European Journal of Marketing

The effect of music tempo on consumer impatience in intertemporal decisions

Kyu Kim, Gal Zauberman,
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Kyu Kim, Gal Zauberman, (2019) "The effect of music tempo on consumer impatience in
intertemporal decisions", European Journal of Marketing, https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-10-2017-0696
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Music tempo
The effect of music tempo on
consumer impatience in
intertemporal decisions
Kyu Kim
Yonsei University, Seoul, Yonseiro, Republic of Korea, and
Received 23 October 2017
Gal Zauberman Revised 12 May 2018
4 August 2018
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA 9 September 2018
Accepted 10 September 2018
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Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to examine the effect of music tempo on impatience in intertemporal tradeoff
decisions. It finds that fast (vs slow) tempo music increases impatience. This occurs because fast (vs slow)
tempo music makes temporal distance, and hence the waiting time until the receipt of delayed benefits, feel
subjectively longer.
Design/methodology/approach – The study tests the hypotheses through four laboratory
experiments.
Findings – In Studies 1a (N = 88) and 1b (N = 98), the results demonstrate that when participants listen to
fast (vs slow) tempo music, they judge temporal distance to be longer. In Study 2 (N = 94), the results
demonstrate that when participants listen to fast (vs slow) tempo music, they become more impatient when
considering a smartphone purchase. In Study 3 (N = 218), the results demonstrate that when participants
listen to fast (vs slow) tempo music, they become more impatient when considering a gift certificate, and that
this delay discounting effect is attributable to the change in their temporal distance judgment.
Research limitations/implications – The current research reports a novel factor that influences
impatience in intertemporal decisions and temporal distance judgment.
Practical implications – This research provides useful guidelines for retail managers and marketers
regarding the effect of background music in stores.
Originality/value – This is the first study demonstrating a music tempo effect on temporal distance
judgment and impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions.
Keywords Temporal distance, Background music, Intertemporal decisions, Music tempo,
Time perception
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Recent advances in digital technologies allow marketers and retailers to easily choose and
play music in various retail spaces. Background music is played in clothing stores, shopping
malls, grocery stores, cafeterias, restaurants, hotel lobbies and even in restrooms and
elevators. Also, many consumers select their own background music using their
smartphones and other portable music devices. They listen to their own background music
in their daily lives while they study, read, shop, walk and exercise. Such prevalent use of
background music implies that consumers make many important decisions in the presence
of music. Hence, it is important to understand the influences that background music has on
consumers. Marketing researchers have in fact studied various aspects of background European Journal of Marketing
music such as volume (Lammers, 2003; Smith and Curnow, 1966), tempo (Chebat et al., 1993; © Emerald Publishing Limited
0309-0566
Knoeferle et al., 2017; Milliman, 1982, 1986; Oakes, 2003), genre (Areni and Kim, 1993; North DOI 10.1108/EJM-10-2017-0696
 EJM et al., 2016), pleasantness (Dubé and Morin, 2001), familiarity (Bailey and Areni, 2006) and
notoriety (Petruzzellis et al., 2014). In doing so, they have found various effects of
background music on sales, product choice, store evaluation, store patronage, perception of
waiting time, etc. In the current research, we aim to test whether background music can
influence consumer impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions (i.e. tradeoff decisions
between smaller-immediate benefits and larger-delayed benefits) and whether the judgment
of temporal distance plays a role.
Decisions consumers make in the present often have implications for the future. A
consumer’s decision to purchase a product at full price today implies she is giving up the
opportunity to purchase it or an alternative product at a lower price in the future. A decision
to eat tasty but unhealthy foods today can influence health conditions in the future. As such,
many decisions consumers make are essentially tradeoff decisions between benefits in the
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present and benefits in the future. Due to the ubiquity of intertemporal tradeoff decisions,
there is growing interest in consumer impatience in the recent marketing literature (Bartels
and Urminsky, 2011, 2015; Bilgin and LeBoeuf, 2010; Festjens et al., 2014; Malkoc and
Zauberman, 2006; May, 2017; May and Monga, 2013; Kim and Zauberman, 2013; Kim et al.,
2012; Van den Bergh et al., 2008, 2011; Zauberman, 2003; for recent review, Urmisky and
Zauberman, 2015).
Although background music is an important atmospheric variable in marketing practice
and consumer impatience is an important aspect of consumer behavior, we are not aware of
a study that has explored a possible link between background music and consumer
impatience. Hence, in the current research, we aim to test whether background music
influences consumer impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions. Among the various
components of music, we focus on tempo (the speed at which a piece of music is played) and
test the hypothesis that fast tempo music makes consumers more likely to opt for smaller-
immediate benefits at the expense of larger-delayed benefits by changing how long the
future delay is perceived to be.
Establishing the link between background music and consumer impatience has
important ramifications for both marketing research and the practice of marketing. The
current research adds to the research on intertemporal tradeoff decisions by uncovering a
novel factor that increases consumer impatience and its underlying process. It also provides
useful guidelines for marketing practitioners, as our findings can be easily applied to affect
consumers’ impatience in various consumer settings.

