# An Experimental Study on the Influence of Soundscapes on People's Behaviour in an Open Public Space
###### Abstract  
Several studies have investigated how environmental sounds and music can modulate people's behaviours, particularly in marketing research. However, there are relatively few examples of research about such relationships with a focus on the management of urban public spaces. The current study investigated an open public space used mainly as a pedestrian crossing to analyse the relationship between the audio stimuli and peoples' behaviours. An experiment relying on covert behavioural observation was performed. During the experiment, three different music stimuli and a control condition (i.e., no music) were reproduced in order to find out firstly whether music compared to no music could elicit an increase in the number of people stopping in the investigated area, and secondly whether music is associated with a longer duration of stay for those who stop. Results showed that the presence of music had no effect on the number of people stopping in the area, but it had a statistically significant effect on the duration of stay for those who stopped. The above findings support the idea that people felt more invited to stay in the area with music rather than with no music, and suggest that the acoustical manipulation of the existing sound environment could provide soundscape strategies capable of promoting social cohesion in public spaces. soundscape; music stimuli; environmental noise; people's behaviour 1  
[PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], J.  
the results supported the idea that a good perceived match between music and context improves persuasion. Subsequently, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [4] focused their research on time spent in a retail context, and suggested that more familiar background music (vs. less familiar) decreased consumers' actual shopping time, and, conversely, unfamiliar music triggered consumers' attention. Previously, [PERSON] [5] investigated the relationship between pace of shopping, sales, and tempo. His research suggested that slower music is related to a slower pace of peoples' movement in a retail environment, and, as a result, more time and money spent there; while fast musical tempo reproduced in a restaurant caused a shorter duration of eating time [6]. Focusing more on the effect of music tempo, [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] [7] asserted that hearing background music characterized by a fast tempo leads to an increase in the pace of certain behaviours, such as drawing, reading, walking and running, and eating and drinking. In general, there are two fundamental hypotheses for these effects; the first is the synchronization of the movements to the musical beat, while the second is the increase in the arousal found with fast-tempo music [8]. Even if several studies explored the effect of sound environment on consumers' behaviour (mainly observed in indoor contexts), there have been limited studies investigating its effects regarding the management of public urban spaces. There is an increasing interest about the effects of background sounds on listeners' behaviour, focusing on the effectiveness of soundscape strategies on the sustainable development of cities and the improvement of the health and the quality of life [9]. [PERSON] et al. [10] managed to improve crowd behaviour and to decrease anti-social behaviours through the manipulation of the outdoor acoustic environment with sounds and music played onto the main street of the city's busiest clubbing and entertainment district in Brighton and Hove (UK). [PERSON] et al. [6] reported a significant effect of human sounds and music on the perceived safety of individuals in public places that are characterized by people's reluctance and avoidance, such as car parks, metro stations, and many green areas. Finally, [PERSON] et al. [11] assessed the relationship between the processing of music and the experience of safety and danger and found that music scenarios are experienced as less stressful and dangerous than silent scenarios.