If music be the food of love, pay on

MUSIC may well be the food of love but Mozart, Bach and Beethoven could also burn a nasty hole in your pocket.

Scientists have discovered classical music makes restaurant diners feel more affluent and encourages them to spend more money.

The less sophisticated tones of Britney Spears as background music saw people typically spending around 10% less on their meals.

Researchers at the University of Leicester found classical music, often associated with affluence, was the most successful in encouraging people to part with their cash.

When no music was played, the amount of money spent by diners was dramatically less.

The tests, which were carried out over three weeks, monitored the effects of classical, pop music and background silence on spending.

The researchers discovered that when subtle classical melodies were played, diners spent more than £24 (€34) per head on average on food and drinks.

But when pop music was played, less than £22 (€31) was spent by each diner and without any background music the spending fell to an average of only £21.70 (€30.80) per head.

In the same experiment, diners were spending over £1 (€1.41) each on coffee with classical music, compared to only 80p (€1.13) with pop music and 54p (€76c) without any background noise.

“When you hear a piece of music it activates all types of knowledge,” said Dr Adrian North, senior lecturer in psychology at the university.

“If you hear classical music, it has got all sorts of connotations of sophistication, affluence and wealth and it makes you feel a bit posh.

“In a restaurant, this has the effect of making you spend a bit more money.

“Where people were really spending the money was on the luxury items, such as starters, desserts and coffees.”

James Davis, proprietor of Softleys restaurant, where the research was carried out, said: “The sort of music you play does affect people’s mood.

“It is quite amazing how much it sets and creates an atmosphere in the restaurant. Sometimes you play what you personally like rather than what the clients like, so I think this research will definitely affect what we play in the future.”