2. Theoretical development and hypotheses

2.1 Background music
Background music in the current research refers to music played in the environment when
consumers make decisions, use services or make purchases. Background music has been
noted as an important atmospheric variable in the marketing literature (for reviews, Garlin
and Owen, 2006; Turley and Milliman, 2000). Researchers have identified various effects of
background music. Fast tempo music slows the walking pace of shoppers at grocery stores
and increases sales (Milliman, 1982). Loud music shortens shopping duration at a store but
does not necessarily influence sales (Smith and Curnow, 1966). Younger consumers want to
spend more time in department stores when instrumental music plays in the background,
while older consumers want to spend more time when listening to foreground music (i.e. a
song with lyrics; Yalch and Spangenberg, 1990). The music genre at a wine store influences
wine selection such that classical music leads consumers to buy expensive wines (Areni and
Kim, 1993). Waiting time in a bank feels longer when customers are listening to pleasant
 music than when they are listening to negative or no music (Hui et al., 1997). Table I Music tempo
summarizes studies of background music in the marketing literature.
There are broadly three categories of outcomes regarding the effect of background music
as examined by researchers:
(1) time-related variables such as time estimation or actual time spent at a store
(Bailey and Areni, 2006; Chebat et al., 1993; Hui et al., 1997; Milliman, 1986; Oakes,
2003; Smith and Curnow, 1966; Yalch and Spangenberg, 1990);
(2) sales (Areni and Kim, 1993; Knoeferle et al., 2017; Lammers, 2003; Milliman, 1982,
1986; North et al., 1999); and
(3) store evaluation (Dubé and Morin, 2001; Grewal et al., 2003; Hui et al., 1997; Mattila
and Wirtz, 2001).
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Relatively little attention has been paid to the effect of background music on the
psychological processes consumers engage in (for exceptions see Chebat et al., 1993;
Hagtvedt and Brasel, 2016; North et al., 2016). A recent study demonstrated that the
frequency (high vs low) of sound influences participants’ visual attention (i.e. where they
fixate their eyes) toward objects of different colors: participants exposed to high frequency
sound fixate their eyes longer on light colored objects; in contrast, those exposed to low
frequency sound fixate their eyes longer on dark colored objects (Hagtvedt and Brasel,
2016). Yet such evidence is scant in the marketing literature. In the current research, we aim
to investigate the effect of background music on consumers’ psychological processes. In
particular, we study the effect of music tempo on consumers’ judgment of temporal distance
and impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions.

2.2 Music tempo and arousal

Music consists of various elements such as rhythm, tempo, mode, melody, harmony,
duration and loudness. Among these elements, we focus on tempo for two main reasons.
First, due to advances in digital technology, tempo can be manipulated independently from
the other elements of music. That is, the tempo of music can be altered without influencing
its mode, melody, harmony, or loudness. Such independent manipulation of tempo is
important for psychological research because researchers can identify a unique effect of
tempo while controlling the influence of other elements. Second, researchers have
extensively studied the psychological effect of music tempo and have reported consistent
findings. Various studies in the area of music perception and cognitive psychology have
investigated whether elements of music have a systematic effect on listeners’ psychological
states. The most reliable effect has been observed for tempo, which has been shown to
heighten listeners’ arousal. Arousal indicates the state of being physiologically awake and
alert, which is independent from the state of feeling good or bad. Using various pieces of
music and research methods, researchers generally found that fast tempo music is more
arousing than slow tempo music, but fast tempo music is not necessarily more pleasant than
slow tempo music (Balch and Lewis, 1996; Dillman Carpentier and Potter, 2007; Droit-Volet
et al., 2013; Husain et al., 2002; Kellaris and Kent, 1994; Kenealy, 1988; Lundin, 1985;
Thompson et al., 2001). In one such study, researchers manipulated both tempo (165 vs 60
bpm) and mode (major vs minor) of the same piece of classical music (Mozart Sonata K. 448)
orthogonally using computer software. They found that tempo influenced arousal but not
mood, and mode influenced mood but not arousal (Husain et al., 2002). A meta-analysis
of 150 articles in the marketing literature reports a similar finding (Garlin and Owen, 2006).
It found that among various elements of music such as tempo, volume, complexity, genre,
 EJM Article Study type Music component Findings

Smith and Field Volume Loud music negatively influenced shopping duration
Curnow (1966) experiment
Milliman (1982) Field Tempo Slow tempo positively influenced the pace of
experiment walking pace of shoppers and sales volume
Milliman (1982) Field Tempo Slow tempo positively influenced dining time and
experiment expenditures on alcoholic beverages
Yalch and Field Foreground music Younger shoppers felt to spend more time in the
Spangenberg experimentvs background store with background music and older shoppers felt
(1990) music to spend more time with foreground music
Areni and Kim Field Genre (classical vs Classical music positively influenced sales of
(1993) experiment top-40) expensive wines
Chebat et al. Lab Tempo More (vs less) visually stimulating scenes of a bank
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(1993) experiment resulted in a longer estimation of waiting time only

when slow tempo music was present but not when
fast tempo music was present
Chebat et al. Lab Soothing vs Soothing (vs arousing) music positively influenced
(1993) experiment arousing music cognitive processing when salesperson’s argument
was weak but not when it was strong
Hui et al. (1997) Lab Pleasantness Pleasant (vs unpleasant) music positively influenced
experiment perceived waiting time, emotional response to the
wait, emotional evaluation of the service
environment, and recommendation intention to
friends
North et al. (1999) Field Country (French Country of music positively influenced the sales of
experiment vs German) wine from the corresponding country
Dubé and Morin Field Pleasantness Music pleasure positively influenced store
(2001) experiment evaluation
Mattila and Field Tempo Congruency between music and scent in terms of
Wirtz (2001) experiment their arousing nature positively influenced pleasure
and store evaluation
Sweeney and Lab Tempo and genre Fast classical music or slow top-40 music positively
Wyber (2002) experiment (classical vs top- influenced perceived service quality
40)
Grewal et al. Lab Presence of music Classical music positively influenced evaluation of a
(2003) experiment luxury store
Lammers (2003) Field Volume and genre Loud music negatively influenced sales but music
experiment (classical vs soft genre did not
rock)
Oakes (2003) Lab Tempo Slow tempo resulted in a shorter perception of
experiment waiting time when the actual time was short but not
when it was long
Bailey and Areni Lab Familiarity Familiar music resulted in a shorter estimation of
(2006) experiment time interval when participants were waiting idly
but not when they were engaged in a task
Petruzzellis et al. Field Notoriety Notoriety of music positively influenced frequency of
(2014) experiment visiting a mall
Hagtvedt and Lab Frequency Frequency of music influenced visual attention to
Brasel (2016) experiment objects in colors (light vs dark)
North et al. (2016) Lab Genre Genre of music influenced memory and choice of
Table I. experiment products congruent with the music
Summary of studies Knoeferle et al. Field Tempo Tempo moderated the effect of store density on sales
on background music (2017) experiment
 liking/familiarity, and presence of music, tempo was the strongest inducer of arousal. In Music tempo
addition, it found that fast tempo had a stronger effect on arousal than on pleasure.
To summarize, various empirical studies and a meta-analysis consistently note the
ability of fast tempo music to induce physiological arousal, which is a focus of the current
research. Notably, although fast tempo music induces arousal, simply increasing the tempo
of any piece of music may not always increase arousal due to other elements of the music
which can interact with tempo in inducing arousal. For instance, Kellaris and Kent (1994)
found fast tempo music induces arousal only when the music was pop music but not when it
was classical music. Accordingly, this research focuses on arousing fast tempo music.

