This research found that patrons spent more money in a wine store when classical rather than Top-Forty music was played in the background, though the number of shelf items examined, handled, and purchased, and the amount of time spent did not vary by music condition. The findings regarding the impact of background music on total sales and the number of items purchased suggest that, rather than influencing patrons to purchase greater quantities of wine, the classical music induced them to purchase more expensive wines. Though it did not directly test formal hypotheses, this result offers support for MacInnis and Parks' (1991) notion that music must be appropriate for the context in which it is employed in order to enhance persuasion, and for Yalch and Spangenberg's (1990) suggestion that classical music evokes perceptions of higher priced store merchandise.