, the participants of the experiment of this scenario that generated the highest averages were females (table 10).However the, the average time spent in the store was greater for men (54 minutes).As the difference between averages was relatively small, this may indicate that men like more the pop rock musical style than women.Participants with an income above 10 minimum wages were those who had the highest average scores, and the highest average time spent in the store (Table 11), which may mean that customers with higher income have a more positive attitude in relation to the store for the pop rock music.From the customers who participated in the experiment and were not exposed to any music, men had the highest average scores (8.87) (Table 14).Women had a slightly lower average (8.73).This may indicate that men like more when there is no music in the store and women prefer the presence of music.Customers with the highest scores, on average, were the ones with incomes less than one minimum wage (9.82) (Table 15).However, those who had the lowest average scores had incomes between 5 and 7 times the minimum wage (8.2).It can be argued that the lack of music creates a more positive attitude to customers with lower incomes and less positive for customers with higher incomes.From the customers who participated of this scenario of the experiment, those who had completed elementary school were those who had the highest average scores (9.64) and greatest length of stay in the store (47 minutes) (Table 16).Therefore, the lack of music creates a more positive attitude to customers who have lower education levels, i.e., those customers like it more when there is music in the store.In terms of age, participants who had the highest average scores were between 31 and 49 years of age (9.5), and those with the lowest average were 50 or older (8.61) (Table 17).
This may indicate that younger people have less positive attitude when there is no music in the store.
Table 18 shows a summary of all results generated in this study to assess the attitude towards the store.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The use of music has been constant for retailers to shape the image of the store, but decisions regarding the choice of music are, often, performed in a non-scientific manner, based on the preferences of managers or employees.The results of this study filled that theoretical and practical gap, providing elements to improve understanding of how music influences the evaluation of the store (customer attitude).This work was aimed at: "identifying the music that leads the customer to a more positive attitude in relation to a clothing or shoe store." As one can observe in the data presented in the previous section, there were no major differences between the great magnitudes of the average of the three musical styles used in the experiment.The scenario that generated the most positive attitude in relation to the store was the one where customers were exposed to the country music.It was also observed that, in general, music creates a more positive attitude on the customer in relation to the store than the absence of music, regardless of music, which proves the hypothesis of this paper.This result can also be explained by the fact that the country musical style is a regional preference of the place where the experiment is being performed (Minas Gerais).It is noteworthy that there have been small differences between the compared musical styles.However, these differences become larger when the data were analyzed in more detail, in social-economic comparisons.
Relating I the results found in the literature, it appears that most of the experiments compared the volume of music and music speed (fast and slow).Only Ferreira (2007) compared different musical styles (classical and pop music, and MPB with Christmas songs (1), also finding differences in customer behavior for each musical style.Additionally, the studies cited in the literature review confirm the influence of music on customer behavior.
It may be noted that the scores given by customers on a scale of 0 to 10, were relatively high, whereas the average revolved around nine.This can be justified by the great bonding that customers have with the manager and owner of the store where the experiment was conducted.Most customers who were approached stated they love the store and have been a customer for more than 10 years.
Regarding the study limitations, it should be noted that a great difficulty to carry out this study was to obtain the consent of a store or the clothing and shoes sector to participate in the experiment.Out of many visited stores in the inland of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, only one agreed to cooperate with the research, which justified the choice of the store and the city's target of this study.This difficulty is mentioned by Malhotra (2006), by presenting the limitations of field experiments: interference with the ongoing operations of a company can lead to lack of cooperation of the retailer.In addition, other limitations of the used method, such as lack of control of all variables extraneous to the experiment, must be observed.
experimental model used was the post-test with the control group(MALHOTRA, 2006).The study is found between groups, since different people have assessed the different musical styles.The independent variable (manipulated) of this work are the musical styles (country, axé and pop rock), and the absence of music is the situation in the control group.The dependent variable is the attitude of the customer in relation to the store.The study can be symbolized as: GE: R X (country, axé or pop rock) measurement of the dependent variable In this study, as there has been no previous measurement, we eliminate the effects of testing, but the experiment remained sensitive to selection bias and mortality(MALHOTRA, 2006), problems remedied in part with the random selection of participants.

DIMENSIONS OF STORE IMAGE AND ITS COMPONENTS Source
: Lindquist (1974)BBR,Braz.Bus.Rev.(Engl.ed., Online)Vitória, v. 9, n. 3, Art. 5, p. 94 -118, jul.-sep.2012  www.bbronline.com.br on feelings and beliefs.Beliefs are a subjective judgment about the relationship between two or more things and are based on knowledge.Knowing people's beliefs is important, because they are what determine how favorable their attitudes are toward a brand, product or organization.This definition is similar to that given by Sheth, Mittal and Newman Sheth, Mittal and Newman (2001) identified by psychologists on attitude, knowledge, feeling and action.Based on this view, there are three components of attitude: cognitive, affective and conative.ForSheth, Mittal and Newman (2001), cognition, also called belief, are the expectations for something, about what it is or is not or what it will or will not do; affection is the feeling a person has about something or emotions caused by something; and conation is the action a person wants to perform in relation to something.sincetheyrepresentwhat customers like or dislike.The authors argue that maintaining a positive attitude towards a brand, product or organization is almost always a prerequisite for the customer to buy or intend to buy such product or such brand.For these authors, attitudes BBR, Braz.Bus.Rev.(Engl.ed., Online)Vitória, v. 9, n. 3, Art. 5, p. 94 -118, jul.-sep.2012www.bbronline.com.brarebased

Table 4
Customers with higher educational level (graduate / postgraduate) had a less positive attitude in relation to the store for this musical style, since they generated the lowest scores (9.36) and stayed for less time, on average, inside the store (27.14 min).This may indicate that people with higher education level have a lower preference for this musical style than those with lower educational level.

TABLE 7 -COMPARISONS OF THE RESULTS OF THE AXÉ MUSIC IN RELATION TO INCOME INCOME Overall average Length of stay (in minutes) Did music not notice the
In this scenario of the experiment, no participant claimed to have incomes between 5 and 10 minimum wages (table7).The highest averages were generated by customers who had up to 1 minimum wage income (9.79), and the lowest averages were customers who reported having three to five minimum wages (8.66).This may indicate that the axé music style generates a more positive attitude to customers with lower incomes and less positive for the middle class customers.The length of stay in the store did not show significant differences for each income range.