2.3 Intertemporal tradeoff decisions

Many decisions consumers make consist of a tradeoff between smaller-immediate benefits
and larger-delayed benefits. Studies on intertemporal tradeoff decisions have mounted
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evidence that consumers often opt for small, immediately available benefits when larger or
even negative consequences are expected in the future – that is, consumers are impatient.
Such impatience may be attributable to uncertainty in the future or to consumers’ inability
to consider delayed consequences. Many consumers, however, still show a large degree of
impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions when these factors are experimentally or
statistically controlled.
Consumer impatience has been used as a key dependent variable in various studies of
behavioral research in marketing (Bartels and Urminsky, 2011, 2015; Bilgin and LeBoeuf,
2010; Festjens et al., 2014; Malkoc and Zauberman, 2006; May, 2017; May and Monga, 2013;
Kim and Zauberman, 2013; Kim et al., 2012; Van den Bergh et al., 2008, 2011; Zauberman,
2003). One’s impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions can be measured easily in a
laboratory experiment using hypothetical rewards. The standard method of measuring
impatience is asking participants to contemplate two intertemporal rewards (e.g. a cash
prize today vs a cash prize in the future) and finding the value of two rewards that would
make participants feel indifferent between them. For instance, in a seminal study by Thaler
(1981), he asked participants how much they had to be paid to give up $15 they can receive
immediately. Participants on average requested an additional $15 when they had to wait
three months and $45 when they had to wait 12 months. Although measuring consumer
impatience using hypothetical rewards as such may have low external validity, this
approach can be justified for the following reasons. First, studies found that one’s
impatience is not significantly different when considering hypothetical rewards and real
rewards (Johnson and Bickel, 2002; Madden et al., 2003). Second, even though one’s
impatience is measured for hypothetical monetary rewards, the level of impatience predicts
various impatient behaviors in the real world, such as low credit scores (Meier and Sprenger,
2012), credit card debt (Meier and Sprenger, 2010), obesity (Komlos et al., 2004), use of
addictive substances (Kirby and Petry, 2004), smoking (Chabris et al., 2008), exercise
frequency (Chabris et al., 2008) and even college GPA (Kirby et al., 2005). Third, importantly,
researchers’ main interest is often not in precisely estimating one’s level of impatience but in
identifying factors influencing that impatience, as well as their underlying processes. If a
psychological process is shown to influence one’s impatience for hypothetical rewards in a
laboratory experiment, the same process should hold when consumers contemplate real-
world outcomes. For instance, researchers found that the mental representation of future
rewards (Malkoc and Zauberman, 2006; Trope and Liberman, 2003), valence of future
outcomes (Bilgin and LeBoeuf, 2010), and one’s feeling of connectedness between the present
and future selves (Bartels and Urminsky, 2011; Ersner-Hershfield et al., 2009) influence
participants’ impatience for hypothetical monetary rewards in a laboratory experiment.
 EJM Because these factors tap into consumers’ internal processes, they should have an impact
regardless of whether consumers consider hypothetical or real-world rewards.

2.4 Music tempo and temporal distance judgment

So far, we have discussed the arousing nature of fast tempo music, as well as consumer
impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions. We now discuss the psychological process
through which music tempo and consumer impatience can be related. In the area of time
perception in cognitive psychology, where researchers study human judgment of elapsed
duration (i.e. time that actually has passed), auditory tempo repeatedly has been shown to
influence this judgment. Specifically, when people are exposed to a fast tempo, they
overestimate the time interval that has passed. For instance, in a study conducted by Zakay
et al. (1983), participants indicated their perception of elapsed duration while listening to a
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fast auditory tempo (i.e. tones repeated every 0.5 s) or a slow auditory tempo (i.e. tones
repeated every 2 s). The authors found that participants who listened to the fast tempo
judged the same elapsed duration to be longer than those who listened to the slow tempo.
Similar effects were reported for various types of tempo such as a metronome sound, visual
flickers, a tapping task, and even rhythmic bodily activity (Droit-Volet and Wearden, 2002;
Michon, 1966; Penton-Voak et al., 1996; Treisman and Brogan, 1992; Treisman et al., 1990).
Of note, while such findings relate to judgment of elapsed time (i.e. time that actually has
passed), our interest in the current research is in consumers’ judgment of temporal distance
to the future. Nonetheless, judgment of elapsed time and judgment of temporal distance can
be associated. Judgment of temporal distance requires processing of two temporal anchors:
the starting point and the end point. In the context of intertemporal tradeoff decisions, the
starting point is the present and the end point is in the future. While the future is a static
anchor (i.e. it is defined by a specific date), the present moment is not because time is
continuously passing toward the future. In this way, judging temporal distance between the
present moment and a certain future date is like judging spatial distance to a certain location
while driving a car to the location. When one moves toward the location fast, the distance to
the location seems closer compared to when one moves toward it slowly. Similarly, when
one feels time is moving quickly, she would feel that the distance to a certain future point is
comparatively shorter. To summarize, because the present moment is continuously moving
toward the future, we argue that one’s feeling of elapsed time passage should influence her
temporal distance judgment to the future.
Recent neuroimaging studies provide support for this reasoning: studies find that brain
regions associated with processing elapsed time are also activated when people make
intertemporal decisions, which involve judgment of temporal distance between the present
and the future (Cooper et al., 2013; Cui, 2011; Wittmann et al., 2010). In a study, we
empirically tested the link between elapsed time perception and temporal distance
judgment. With undergraduate participants (N = 175), we first measured their elapsed time
perception by asking them to listen to tone sounds (pitch of 157.49 Hz; sampling frequency
of 44,100 Hz) for various durations (i.e. tones lasting 2, 7, 11, 18, 23 and 30 s) and to indicate
the feeling of duration for each tone. In a subsequent task, we asked them to judge various
temporal distances (i.e. distance from the present to 10, 17, 25, 33, 49 and 60 days later). To
analyze the data, we calculated an index score for one-second duration (for the elapsed time
perception) and for one-day duration (for the temporal distance judgment). This index
measure revealed a significant correlation between elapsed time perception and temporal
distance judgment (r = 0.31, p < 0.0001), indicating that those who perceived elapsed time to
be longer also perceived longer distance to the future.
 Taken together, these lines of evidence indicate the possibility that one’s feeling of Music tempo
elapsed time passage is associated with temporal distance judgment between the present
and the future. Building on this, we predict that fast tempo music, which is more arousing
than slow tempo music and influences elapsed time perception, will result in a longer
judgment of temporal distance to the future. There is one past piece of research that
proposed a similar relationship between arousal and temporal distance judgment. In studies
conducted by Kim and Zauberman (2013), they presented male heterosexual participants
photographs of either sexually attractive female models or neutral objects (e.g. rocks or
trees). They found that those who were presented with sexually attractive female models
judged the same future durations to be longer than those who were presented with neutral
objects. Although photographs of sexually arousing females are more arousing than
photographs of neutral objects, all of their subjects were heterosexual males; hence it is not
clear from their research whether the effect of arousal on temporal distance judgment would
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emerge generally for all people. In addition, they compared sexually arousing stimuli (which
are both highly arousing and rewarding) with neutral stimuli (which are not only less
arousing but also less rewarding). Thus, it is not clear whether the observed results were
purely due to the arousing nature of the stimuli or to their rewarding value. But in the
current research, we compare stimuli that are similar in their rewarding value but differ only
in terms of tempo, and therefore, arousal[1]. Furthermore, because sexually arousing images
may not be appropriate to use as atmospheric variables in many retail spaces, their findings
may not be directly applicable in marketing practices. In contrast, the findings in the current
research can be easily applied in marketing as long as background music is used. For these
reasons, we argue that the current research has important ramifications both theoretically
and practically.

