Endless playing of songs like All I Want For Christmas in shops during the festive season doesn’t just drive us mad—the songs also make us more careless with our money, research has warned.
While repeated performance of Jingle Bells may seem like an innocent attempt to raise customers’ spirits during the nightmare of Christmas shopping, the songs also have a more delicate impact.
“Background music, or ‘muzak’, can be used by marketers to impose cultures—such as the mercialization of Christmas—onto consumers and influence their behaviour, ”experts said.
Dr. Alan Bradshaw of Royal Holloway, University of London, said, “Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood, influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy. In other words, this is an attempt to control your shopping habits in a way that you might hardly be aware of.”
“Often we are told that we have the freedom to choose where we want to shop, but during Christmas the use of music in this way is so mon that our freedom to choose disappears.”
Dr. Bradshaw and Prof Morris Holbrook of Columbia University examined the phenomenon and found that retailers often “dumb down” the music played in shops to relax customers, meaning it is easier to control their behaviour.
It is thought that slowing down the rhythm of music in shops can trick customers into thinking less time has passed, and therefore spend more time examining the shelves, for example.
Some providers of background music have been known to promote their services by claiming they can boost profits by controlling the behaviour of customers.
“A mon trick is to take a popular current song and record an instrumental version which can be slowed down or sped up at different time of the day to influence behaviour in different ways,” Dr Bradshaw said.
Background music is often classed as “Muzak” in honor of the Seattle-based pany which began producing its soft-sounding melodies in the 1930s.
【小题1】According to Dr. Bradshaw, in what ways does Christmas music influence customers?
①their mood ②their ine ③their sense of time ④the sort of products they buyA．①②③B．①③④C．②③④D．①②④【小题2】Shopkers slow down the rhythm of music in shops to .A．let customers spend more time shoppingB．make customers and sales assistants relaxedC．let customers enjoy the beautiful musicD．help customers find what they really want【小题3】What kind of music is now often adapted to influence customers in shops?A．Classical music.B．Popular modern songs.C．Folk songs.D．Jazz music.B
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(答案→)B
解析：圣诞节期间商店里不断播放的圣诞歌曲不但让我们情绪高涨，而且还会在无形中刺激我们的购物欲望。
【小题1】考查细节理解。根据第四段内容Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood, influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy.可知，这些喜庆的歌曲，会改变圣诞购物者的心情，影响他们的时间概念和他们购买的产品种类，①③④都是对的，故选B。
【小题2】考查细节理解。根据第七段内容It is thought that slowing down the rhythm of music in shops can trick customers into thinking less time has passed, and therefore spend more time examining the shelves,可知，放慢商店里的音乐节奏能让顾客误以为时间过得更慢，这样顾客可能就会花更多时间来仔细查看货架上的商品。故选择A项。
【小题3】考查细节理解。根据文章倒数第二段A mon trick is to take a popular current song and record an instrumental version….可知，一个常见的诀窍是把当前的热门歌曲拿来录制器乐版，可以在一天当中的不同时段放慢或加快音乐节奏，从而对顾客的行为产生不同的影响。故选择B项。