INTRODUCTION
Background to the topic
The number of internet users has significantly grown over the past decade. As more people continue to access the internet and the speeds of internet connectivity increases, Web designers are increasingly incorporating different forms of media, including music, into their websites in a bid to attract more users and maintain those who have been previously using sites. Most studies have analyzed how music playing in the background in the real world affects the performance of tasks. In addition to that, a handful of studies have sought to find out how background music on websites has an impact on the users’ perception, web performance as well as the users’ behavior. The tempo as well as volume of background music is the two main aspects of music that have been found to impact the behavior of people. According to Cladwell and Hibbert (1999, p. 58) individuals would spend a greater amount of time on a specific task if the music playing in the background is slower than when the tempo is fast.
Music types differ from each other in terms of sound intensity and tempo. Slow music is associated with a calm mood, which encourages those listening to it to go about their activities calmly. On the other hand, fast music is associated with excitement and vigorous movement, and in most circumstances, would be irritating to those trying to concentrate on a given task. Lai et al., (2011, p.437) point out the behavior of online shoppers is greatly impacted by music playing in the background. The development of the internet has presented numerous opportunities for internet users, with online shopping gaining popularity over the past few years. Just like in the normal store, the online stores seek to attract more customers by utilizing auditory as well as visual cues in their online stores.
Developers of internet content as well as websites are increasingly paying attention to web atmospheric. They seek to incorporate media content that will offer internet users the best experience when going through their websites. An effective atmospheric should elicit positive effects, including frequent visiting of the site by users as well as increased time spent by users on the said cites. According to Eroglu et al., (2001, p.17) web atmospherics can be classified into low task relevant cues and high task relevant cues. The high task relevant cues include the navigation cues within the websites, description of the site’s content as well as links to additional information. On the other hand, low task-relevant cues include background patterns, colors, fonts, images as well as sounds and music. According to Lai et al., (2011, p.439) web atmospherics have been found to have a significant impact on the behavior of web users. They are of the view that research on how web users are impacted by the cues has been limited to theoretical explanation and that there is need for the specific cues and their impact on web users to be investigated.
Music and its impact on the emotions, mood and the general feelings of people has been widely studied. According to Bitner (1992, p. 57), music is critical to the creation of an ambient environment where certain tasks can be effectively carried out. In addition to that, he points out that individuals are influenced by the different aspects of music such as tempo, rhythm, phrasing, the texture as well as the pitch. In the physical environment, studies have found out that the tempo of background music has varying impact on the behavior of consumers. Music that is fast has been reported to increase the inflow of customer traffic into stores compared to slow-tempo music (Milliman 1986, p. 286). The current study seeks to find out whether background music in the virtual world of internet usage has a significant impact on the time spent on the internet by users.
Research Problem
As pointed out earlier, most studies that analyze the impact of background music on the behavior and perception of people have focused on the physical environment. Those that have sought to analyze the impact of background music on internet usage have focused on how it affects their online shopping behavior. This study seeks to bridge this research gap by analyzing how background music impacts the time spent by internet users online. It will study how different aspects of music affect the time spent online by internet users
Research Questions
The main research question that the current study seeks to find answers to is “What impact does background music has on the average time spent by internet users on websites?” In addition to the main research question, the paper will also seek answers to the following research sub-questions;
· How do the different aspects of music (texture, pitch and time) impact the time spent by internet users on websites?
· How does background music impact internet speed and performance?
· Does the impact of background music on internet speed and performance affect the time spent on the net by users?
· In what ways can website developers ensure that background music attracts more users and that user’s increase the time they spend online?
Research Aims and Objectives