2.5 Music tempo, time judgment and impatience

To summarize, due to the arousing nature of fast tempo music, we predict that consumers
exposed to fast tempo music will judge a longer temporal distance to the future compared to
those exposed to slow tempo music. To test this possibility, we hypothesize the following:

H1. Participants who listen to fast tempo music will judge longer temporal distance to
the future than those who listen to slow tempo music.
Many researchers in intertemporal tradeoff decisions have proposed that one’s judgment of
temporal distance is an important determinant of his impatience in intertemporal tradeoff
decisions (Bilgin and LeBoeuf, 2010; Ebert and Prelec, 2007; Kim et al., 2012; Zauberman
et al., 2009). That is, when consumers perceive the delay between intertemporal benefits to
be subjectively longer, they are more likely to opt for immediate benefits over delayed
benefits because the waiting time until the receipt of delayed benefits feels subjectively
longer. The corollary of the relationship between temporal distance judgment and
intertemporal tradeoff decisions is that if one’s temporal distance judgment is altered, his
impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions will change accordingly. In a study,
researchers altered participants’ temporal distance judgment using the interdependent
relationship between temporal distance judgment and spatial distance judgment (Kim et al.,
2012). For instance, if a person currently in New Haven will be in Seoul at the end of the
month, that month feels longer than if he would have been in New York at the end of the
month instead. When participants judged longer temporal distance to the future as such,
they showed a greater level of impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions. In the current
research, we expect that a similar effect will emerge regarding music tempo. To test this
possibility, the hypothesis is as follows:
 EJM
H2. Participants who listen to fast tempo music will show a greater level of impatience
in intertemporal tradeoff decisions than those who listen to slow tempo music.
In addition, to test the proposed mechanism, the mediating role of temporal distance
judgment is tested regarding the effect of music tempo on impatience:

H3. Music tempo will influence participants’ impatience in intertemporal tradeoff

decisions through the changes in their temporal distance judgment to the future.
We test these predictions through four laboratory experiments. In Studies 1a and 1b, we test
whether music tempo alters participants’ judgment of temporal distance to the future (H1).
In Study 2, we test whether music tempo influences participants’ impatience in
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intertemporal tradeoff decisions (H2). Combining these two studies, Study 3 shows that
tempo influences impatience though the changes in temporal distance judgment to delayed
future rewards (H3).

3. Study 1a
Study 1a was designed to test the basic premise that music tempo influences temporal
distance judgment to the future. We predicted that participants who listened to the fast
tempo music would judge longer temporal distance to the future than those who listened to
the slow tempo music.

3.1 Design and procedure

Based on the expectation of a medium effect size, we aimed to recruit 100 participants for
Studies 1a and 1b. In total, 88 students at a large, private university on the West Coast
participated in Study 1a (48 female), and no one was excluded in the analysis. They were
randomly assigned to either fast or slow tempo conditions. To manipulate tempo, a music
clip was chosen in a genre popular among college students (i.e. club dance music; “Gyoza” by
Mark Storie and Nick Sheldon). Its tempo was manipulated using a sound editor (Audacity).
The original tempo of the music was 126 BPM. The tempo of the music was changed to be
either faster (131.28 BPM) or slower (94.55 BPM) without changing its pitch.
Participants sat at individual computer stations. At the beginning of the study, a
researcher asked them to wear headphones and to listen to the music clip for a moment.
After about 1 min, the researcher asked them to start a computerized study. Participants
continued listening to the music until they completed the study. In the main part of the
study, we first told participants that “People feel the same length of time subjectively
differently. For instance, some may feel the same three months to be very long, while others
may feel it to be very short.” Then, we asked them to think about a particular day three
months in the future and to indicate how short or long they felt the duration was until that
day on an 11-point scale (1 = very short, 11 = very long). Participants were listening to the
music when they answered these questions.
Then, they were asked several questions about the music. To check whether the tempo
manipulation was successful, participants answered, “How do you feel about the tempo of
the music?” (1 = too slow, 11 = too fast). In addition, to control the influence of participants’
liking of the music, they were asked, “How much do you like the music?” (1 = not at all, 11 =
very much). Some participants might feel that the tempo of the music was artificially altered
and such a feeling could influence their responses. To examine this possibility, they were
asked whether they thought the tempo of the music was different from the tempo of the
 original music (yes or no). They were also asked whether they had heard this music before Music tempo
(yes or no). Participants answered all questions while still listening to the music.

