The Role of Sound Congruency on Ethnic Menu Item Selection and Price Expectations.

Earlier research considered ethnic congruent versus incongruent music; this study extended earlier research by comparing the impacts of ethnic congruent music, ethnic incongruent music and restaurant background sounds on the dining experience. Additionally, it extends earlier research considering the impact on menu item selection and price expectations based on the impact of music/sound. Findings indicated music congruence effects along with baseline sounds should be considered by practitioners and researchers. Italian folk music increased Italian item selections compared to restaurant background sounds. Thai folk music was equal to background sounds for Thai items. Higher expected prices were apparent when listening to both Italian music and background sounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]