THE NEW SOUND OF SPENDING

That high you get from shopping is set to get a soundtrack in 2018 – but is that a good idea?

The pleasing pop of a champagne cork, the tempting sizzle of bacon in the pan or the gushing hum of a bath filling – even the smallest, most innocuous sounds can heighten our experiences to a dizzying degree.

Or at least that’s what the top bods at Visa seem to think, because soon customers paying at tills with their Visa card will notice a ‘signature sound’ accompanying shopping transactions. The noise will chime each time a card or smartphone is presented (or an in-app purchase is made), and it’s taken a whole year for employees at Visa to devise it.

After months of in-depth neuro-research – testing volunteers’ reactions to various noises – researchers settled on the perfect sound, claiming it signals ‘speed and convenience’ while being ‘energetic and optimistic’. Accompanying the sound comes a ‘unique vibration’ that customers feel when paying by smartphone – something Visa calls ‘sensory branding’.

Visa will claim the move makes spending more enjoyable, but could gamifying it prove dangerous? Could we be at risk of encouraging a Pavlovian response – that soon-to-be familiar ‘ping’ sending us heading to the tills in droves, craving it? The shopper’s high you get while nabbing that perfect item you’ve been searching for – even better if you get it on sale –is enough of a draw. Now it has an irresistible sound too.

And what happens if the transaction isn’t processed? Will a shame-inducing honk take the place of that soothing ping, loudly informing fellow shoppers our card was (oh the shame…) declined? Shudder.

Visa isn’t the first company to tap into the commercial power of sound – last year, Ikea piggy-backed on to the soaring popularity of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response – that pleasant tingling sensation caused by ‘soft’ sounds, like whispering or crinkling paper), using it in their adverts. With ASMR spawning nearly 10 million videos on Youtube, it’s no surprise viewers lapped up Ikea’s 25-minute Asmr-based commercial (some even claimed it gave them ‘ braingasms’). Will the ping at the tills deliver the same endorphin hit?

Whatever the effects (and we’ll find out this month when it launches in Pyeongchang, South Korea), a year’s worth of neuro-research suggests Visa is confident the move will pay off. For now, those of us who know a prolific Whatsapper will sympathise with cashiers. Imagine the pinging. The. Constant. Pinging.