3.2 Results and discussion

Participants in the fast tempo condition indicated that the music tempo was faster than
those in the slow tempo condition Mfast = 6.63, SD = 1.30 vs Mslow = 5.32, SD = 1.87; t(86) =
3.78, p < 0.001). This piece of music was unfamiliar to most participants, as only one
participant claimed to have heard it before. Furthermore, participants’ liking of the music
was not different between two conditions (Mfast = 5.68, SD = 2.59 vs Mslow = 5.19, SD = 2.84;
t(86) =0.84, p = 0.40). Hence, differences in their temporal distance judgment cannot be
attributed to different liking of the fast and the slow tempo music.
We then tested our main hypothesis. Confirming the tempo effect on temporal distance
judgment, participants in the fast tempo condition judged the future date to be farther away
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than those in the slow tempo condition (Mfast = 7.54, SD = 2.66 vs Mslow = 6.45, SD = 2.25; t
(86) = 2.08, p = 0.04). The results were similar after statistically controlling for their liking of
the music (F(1, 85) = 4.25, p = 0.04). These results confirm the prediction that music tempo
influences participants’ judgment of temporal distance to the future.
In total, 42 participants felt the tempo of the music to be different from the tempo of the
original music. Because most of the participants had not heard this music before, we
reasoned that these participants just guessed as much. Importantly, the proportion of these
participants did not statistically differ between the two conditions [39.0 per cent vs 55.3
per cent; x 2(1) = 2.33, p = 0.13]. Most important, this variable neither had a main effect
[F(1, 84) = 0.09, p = 0.76] nor an interaction effect with the tempo manipulation [F(1, 84) =
0.58, p = 0.45]. Hence, the possibility that participants’ feeling of tempo alteration influenced
their responses was ruled out.

4. Study 1b
To test the generalizability of our findings across different samples, in Study 1b we tested
our hypothesis with college students in a different country. In addition, while we measured
temporal distance to a future date, in this study we measured it with respect to specific
future events (e.g. visiting a bank in ten days). Furthermore, to confirm that fast tempo
music is more arousing than slow tempo music, we measured participants’ arousal levels
while they were listening to music.

4.1 Design and procedure

In total, 98 undergraduate students (45 female) who were taking introductory marketing
courses at a large university in South Korea were recruited, and no one was excluded in the
analysis. They were randomly assigned to either fast or slow tempo conditions. The same
music as in Study 1a was used to manipulate tempo. All procedures were similar to Study
1a.
We measured participants’ temporal distance judgments toward three future events:
visiting a bank, submitting an assignment, and going on a trip with friends. Specifically,
they were asked to imagine that they had to visit a bank in ten days and to indicate how
close or far the date felt. They indicated their responses on an 11-point scale (1 = very close,
11 = very far). They repeated this task for two more occasions that were ten days away
(submitting an assignment and going on a trip with friends). Subsequently, their arousal
level was measured using a six-item semantic differential scale where the spaces between
adjective pairs were divided by an 11-point scale (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). Six pairs of
adjectives on the scale were “stimulated – relaxed”, “excited – calm”, “frenzied – sluggish”,
 EJM “jittery – dull”, “wide awake – sleepy”, and “aroused – unaroused”. Last, similar to Study 1a,
we measured the set of questions regarding the music itself. Participants were listening to
the music when they answered these questions.

4.2 Results and discussion

Only two participants indicated that they had heard the music before. Demonstrating the
success of our manipulation, participants in the fast tempo condition indicated that the
music tempo was faster than did those in the slow tempo condition [Mfast = 7.49, SD = 1.23
vs Mslow = 5.63, SD = 1.48; t(96) = 6.76, p < 0.001]. Importantly, participants in the fast
tempo condition reported a greater level of arousal than those in the slow tempo condition
did [Mfast =
2.02, SD = 1.37 vs Mslow =
0.92, SD = 1.78; t(96) = 3.44, p < 0.001].
Furthermore, participants’ liking of the music was not different between two conditions
[Mfast = 5.92, SD = 2.85 vs Mslow = 5.51, SD = 2.49; t(96) = 0.45, p = 0.41]. These results
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indicate that tempo influenced participants’ arousal but not their liking of the music.
To test the main hypothesis, we ran a repeated-measure ANOVA with the tempo
manipulation as a between-subject factor and the three future events as a within-subject
factor. The tempo  future events interaction did not emerge [F(2, 192) = 0.02, p = 0.98].
Importantly, the main effect of the tempo manipulation was significant [F(1, 96) = 4.64, p =
0.03]. The tempo effect was significant after statistically controlling for their liking of the
music (F(1, 95) = 4.55, p = 0.04). Table II shows descriptive statistics of the results.
Interestingly, the main effect of the within-subject factor also emerged [F(2, 96) = 17.44, p <
0.001]. Specifically, regardless of tempo, participants felt visiting a bank in ten days to be
more distant than submitting an assignment [t(97) = 5.08, p < 0.001] or going on a trip with
friends [t(97) = 5.49, p < 0.001]. We speculated that participants’ different motivations for
these events (e.g. they wanted to delay visiting a bank but wanted to savor their future trip)
and the dreadful nature of assignment submission (Van Boven et al., 2010) may have caused
such differences.
In total, 37 participants felt the tempo of the music to be different from the tempo of the
original music. The proportion of these participants, however, did not differ between the two
conditions [34.7 per cent vs 40.8 per cent; x 2(1) = 0.53, p = 0.68]. This variable did not have a
main effect [F(1, 94) = 0.12, p = 0.73] nor an interaction effect with the tempo manipulation
[F(1, 94) = 1.04, p = 0.45].
Taking together the results in Studies 1a and 1b, we found that music tempo influences
judgment of temporal distance to the future.

