Introduction

Music on hold is an influential and promotional instrument that is used to reduce the
perceived time of customers when they are on hold , and at the same time it gives a
commercial benefit for businesses to display their style and values .(Hargreaves & North &
McKendrick , 1999). Music on hold is designed to catch the attention of customers and reduce
their anxiety.
More and more organizations are concerned about the perceptions of waiting time on
their technical support telephone center, and one of these companies is Bose Corporation.
Bose Corporation is one of the world's leading producers of speakers for home entertainment,
automotive, and pro audio markets. The corporation is also recognized for its exceptionally
strong dedication of research , and manufacture highly quality innovative products.
By implementing a specific music on hold for each customer , Bose Corporation will
know a change that will be positively reflected on their profits, image and reputation, and
customers perception. Most important the company will make their customers satisfied and
contented even if they are in a long waiting queue.

Research Aim

The research aim is to find out if Bose Corporation can introduce successfully a music
on hold system that will give customers a choice to listen to different audio backgrounds in
order to reduce their perception of waiting time when they are "on hold". The study will
mainly focus if Bose customers are ready to wait on-hold longer and at the same time have
the sensation that time is passing more quickly, when they are exposed to familiar and
memorable music..

Identify the type of music preferences depending on people age group than can be
introduced in the music on hold system in order to make customers stay on hold and not

hanging up.
Find out the customers reaction when they have the choice to listen to familiar and

memorable music and how their perception and judging of time is affected.
Investigate if the music proposed to the customers is fitting their expectation , preferences

and tastes.
Find out whether the implementation of this music on hold system with choice would have
any positive significant change on the image and values of Bose Corporation.

The Hypothesis
The first hypothesis (H1) :.The choice of selecting and listening to a specific type of music
on hold will reduce the perception of time for Bose customers.
The second hypothesis (H2) : The music that will be proposed and exposed to customers
will fit their expectations.
The third hypothesis (H3) is that : The music on hold system with choice will lead to a
major satisfaction of customers and will perfectly represent Bose Corporation image.
The Delimitations
The research study is not designed to calculate the increase or decrease of the number
of hang-ups made by Bose customers because of the music on hold system. It is designed to
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investigate whether customers would have the feeling that time is passing more quickly when
they have the choice to listen to a familiar or memorable music and therefore get a positive
image of Bose Corporation.
Research Plan
The objective of this research is to collect information about how customers will
perceive the music on hold system with the choice of listening to different types of music
,and how likely is this system reducing their perception of time when the are on hold. This
applied research is conducted to assist Bose Corporation with their concerns about the
perceptions of waiting time on their technical support telephone center , so that they can better
improve their music on hold system in order to give a positive image and reputation of the
company. A descriptive approach will be used in this study to be able to respond the research
questions and analyze if the customers aptitude of judging time is affected.
Using a survey instrument in this research is essential in order to gather the maximum
information that is required :

What is the customers reaction in having the choice to select any type of music based on
their tastes and preferences ?

Is familiar and memorable music creating a shortest time of perception for customers ?

Is the music proposed to the customers fitting their expectations ?

Is the music on hold system proposed by Bose corporation will make customers more
repetitive in using it ?

Sample & Data Collection

The survey will be conducted on a specific sample that will provide significant
information for the study , and the targeted population will be customers calling Bose
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Corporation for sales and technical help in The United States. The major participants of the
survey will be new customers who are calling to buy Bose products which will provide the
company their address and billing information , and current customers who are having some
issues or some questions regarding their products. However it is better use the survey for the
states that have most customers calling Bose Corporation. Given that there is no possibility to
access that information fromm Bose Corporation, the targeted states will be based on Bose
Plant Locations and headquarters which are Massachusetts California, Florida, Illinois,
Michigan, New York, Washington, and Texas. There will be a selection of 50 individuals for
each states, this will result as an overall sample size of 400 individuals. In order to save time
and cost and efforts an email will be sent to the 400 individuals thanking them for calling
Bose Corporation and asking them to answer an online survey with the possibility of being
rewarded gifts for their cooperation.
Data Analysis
The data analysis of this study will based on first collecting the survey responses made
by the customers. Then the second step will be to make an analysis of these answers :

Questions 1 to 4 :The answers will give an idea on how often a customer calls Bose and
what type of service is requested the most (Sales or Technical Support) , this can assist
getting the level of significance of the upcoming answers.

