经济学人432:音乐与购物 谨防贝多芬

 　　Music and shopping

　　音乐与购物

　　Beware of Beethoven

　　谨防贝多芬

　　What you hear affects what you buy online

　　你所听到的会影响你在网上购物时的选择

　　EVER since Muzak started serenading patrons of hotels and restaurants in the 1930s, piped-in music has been part of the consumer experience. Without the throb¹ of a synthesiser or a guitar's twang, shoppers would sense something missing as they tried on jeans or filled up trolleys². Specialists like Mood Media, which bought Muzak in 2011, devise audio programmes to influence the feel of shops and cater³ to customers' tastes. The idea is to entertain, and thereby⁴ prolong the time shoppers spend in stores, says Claude Nahon, the firm's international chief. Music by famous artists works better than the generic⁵ stuff that people associate with Muzak. The embarrassing brand name was dropped in 2013.

　　自从19世纪30年代Muzak开始为酒店和餐厅提供背景音乐开始，耳边回荡着的音乐就成了消费者体验的一部分。消费者在试穿牛仔裤或往购物车里挑商品的时候，一旦没有混音器的震动作响或吉他的琴音，就会似乎觉得缺少了点什么。此类专业公司如Mood Media，设计音频方案以影响顾客对商店的感觉，迎合消费者的品味，且其在2011年收购了Muzak。该公司的国际业务总监Claude Nahon说这一创意是为了使消费者感到愉悦，并因此延长消费者留在商店里的时间。比起普通的音乐，著名艺术家的音乐能更好的使消费者与背景音乐建立联系。这一尴尬的品牌名称在2013年被放弃。

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　　Online shopping is an under-explored area of merchandising musicology. A new study commissioned by eBay, a shopping website, aims to correct that. Some 1,900 participants were asked to simulate online shopping while listening to different sounds. Some results were unsurprising. The noise of roadworks and crying babies soured shoppers' views of the products on offer. Chirruping birds encouraged sales of barbecues but not blenders or board games.

　　网上购物是销售音乐学有待开发的一个领域。由购物网站eBay委托进行的一项新研究就是为了完善它。约1900名参与者被要求在不同的背景声音下模拟网上购物。一些结果并不让人意外。道路施工的噪音以及婴儿的哭声让顾客对所提供的商品感到失望。鸟的叽喳声有利于烧烤工具的销售而不利于搅拌机或棋盘类游戏的销售。

　　Sounds associated with quality and luxury seemed to be hazardous⁶ for shoppers' wallets. The study found classical music and restaurant buzz caused them to overestimate⁷ the quality of goods on offer and to pay more than they should. That backs up earlier research which found that shoppers exposed to classical music in a wine store bought more expensive bottles than those hearing pop.

　　与品质和奢华相联系的声音似乎可以使顾客的钱包大出血。研究发现古典音乐和餐厅的杂音可以使顾客高估所提供的商品的质量，并使他们的花销比本应该的更多。这一点支持了一个早期研究发现：在酒行里，暴露在古典音乐中的顾客会比听着流行乐的顾客购买更贵的酒。

　　EBay wants consumers to avoid such unhealthy influences when shopping online. It has blended birdsong, dreamy music and the sound of a rolling train—thought to be pleasant but not overly seductive—to help them buy more sensibly. Retailers⁹ could presumably counter by cranking up the Chopin. “Classical music does seem to be the way to go” if your only interest is the narrow one of squeezing as much money as possible from your clientele, says the study's author, Patrick Fagan, a lecturer at Goldsmiths, part of the University of London.

　　EBay希望消费者在网购时能够避免这些不健康的影响。混合了鸟鸣、梦幻般的音乐以及火车转轮声的音频—被认为是令人愉悦的，但不过于诱人的音乐—使得顾客购保持理智的同时又购买更多的商品。零售商们想必会通过把播放着肖邦音乐的音箱声音调大来彼此竞争。Patrick Fagan，伦敦大学分部—金史密斯学院的讲师，该研究报告的作者称：“古典音乐似乎就是正确的选择”，如果你唯一的兴趣就是狭隘的想要从你的客户身上榨取尽可能多的钱。

　　Few traditional shops are likely to use that tactic¹⁰. H&M, a clothes retailer⁸, airs “trendy, up-tempo¹¹” music from new artists, while Nespresso's coffee boutiques go for “lounge-y” sounds, says Mr Nahon. Grocery stores, with a broad following, play top 40 hits. The tempo tends to be slower in the mornings, when shoppers are sparser¹² and older, and becomes more allegro¹³ as the day goes on.

　　很少有传统商店会使用这一策略。Nahon先生说，服装零售商H&M会播放来自新兴艺术家的“新潮，快节奏”的音乐，而雀巢咖啡精品店会选择“lounge-y”这类懒洋洋的音乐。有着广泛顾客群的杂货商店会播放排行榜前40名的单曲。早上，顾客比较稀少且多为老年人时，就播放节奏舒缓的音乐，而随后逐渐变快。

　　Using the classics to set tills ringing may not be an option, but audio architects are thinking up new tricks for bricks-and-mortar stores. Mood Media is experimenting with an inaudible “digital tag”, attached to in-store soundtracks, which activates¹⁴ an app on shoppers' phones. The app can tempt¹⁵ them with discounts or provide more information about products. With luck, this will trigger more sales than a blast of Beethoven.

　　使用传统方式把收银机设置收银扫描时会响的模式可能不是一个好的选择，但是音频架构师正为实体店铺构思新策略。Mood Media正在试验一种无声数字标签，其与店内背景音乐联系在一起，且其可激活顾客手机上的一个应用程序。此应用程序可以提供折扣吸引顾客购买或为顾客提供更多产品信息。幸运的话，这将比贝多芬一段激荡的音乐引发更高的销售量。

1 throb   

v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动

参考例句：

• She felt her heart give a great throb.她感到自己的心怦地跳了一下。
• The drums seemed to throb in his ears.阵阵鼓声彷佛在他耳边震响。

2 trolleys   

n.（两轮或四轮的）手推车( trolley的名词复数 )；装有脚轮的小台车；电车

参考例句：

• Cars and trolleys filled the street. 小汽车和有轨电车挤满了街道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句

3 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

4 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

5 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

6 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

7 overestimate   

v.估计过高，过高评价

参考例句：

• Don't overestimate seriousness of the problem.别把问题看重了。
• We overestimate our influence and our nuisance value.我们过高地估计了自己的影响力和破坏作用。

8 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

9 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

10 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

11 tempo   

n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度

参考例句：

• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
• They waltz to the tempo of the music.他们跟着音乐的节奏跳华尔兹舞。

12 sparser   

adj.稀疏的，稀少的( sparse的比较级 )

参考例句：

13 allegro   

adj. 快速而活泼的；n.快板；adv.活泼地

参考例句：

• The first movement is a conventional symphonic Allegro.第一乐章是传统的交响乐快板。
• My life in university is like allegro.我的生活在大学中像急速的乐章。

14 activates   

使活动，起动，触发( activate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 激活窗口，保持当前的大小及位置不变。
• Pulling out the alarm switch activates alarm and pushing it deactivates it. 闹钟的开和关是通过拔出和按入闹铃开关实现的。

15 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。