5. Study 2
Study 2 aimed to test H2 that tempo influences participants’ impatience in intertemporal
tradeoff decisions. To measure impatience, we presented participants an intertemporal
choice involving a smartphone. We chose a smartphone as an intertemporal outcome
because the price of a smartphone usually decreases after its launch to the market; hence

Experimental conditions
Future events Fast tempo Slow tempo

Visiting a bank 6.51 (1.84) 5.98 (1.79)

Table II. Submitting an assignment 5.35 (2.08) 4.73 (2.11)
Descriptive statistics Going to a trip 5.04 (2.31) 4.43 (2.12)
for responses in
Study 1b Note: Numbers in parenthesis indicates standard deviations
 consumers often make tradeoff decisions between purchasing a new smartphone at a full Music tempo
price immediately and waiting for the future when there may be a discounted price. In
addition, we used the commercial music that was actually used in TV campaigns for the
smartphone. Because commercial music is widely used not only as background music of TV
campaigns but also as store music, consumers often make purchase decisions for a product
while listening to its commercial music in the background. Hence, the setup of the current
study increases the real-life relevancy of our test.

5.1 Design and procedure

Participants were ninety-four undergraduate students at a large, private university in the
USA (54 female, 1 no response). All participants were included in the analysis. They were
randomly assigned to either fast or slow tempo conditions. The experiment was conducted
in a lab with multiple computer stations. To manipulate music tempo, we sampled a music
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piece that was actually used for TV campaigns for a smartphone (“Perfect Timing (this
Morning)” by Orba Squara). The original tempo of the music was 85 BPM and we changed it
to be either faster (95 BPM) or slower (75 BPM) using a sound editor (Audacity). After about
30 seconds from when the music started playing, we presented an intertemporal choice task
for a smartphone on a screen. Specifically, participants imagined receiving a new iPhone on
that day, but if they were willing to wait 60 days to receive it instead, they could receive a
gift certificate for Amazon.com as well. While still listening to the music, participants
indicated the dollar amount for the gift certificate they would want to receive to wait 60 days
for the smartphone. We define impatience as participants’ tendency to receive a reward as
soon as possible at the expense of a larger reward in the future. Hence, participants’ level of
impatience can be measured by the value of the gift certificate. Because a real product was
used for the intertemporal outcomes, we also measured participants’ interest in purchasing
the focal product (i.e. consumers who are not interested in purchasing this particular
smartphone may not show impatience for it). To examine whether participants’ purchase
interest for the smartphone influenced their impatience, we further asked them whether they
currently are considering or have considered purchasing the new smartphone (yes or no).

5.2 Results and discussion

About two thirds of the participants (62.8 per cent) indicated they were interested in
purchasing the smartphone. We ran a two-way ANOVA with tempo and their purchase
interest as between-subject factors on their impatience for the smartphone. This analysis
revealed no main effect of the tempo on impatience for the smartphone [F(1, 90) < 1].
This null effect, however, was qualified by a significant tempo  purchase interest
interaction [F(1, 90) = 4.38, p = 0.04]. Among participants who were interested in purchasing
the smartphone, those who were listening to fast tempo commercial music requested a
greater gift certificate value than those who were listening to the slow tempo music [Mfast =
$161.46, SD = 196.96 vs Mslow = $92.66, SD = 68.58; F(1, 90) = 4.31, p = 0.04]. These results
confirm our H2 that music tempo influences participants’ impatience in intertemporal
tradeoff decisions. Among participants who were not interested in purchasing the
smartphone, participants were not different in their impatience between the fast and
the slow tempo conditions [Mfast = $95.31, SD = 94.54 vs Mslow = $137.89, SD = 102.77;
F(1, 90) = 1.01, p = 0.32].
To conclude, we found that music tempo influenced participants’ impatience for a new
smartphone. Specifically, participants who were listening to fast tempo commercial music
were more impatient for a new smartphone than those who were listening to slow tempo
music. Of note, we found only a weak support for our hypothesis: this effect emerged only
 EJM among participants who were interested in purchasing the new smartphone. To account for
this limitation, in the following study we used a general monetary reward for the
intertemporal outcomes, which all participants would be interested in receiving
immediately.

6. Study 3
Study 3 aimed to test all three hypotheses together, in particular the mediating role of
temporal distance judgment on the effect of music tempo on impatience (H3).

