How Music Messes with Our Sense of Time
I’m sure this has happened to you. You’re listening to your favourite album or playlist and before you know it, an hour has passed without you noticing. Why does that happen?
The Nautilus endeavours to explain.
In recent years, numerous studies have shown how music hijacks our relationship with everyday time. For instance, more drinks are sold in bars when with slow-tempo music, which seems to make the bar a more enjoyable environment, one in which patrons want to linger—and order another round.
Similarly, consumers spend 38 percent more time in the grocery store when the background music is slow. Familiarity is also a factor. Shoppers perceive longer shopping times when they are familiar with the background music in the store, but actually spend more time shopping when the music is novel. Novel music is perceived as more pleasurable, making the time seem to pass quicker, and so shoppers stay in the stores longer than they may imagine.
Read the whole article here. It’s a bit scientific, but still very fascinating.
