Introduction

Effects of the listening context on responses to music largely have been neglected despite the prevalence of music in our everyday lives (North & Hargreaves, 2000). Furthermore, there has been no research on the role of music in gambling environments (e.g., casinos, amusement arcades) despite their increased popularity as a leisure pursuit. Pleasant feelings, and other modifications of mood associated with listening to music, have been described by several authors (e.g., Deliege & Sloboda, 1997; North & Hargreaves, 1997; Sloboda, 1991). The relationship between human behaviour and music is necessarily complex. Hargreaves and North (1999) reviewed the functions of music in everyday life and concluded that the social functions of music are manifested in three principal ways for the individual: management of self-identity, interpersonal relationships, and mood. Studies have shown that different types of music can have different types of effects on listeners. Two of the many effects music can have may be to heighten psychological arousal or to relax (North & Hargreaves, 1997). This may have an effect on behaviour in commercial situations such as shopping or gambling. For instance, does the presence of music make people spend more or less money in such environments?

Early studies showed that when customers in a supermarket were exposed to loud music, their shopping rate—how much they bought per minute spent in the store—was higher than when quiet music was played. However, people would spend proportionally less time in the supermarket, so in the end the result was the same for the shop owner (Smith & Curnow, 1966). On this basis, it could perhaps be speculated that people may spend more in a gambling environment because gambling behaviour is limited to factors such as event frequency (i.e., the number of times it is possible to gamble within a given time period).

There is little doubt that music can effect both spending and perceptions of the environment. North, Hargreaves, and McKendrick (2000) reported on the effects of music on customers' perception of the atmosphere in both a city centre bank and a bar. They found a positive correlation between ratings of the listening environment and ratings of the music. The results demonstrated that music can have reliable effects on atmosphere and purchase intentions in commercial environments. They have also found that music can increase or decrease sales of wine depending on what type of music is played as background music (North, Hargreaves, & McKendrick, 1999).

North and Hargreaves (1998) have also examined the effect of different types of music in a university campus cafeteria. They examined how the presence of a certain type of music affected customers' view of the atmosphere in the cafeteria and how it influenced their purchase intentions. Pop music made customers view the cafeteria as an “optimistic” and “confident” environment, but not peaceful. Classical music led to a feeling of “elegance” and “high class,” but scored lowest on the “optimism” factor. The absence of music altogether resulted in a feeling of “peacefulness” but a lack of confidence. “Easy listening” music led to the most negative feedback. Overall there was no statistically significant differences amongst the amounts customers were prepared to spend when subjected to different types of music. However, the study showed that customers were willing to pay more for their food when they had been exposed to classical or pop music.

Given this previous research, another area worthy of further investigation is that of “background music” in gambling environ-ments and the use of music in certain forms of gambling, as in the use of music in slot machines. A number of authors (e.g., Hess & Diller, 1969; White, 1989; Griffiths, 1993) argue that the sound effects (including music) can be gambling-inducers. Constant noise and sound in a gambling environment (such as the sound of money falling into payout trays) gives the impression (i) of a noisy, fun, and exciting environment, and (ii) that winning is more common than losing (as you cannot hear the sound of losing!). However, these are very general sound effects that create the overall impression, rather than music specifically.

Since there is little work on the psychology of music in gambling environments, the research study carried out was primarily exploratory. It had the aims of investigating (i) how music is used as background music in arcades, and (ii) how slot machines utilize music in their design. Since the study was exploratory there were no specific hypotheses.

Method

The following data were extracted from a larger study examining situational characteristics of amusement arcades (Parke & Griffiths, 2001). Only the findings regarding music and sound are reported here. The observations that follow in the next section were collated from two different sources:

1) An in-depth observational study of amusement arcades (mainly) in Nottingham, U.K. (over 600 hours). A substantial amount of time was spent in one particular amusement arcade. This is because the second author was able to collect data while working in the arcade itself. All data were collected with the consent of the arcade owner.

2) Participant and non-participant observation by both authors over a ten-year period as either researcher (first author) or gambler (second author) respectively. The data collected from these sources are more speculative, but are capable of generating hypotheses.

The approach was on the whole empirical and qualitative, and can be regarded as an observational field study capable of suggesting hypotheses but not of confirming fact. Due to its qualitative nature, much of the data reported in this results section cannot be reported without some kind of initial interpretation that would normally find inclusion in a “discussion” section. A more general discussion of these results follows the results section.

Results and preliminary discussion

The findings from this study are broken down into a number of distinct areas. These are observations concerning the (i) use of background music in arcades, (ii) use of music in slot machine gambling, (iii) use of music in pubs and clubs housing slot machines, and (iv) the absence of music in some gambling environments (e.g., betting shops). These are examined in turn.

