Naomi Ziv and Maya Goshen conducted a study reported in the Cambridge Journals on the effect of happy and sad background music on children's interpretations of stories. They discovered that happy background music led to positive interpretations, whereas sad background music led to more negative interpretations of the story. In addition, the effect of happy music was stronger than that of sad music.
On the other hand, a study called Effects of Popular and Classical Background Music on the Math Test Scores of Undergraduate Students by Mike Manthei and Steve N. Kelly found that music had no statistically significant effect on the math test scores of students who participated in the study.
A team of scientists from the University of Montreal studied the relationship between music and the customer's willingness to connect with bank staff and discovered there was a clear link between the two.
Not surprisingly, background music affects sexual behavior, as well. A study of rats exposed to loud music discovered they engaged in more sex than those who were not saturated with sound.
That other pleasurable activity, shopping, becomes even more so when the store provides pleasant background music. A study by McGill University confirms that creating a comfortable ambiance with music makes customers more likely to view shop personnel and the store itself in a favorable light.