The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the influence of a component of the service environment, namely music, on consumers' judgments and behaviors. More specifically, we were interested in the underlying mechanisms of pleasure effects. We proposed, based on theories from psychological environment and scene perception, that the pleasure induced by background music first influences the overall attractiveness of the service atmosphere, which in turn, has the ability to influence the attractiveness of the persons found in this environment, specifically the service personnel. Finally, these two dimensions of the service environment (i.e., the atmosphere and the personnel) are antecedents of consumers' judgments and behaviors. / The first study was designed to recreate, in a three-minute video-based scenario, a segment of a banking service experience. The video was filmed so to mimic the viewpoint of an actual customer waiting to be served. Three pre-tested background music selections were added as part of the ambient soundtrack. One hundred and fifty-three participants were thus exposed to music high to low in liking and were subsequently asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to assess participants' perception of the service environment, of the personnel, and of the overall service quality. Results showed that music-induced pleasure has a positive influence on the perception of the atmosphere, which was found to impact the perception of the personnel and together these two perceptual dimensions (atmosphere and personnel) were both found to impact overall quality perceptions. / The second study was designed to recreate as faithfully as possible an actual service experience in the controlled environment of the laboratory. One hundred and seventy-three participants were asked to browse an Internet catalog of house and kitchen gadgets and were asked to find a product that they would want to give to their best friend. After making a preliminary choice, they were guided to participate in an online chat session with a consultant. On a between-subject basis, participants were exposed during the browsing and chatting portions to two different lounge music selections that were pre-tested to provide two levels of pleasure---high and moderate. A control condition with no ambient music was also used. To assess the impact of different modes of perceptions, the music was delivered either through speakers hidden in the room or through speakers connected to the computer. This second study confirmed the positive impact of music-induced pleasure on the perception of the environment and of the personnel and their mediating role on the perception of the company and on future behavior. This study also revealed some of the negative consequences of lesser-liked ambient music, especially in consumption contexts where it can be the focus of customers' attention. / The results point to the complexity of music as an atmospheric stimulus and the difficulty of manipulating it for commercial purposes. The results should be useful to managers and designers who must engineer the various elements of the service environment.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-47).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 57 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-54).

Background music is often used in preschool classrooms with the belief that music makes children smarter and increases attention. The purpose of this study was to determine if background music increased children's focused attention during play activities. Focused attention occurs when children maintain attention to a task regardless of distractions. This quasiexperimental study investigated background music and play in a laboratory setting. I videotaped individual children during play with math manipulatives in a pretest-posttest research design with background music used as the treatment. Forty-three 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds played for 15 minutes. The first 5 minutes of play had no music (pretest), the second 5-minute play episode had background music (treatment), and the final 5-minute play episode had no background music (posttest). Data were analyzed using one-way repeated measures analysis of variance. Findings revealed that the subjects paid less attention to the play task with background music than they did during the pretest, with no music. Another key finding was that children with more musical experiences at home, as reported by the Child's Home Musical Experience Survey (CHIMES), exhibited longer periods of focused attention with background music. This study confirmed previous research that 3-year-old children have shorter focused attention than 4- and 5-year-old children with and without background music. These findings have implications for teachers and parents that background music, instead of increasing attention in children, might indeed decrease children's focused attention during play activities.