From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's booksYou may have read by now in one of my interviews how fond I am of classical music. In fact, I usually listen to Classic FM all day long.

Another thing I love is reading the Economist. I may disagree with half their editorials, but they’re always well-written and interesting. I do not have shares or any other financial interest in this journal, if you were wondering; I just enjoy reading articles that range from economics –obviously- to politics and scientific discoveries.  Which brings me to the present blog post.

You see, scientists and advertisers do all sorts of research to see what enhances our shopping experience.  In other words, they try to see how they can sell more to us. In a new study commissioned by eBay and presented by The Economist, the researchers were trying to find how each type of sound affects our shopping experience.

The first easy conclusion is that annoying noises such as a crying baby or road works are perfect for putting you off shopping (perhaps a good hint next time Electra wants to buy more shoes and/or bags).

However, classical music makes people overestimate the quality of goods on offer and drives shoppers to pay more for items.

So, my question is this: how can I convince my reviewers to listen to classical music when they review my books? Can we start a “bring back classical music” campaign? “Mozart for books,” perhaps?

Anyone that has an easy and applicable solution, feel free to comment!

Don’t forget that, for a few more days, The Power of Six will be on sale. Read seven short sci-fi stories for only 99c!