Conclusions

Our tentative observations lead us to conclude that music (whether it is in the gambling environment or associated with the activity itself) may have a role in the acquisition, development, and maintenance of gambling behaviour. Based on our observations, we suggest that slot machines can be more appealing depending on the music in the background or from the machine itself. Therefore, it can be speculated that gambling may also increase in these areas where music is a critical factor.

How music initiates gambling behaviour is open to speculation. However, a theoretical model outlined by Condry and Scheibe (1989) described the stages in the persuasive process (as applied to advertisements). This can be adapted to the playing of slot machines. The framework constructed can be used to display the possible effectiveness of familiar musical themes in slot machine gambling. The stages in the persuasive process have been identified as exposure, attention, comprehension, yielding, retention, and decision to buy. Of these stages, the “decision to buy” is reinterpreted here as the decision to gamble. The following adaptation of this framework illustrates the point.

Exposure: For an advertisement to be effective, the individual must first be exposed to it. The same can be said for slot machines. Exposure to slot machines can occur at two levels. At the macro level, U.K. slot machines are endemic and can be found at a wide variety of outlets, and are thus constantly exposed to the public. Secondly, at a micro level, machines within premises are placed so that they can easily be seen. For instance, in public houses, they are usually found near doorways or close to the bar.

Attention: Even though many people may be exposed to the machine, very few may pay attention to it. Therefore, to gain the attention of an individual, manufacturers may use diverse and/or familiar sights and sounds to achieve this (e.g., the use of a television show's theme tune, bright flashing lights, a picture of a celebrity). In general, the musical tunes are repeated often enough to catch a person's attention particularly when no one is playing on the machine.

Comprehension: When the individual is fully attentive, the message has to be comprehended and understood. Therefore, as far as slot machines are concerned, if a familiar musical theme is incorporated into the machine, the individual is more likely to comprehend that gambling may be socially acceptable, because the images and sounds they see and hear are familiar and likeable.

Yielding: The individual agrees with the message or claim made by the advertiser. When referring to slot machine gambling, if a familiar television show's musical theme is included in the design of the machine, the person may be more likely to fully accept (i.e., agree) that gambling is socially acceptable because they “like” the images and sounds that are experienced.

Retention and decision to gamble: According to Condry and Scheibe (1989) these two final stages occur much later than when the individual is initially exposed to the advertisement. When in the shop, the person must recall the product that may have been advertised a long time previously, and decide whether to buy it. With regards to slot machine gambling, it is possible that the players may be instantly attracted to the machine because they are aware of immediately familiar images and sounds, leading to a much quicker decision to gamble. This point can be better illustrated with the following example.

A person may enter a public house, have a drink, and then notice the familiar tune of The Simpsons television show coming from a slot machine not far from the bar. However, the person decides not to gamble, never having done so before. The following day, they visit another public house, which has two fruit machines adjacent to one another. Their “attention” is gained when they once again hear The Simpsons tune that they recognise. They “comprehend” that because this well-known and likeable signature tune is incorporated into the machine, it is acceptable to take a closer look. They may believe that the gambling process involves a theme based around aspects associated with The Simpsons television show, and because they are attracted to, and “agree” with the “message,” they “yield” to the view that gambling on this particular slot machine is socially acceptable. This leads to the “decision to gamble.” This hypothesised example suggests that the decision to gamble may involve a number of stages, and that familiarity of the music appears to be an important aspect. It would appear that familiarity not only promotes a skill orientation once a player has begun to gamble (Griffiths, 1994) but may also be an important factor in a player's (or non-player's) initial decision to gamble. This line of thinking requires further research, as it is a potentially important factor in determining people's initial decision to gamble.

It could be the case that music maintains or exacerbates gambling behaviour in some individuals. This will obviously depend on the musical preferences of gamblers themselves. Given previous research in other commercial environments, it is likely that pop music will be the most effective. Empirical research would be useful in the following areas, as background music might:

• increase confidence in slot machine players
• increase arousal in slot machine players
• relax the slot machine player
• help the slot machine player disregard previous losses
• induce a “romantic” affective state leading the gambler to believe that their chances of winning are better than they are.

It is evident from the observations we have presented that much of the data is speculative. However, all of the observations lead to further interesting research hypotheses concerning the role of music in gambling. Furthermore, much of the data presented in this paper relates to music in one particular setting (i.e., an amusement arcade) and one particular type of gambling, such as slot machine gambling. It could be the case that music effects are different for other types of gambling and gamblers. This obviously needs to be explored further by examining other gambling genres.