6.1 Design and procedure

Participants were undergraduate students at a large, private university in the USA. They
participated in this study as part of a one-hour long session and received $10. In total, 218
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participants were recruited (117 female; one unknown), and no one was excluded in the
analysis. They were randomly assigned to either fast or slow tempo conditions. This study
consisted of two parts: a temporal distance judgment task and an intertemporal choice task.
Participants completed these two tasks while listening to either fast or slow tempo music.
To introduce a variation in the manipulation, this study used pop music with lyrics (“Across
the Universe” by the Beatles) and changed the tempo of the music to be either faster (194
BPM) or slower (109 BPM) using a sound editor (Audacity). We ran a pretest of this music
(N = 144) and found that participants were not different in their liking of the fast or slow
version of this music [Mfast = 7.86 vs Mslow = 7.73 [on an 11-point scale); t(142) = 0.32, p =
0.75]. In addition, the proportion of participants who felt the tempo of the song was different
from that of the original one was not different across conditions [36 per cent vs 31 per cent;
x 2(2) = 0.42, p = 0.81].
In the temporal distance judgment task, we asked participants to judge the length of
durations (e.g. duration starting today and ending in 24 days). To examine the effect of
tempo on temporal distance judgment systematically, we presented three durations in
different lengths (24, 49 and 62 days). The presentation of these timeframes was repeated
four times in a random order (for instance, a participant was presented with durations of 49,
24, 24, 62, 49, 62, 49, 49, 24, 62, 24 and 62 days). Participants indicated their feelings of these
durations using a computerized string which can be shortened or extended using arrow keys
on the computer keyboard. Participants were asked to adjust the length of the string to
indicate their feeling of duration such that if they felt that it was short (long), they would
indicate the string to be short (long). Their responses were recorded in millimeter units. This
scale can be extended infinitely (when the length of the scale exceeded the boundary of their
computer screen, the screen showed a scroll bar at the bottom, which allowed them to look
over the entire length of their response). We chose to use this scale to get rid of a ceiling
effect associated with standard Likert-type scales.
In the intertemporal choice task, participants’ impatience was measured using a standard
pricing measure (Thaler, 1981). Participants considered receiving a $50 gift certificate valid
on that day and redeemable in any department on Amazon.com. They were asked to
indicate the dollar amount of the gift certificate they would want to receive if they had to
wait until a future date instead. If participants were impatient in receiving the gift certificate,
they would price it high. The structure of this task was similar to that of temporal distance
judgment tasks. Participants considered that the reward was delayed by three different
durations (24, 49 and 62 days). These three durations were presented four times in a random
order; hence, participants indicated their responses in dollars for each of these 12 durations.
 6.2 Results and discussion Music tempo
First, participants’ temporal distance judgments were analyzed. Participants’ repeated
responses for the same duration were averaged. A repeated-measure ANOVA with the
length of durations as a within-subject factor and the tempo manipulation as a between-
subject factor revealed a main effect of tempo [F(1, 216) = 4.55, p = 0.03]. Specifically,
participants in the fast tempo condition judged the 24-day duration [Mfast = 86.27, SD =
72.08 vs Mslow = 67.63, SD = 48.33; t(177.59[2]) = 2.22, p = 0.03], the 49-day duration [Mfast =
134.78, SD = 104.49 vs Mslow = 109.51, SD = 72.56; t(181.52) = 2.06, p = 0.04] and the 62-day
duration [Mfast = 173.47, SD = 139.80 vs Mslow = 141.28, SD = 90.91; t(174.17) = 2.00, p <
0.05] to be longer than those in the slow condition. The tempo  duration interaction was
not statistically significant [F(1, 216) = 2.23, p = 0.11] (Figure 1).
Next, we analyzed participants’ impatience for the gift certificate. Means and standard
deviations of dollar responses were reported in Table III. Because the data are severely
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right-skewed, following the recommendation from the literature, we analyzed the data using
the “area under the curve” method (AUC) (Myerson et al., 2001)[3]. This method first plots
discounting curves based on participants’ responses and then calculates the size of the area
under the discounting curves for statistical analysis. A lower percentage in the AUC
indicates heavier discounting of delayed rewards (or greater impatience for immediate
rewards). The main advantage of this method over conventional analyses is in the
distribution of the statistic. While conventional methods of calculating intertemporal
preference often generate skewed data, this method generates normally distributed data,
allowing standard statistical tests without the use of a log transformation.
When consumers do not discount the value of the delayed gift certificate at all, AUC
score is 100 per cent. Analysis of our data in terms of AUC revealed that participants who
listened to the fast tempo music discounted the value of the delayed gift certificate more
heavily (that is, they showed a greater level of impatience; AUC = 75.82 per cent) than those
who listened to the slow tempo music [AUC = 79.79 per cent; t(192.13) = 1.93, p = 0.05]. In
other words, fast tempo music made participants more impatient for the gift certificate than
slow tempo music (see Figure 2).

Figure 1.
Temporal distance
judgment as a
function of fast and
slow tempo in Study 3
 EJM Of note, our findings cannot be attributable to participants’ different liking of the music. As
we discussed, in our pretest we found no difference in participants’ liking of fast and slow
tempo music. Even if we assume that fast tempo music is more preferable than slow tempo
music, the difference in liking cannot account for our findings. Research has shown that
positive affect generally decreases impulsive behaviors (Herman et al., 2018 for a review). If
fast tempo music feels more positive to participants than slow tempo music, fast tempo
music should have lowered their impatience. Hence, we conclude that the observed tempo
effect on impatience in the intertemporal decision was due to the escalated arousal and not
due to the difference in affective reactions to the tempo of the music.
We further examined whether participants’ temporal distance judgments statistically
mediated the effect of music tempo on impatience (H3). For this purpose, the weighted-
average of the participants’ judgments of the three future durations was used (i.e. the
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responses were divided by the days they judged) to form an index of their idiosyncratic
judgment for a one-day duration. Because the distribution of this index was skewed, this
index was log-transformed, and both results with and without transformation were reported
(Kolmogorov-Smirnov D = 0.17, p < 0.0001). For the degree of impatience, AUC scores were

Experimental conditions
Table III. Length of delays Fast tempo Slow tempo
Descriptive statistics
24 days $75.21 (50.74) $64.83 (15.98)
for responses in the 49 days $139.76 (485.36) $77.52 (26.05)
intertemporal 62 days $218.55 (976.57) $92.92 (43.35)
tradeoff decisions in
Study 3 Note: Numbers in parenthesis indicates standard deviations

Figure 2.
Subjective value of
delayed rewards as a
function of fast and
slow tempo in
Study 3
 used. Following the bootstrapping procedure detailed in Hayes (2013), we identified a path Music tempo
from the tempo manipulation (0: slow, 1: fast) on temporal distance judgment (a = 0.18, p =
0.07) and a path from temporal distance judgment to impatience, holding the tempo
manipulation constant (b =
0.09, p < 0.001). The overall effect of tempo on impatience (c =

0.04, p = 0.05) became insignificant after controlling for the mediator (c 0 =
0.02, p > 0.20).
The 95 per cent confidence interval of the “indirect effect” did not include zero (a  b =

0.02; 95 per cent CI, from
0.04 to
0.01), indicating the mediating role of temporal
distance judgment on impatience for the gift certificate. When the index for temporal
distance judgment was not log-transformed, all results were similar: the indirect effect was
again significant (a  b =
0.02; 95 per cent CI,
0.04 to
0.004). These results support H3:
participants who were listening to fast tempo music became more impatient for the gift
certificate because they judged the waiting time to receive the delayed rewards to be
subjectively longer than those who were listening to slow tempo music.
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7. General discussion
Imagine a student at a party with friends on a Friday night. The student is dancing to the
fast-beat music. If someone reminds her at that moment of an assignment due in two weeks,
how would she feel about the assignment? Most readers would think that the assignment
would feel distant to the student. If she is given a choice between smaller, but instantly
available, rewards and larger, but delayed, rewards, she would opt for the smaller rewards
because the future date of receiving the delayed rewards seems distant. If she is
contemplating behaviors that have negative long-term consequences, she may engage in the
behaviors because the future date of experiencing the negative consequences seems far. This
is the effect of music tempo reported here.

