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The Psychology of Music in Gambling Environments
By mel | January 15, 2008
There is little doubt that music can effect both spending and perceptions of the environment. Recently, a study out of Nottingham Trent University, researched the psychology of music in gambling environments.
An in-depth observational study of both participant and non-participant was conducted over a ten year period. The findings of this study were broken down into a number of distinct areas. The observations were concerning the use of background music, the use of music in slot machine gambling, the use of music in pubs hosting slot machines and the absence of music in gambling environments.
Consistent observations were noticed that music while gambling along with the sounds of bells or coins dropping increased peoples play as these were associated with the sounds of winning. These noises were not only enticing to people who were playing, but by those who were not playing as well. Also observed was that the sound of loosing doesn’t make a sound.
Volume of music also was noticed to contribute in game play. The louder the music, the more distracting the gambler became and less attention was payed to the fact of if they were loosing or not.
The types of music also affected the rate of play amongst gamblers. The more familiar the type of music, pop or classic rock for example, increased the rate of money being spent as if unfamiliar music. The opposite of this occurred when music belonging to a different age demographic then those gambling was being played seemed to decrease the money being spent.
The absence of music in some gambling environments seemed to limit player’s arousal and put more focus on the loss for the gambler. Also observed was that the absence of music lowered the gamblers concentration levels and decreased the amount of playtime amongst gamblers.
The conclusion of this study states that the more familiar the music, the more the individual is likely to comprehend that gambling may be socially acceptable and lead to longer and more attentive the game play. The more sounds a person hears the more distracted the player is from any form of loss they may be experiencing which also induces a “romantic” affect leading the gambler to believe that their chances of winning are better than they are.
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