Ronald Milliman

Ronald Milliman

Ronald Milliman is a marketing researcher and author of the 1982 Journal of Marketing study of background music and supermarket shoppers and the 1986 Journal of Consumer Research study of background music and restaurant patrons.

Who they are

The work of Ronald Milliman reaches this site through the papers listed below. The name is tied to Background Music and Dwell Time.

Key papers

Milliman, R. E. (1982). Using background music to affect the behavior of supermarket shoppers. Journal of Marketing, 46(3), 86-91. What it reports: Reviews research on music in retail settings and reports a study of background music in a supermarket; changes in tempo altered the pace of customers and sales. The 38.2 per cent sales difference between slow and fast music is attributed to this study as cited in Knoferle et al. (2012), full text.

Milliman, R. E. (1986). The influence of background music on the behavior of restaurant patrons. Journal of Consumer Research, 13(2), 286-289. What it reports: Reviews sparse research and reports an empirical study of background music and restaurant patrons; changes in tempo altered what patrons purchased and how long they stayed. Direction (slower music, longer stay, higher drink sales) taken from the vault audit of 2026-10-21 for the concept Background Music and Dwell Time.

Key ideas

Background Music and Dwell Time:

Sources

  1. Milliman, R. E. (1982). Using background music to affect the behavior of supermarket shoppers. Journal of Marketing, 46(3), 86-91.
  2. Milliman, R. E. (1986). The influence of background music on the behavior of restaurant patrons. Journal of Consumer Research, 13(2), 286-289.