7.1 Theoretical implications

This research is the first to demonstrate the effect of music tempo on consumer impatience
in intertemporal tradeoff decisions. Because the main psychological effect of fast tempo
music is inducing arousal, our findings demonstrate an important role of arousal in
consumer impatience. Past research did examine the effect of sexual arousal on
intertemporal decisions (Kim and Zauberman, 2013). However, this research is limited due to
the characteristics of the stimuli (highly arousing and rewarding stimuli were compared
with less arousing and rewarding stimuli) and due to the participants studied (heterosexual
males only). Hence, the current research contributes to the literature by more clearly
demonstrating the role of arousal on future temporal distance judgments and on consumer
impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions. We hope our findings stimulate further
research on the role of arousal on consumers’ decision-making processes.

7.2 Managerial implications

Background music is widely used in retail environments. Our findings would apply in any
retail space as long as background music can be played. We discuss some strategic ways
that music tempo can be used in practice.
7.2.1 Strategies for brick-and-mortar stores. Because many consumers shop online,
many brick-and-mortar stores are undergoing financial difficulties. Still, many consumers
visit offline stores to see and test actual products. The problem is, even when consumers
visit offline stores and choose a particular product, they do not purchase at the store and
instead look for better deals online. Such situations are in fact intertemporal tradeoff
decisions between buying at offline stores immediately at a higher price and buying later at
online stores at a lower price. Hence, the tempo effect could induce consumers to make
 EJM purchases at physical stores. That is, if fast tempo music plays in a retail store, a consumer
who visits the store but contemplates buying at an online store later would perceive the
future moment of receiving his online order to be more distant and thus would be inclined to
purchase at the store he visits. That is, fast tempo music can be used as a deterrent to
consumers delaying purchases at physical stores.
7.2.2 Strategies for financial services. Many financial products require consumers to wait
long periods of time before they are able to see the benefits. Retirement saving plans like
401ks or IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts) require consumers to wait until age 60 to
use their money (without penalties). Mortgages take a long time (up to 30 years, typically) to
pay off and for homeowners to own the house outright. To attract consumers to invest
money in many financial goods with long-term contracts, it is important not to make them
perceive that the future moment of realizing returns is far. But if consumers become anxious
when making financial decisions, their aroused state can lead them to perceive the future to
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be distant. In such situations, slow tempo background music might ease their anxiety. For
instance, if slow tempo background music were to play in banks where consumers make
important financial decisions, consumers’ anxiety would be decreased, and hence the time
until their future payoff would seem less distant than if the music were higher tempo.
7.2.3 Strategies for delayed services. Businesses often experience situations in which they
unwillingly have to delay their services to their clients. In the airline industry, it is common for
flight departures to be delayed or even for the landing of flights in the air to be postponed.
Restaurants’ dish preparation can be slowed down due to unexpected situations in kitchens.
Companies may ask their important clients to wait due to unexpected incidents. When services
are unexpectedly delayed as such, clients can be dissatisfied and leave for another business. In
such situations, the tempo of background music would be helpful in easing clients’
dissatisfaction for delayed services. For instance, even if a restaurant usually plays fast tempo
music, it can play slow tempo music when its services are slowed. As such, businesses can use
background music strategically to make their clients to be more patient for delays.

7.3 Limitations and future directions

We discuss several limitations to the current research. First, we did not explore the effect of
music pleasantness on temporal distance judgment. A recent study in cognitive psychology
tested both the effect of music tempo and pleasantness on elapsed time perception, and found
that while a fast tempo leads to a longer perception of time, pleasantness results in a shorter
time perception (Droit-Volet et al., 2013). Building on the relationship between elapsed time
perception and temporal distance judgment that we proposed, a similar effect of music
pleasantness may emerge for temporal distance judgment. Second, in Study 2 we found a
conditional effect of music tempo on participants’ impatience: fast tempo music increased
impatience only among those who were interested in buying a new smartphone. Due to the
small sample size and the nature of the variable (i.e. it was measured using a dichotomous scale
rather than manipulated), we cannot argue that such a conditional effect is a robust effect.
Future research should address the role of consumers’ interest in intertemporal outcomes
regarding the tempo effect on impatience. Third, in measuring participants’ impatience, we
used a delaying task (i.e. delaying an immediate reward to the future) rather than an expediting
task (i.e. expediting a future reward to the present). Because people are generally less impatient
in expediting than in delaying (Loewenstein, 1988; Malkoc and Zauberman, 2006), the tempo
effect may be weaker or even disappear when consumers are making expediting decisions.
Future research may systematically test whether the effect of tempo on impatience is
moderated by the framing of intertemporal decisions. Last, when the tempo of music with
which most consumers are familiar is changed beyond a certain level, they may feel strange
 about the music, and this feeling may eliminate the intended tempo effect. We did not study Music tempo
this possibility in the current investigation. Future research may study it systematically by
testing the tempo effect using a wide range of tempo levels.
To conclude, the current research demonstrates a novel effect of music tempo on
consumers’ temporal distance judgments and impatience in intertemporal tradeoff
decisions. Based on our findings, marketers and retailers can determine the tempo of their
store music to influence their customers. In contrast, consumers who create their own
background music for their everyday lives can alter the tempo of their favorite music to
control their urges and impatience. As such, in the era of digital transformation, our findings
have broad ramifications both for marketing practices and consumer well-being.

Notes
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1. Importantly, in our studies, we empirically tested and found that tempo manipulation does not
influence participants’ liking of music.
2. When equal variances between two conditions could not be assumed, we report adjusted degrees
of freedom.
3. Alternatively, the skewed data can be analyzed after log transformation. All results were
significant (p < 0.05) when log-transformed data were used for analysis.

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Further reading
Chebat, J.C., Chebat, C.G. and Vaillant, D. (2001), “Environmental background music and in-store
selling”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 54 No. 2, pp. 115-123.
Knoeferle, K.M., Spangenberg, E.R., Herrmann, A. and Landwehr, J.R. (2012), “It is all in the mix: the
interactive effect of music tempo and mode on in-store sales”, Marketing Letters, Vol. 23 No. 1,
pp. 325-337.

Corresponding author
Kyu Kim can be contacted at: kyukim@yonsei.ac.kr

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