Question 5 to 7 : The answers will give an idea on the average time a customer waits on
hold before being answered by a Bose operator. The answers that will provide us
customers will be very important because we will get an insight on how customers
perceive the music on hold. This estimate of average time would help in the process of
decision making.

Question 8 to 11 : The answers would give an idea on how customers perceive time on
hold with the choice of listening to any type of music. These information will help in
analyzing the level of customers satisfaction concerning the service and system provided.

Question 12 to 13: the answers will provide the opinions recommendations and
suggestions of the customer concerning the music on hold system.

The Shortcomings of The Research Design

The respondents of this survey may not have used effectively the music on hold
system , which cannot give to the company a precise and clear idea if the customers perceived
time was affected . Also, it is possible that some of the customers do not answer truthfully
because they are just interested in gaining the gift from the survey ,which will result in bias
information and will negatively impact the accuracy of the study.
An Outline of The Proposed Study
If this study is approved by Bose Corporation : The first three weeks will be used in
collecting data and information from the survey. The population targeted are the customers
who call Bose for technical support and sales. Then two weeks will be used in gathering and
interpreting the data using the SPSS software. Curse of knowledge and incentive bias are the
type of biases that may cause a threat to this study because they may result in changing the
real reflection of customers in the questionnaire.

Conclusion
The responses of the survey, that will be sent to the targeted 400 Bose customers will
be collected and decoded into data that will be analyzed and set in a detailed report that will
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answer Bose Corporation issue concerning the impact of introducing a music on hold system
on the customer perception of time , whether the fact of giving the customer the choice to
listen to any type of music will have an impact on time perception , and therefore Bose Sound
Technology department will have all the necessary statistics and information to take the
decision of introducing or not the music on hold system.

References
Areni, C. & Grantham, N. (2009).(Waiting) Time Flies When the Tune Flows: Music
Influences Affective Responses to Waiting By Changing the Subjective Experience of
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Passing Time. in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and
Sharon Shavitt,: Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 449-455. Retrieved from
http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/v36/NAACR_v36_281.pdf
Gueguen, N.& Jacob, C. ( 2002). The Influence of Music on Temporal Perceptions in an OnHold Waiting Situation. Psychology of Music, 30,210-214. Retrieved from
http://nicolas.gueguen.free.fr/Articles/PsyMusic2002.pdf
Hargreaves, J. D. , North , C. A. & McKendrick, J. (1999). Music and On- Hold Waiting
Time. Performing Right Society & Phonographic Performance. Retrieved from
http://www.prsformusic.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PPS
%20Studies/Music_On_Hold.pdf
Williamson, M. ( 2011 , March 16 ). What customers really think of music on hold ?. Call
Center Helper Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.callcentrehelper.com/whatcustomers-really-think-of-music-on-hold-16215.html

Appendix A: Research Study Survey

Please answer the following questions based on your personal opinions:

1. How many Bose products do you own ?

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a. 0
b. 1 to 3
c. More than 3
2. How many times a year do you call Bose?
a. 1
b. 2 to 3
c. More than 3
3. What type of service did you request last time?
a. Technical Support
b. Sales
4. Was your requested demand satisfied ?
a. Yes
b. No
5. On average, how much time did your demand take ?
a. 10 min
b. 15 min
c. 20 min
d. More than 20 min
6. If Yes ( 4) , how satisfied were you with your demand ?

Not satisfied

5 Very satisfied

If you score below 3, please provide reasons:

7. Have you been using and listening to the music on hold system during the waiting time?
a. Yes
b. No
8. If Yes ( 8) , have you been able to select the type of music you requested ?
a. Yes
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b. No
9.

How many songs did you listen before being connected to an operator?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. More than 3

10. On average, how much time did you stay on hold?

a. 5 min to 10 min
b. 10 min to 15 min
c. 15 min to 20 min
d. More than 20 min

11. If Yes (8, 9) , were you satisfied with the music on hold system proposed?
Not satisfied

5 Very satisfied

If you score below 3, please provide reasons

12. If you were on hold in the future ,would you consider to use another time the music on
hold system ?
a. Yes
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b. No
13. Do you have any suggestion or opinions that can make our music on hold system more
efficient and effective ?