The influence of different levels of musical fit on the efficiency of audio-visual advertising

Abstract

Music acts as a prominent element of advertising, but its simple presence does not automatically improve the effects of advertising. The concept of musical fit was developed more than 25 years ago to address the question of how music can be used effectively in advertising. However, existing empirical research on this concept has yielded inconsistent results. Recently, we developed an instrument to determine musical fit systematically in audio-visual advertising (Herget et al., 2018). To test this instrument empirically, we created six advertising stimuli (“commercials” or “ads”) representing six types of musical fit on four levels of musical fit, which varied only in terms of how many advertising reference points (spot narration, product, and/or target group) matched the background music. The findings of our between-subjects laboratory experiment (participants: 178 students, 74% female) reveal that the stimuli at different levels of musical fit differed sharply in terms of the intuitively perceived degree of musical fit (η2 = .33). In addition, increasing the level of musical fit improved advertising efficiency in terms of participants’ attitudes toward the ad (η2 = .12) and product (η2 = .12), as well as their purchase intentions (η2 = .06) and memory performance (η2 = .06). If other researchers were to use the instrument described, which defines and operationalizes musical fit systematically and transparently, results of future empirical studies would be more consistent. The results of the present study indicate that advertisers are well advised to select music to fit the commercial’s reference points as closely as possible, to intensify the music’s efficiency.

Sounds Like Respect. The Impact of Background Music on the Acceptance of Gay Men in Audio-Visual Advertising

“…From a managerial perspective, the study seems to indicate a tough decision. Normally, background music for audio-visual advertising should be selected as fitting to the commercial as possible because of the potential of musical fit to increase advertising efficiency (e.g., Herget et al, 2020). Based on this study's results, the feminine-connoted music that is obviously more fitting to the commercial's romantic story and is perceived as generally more congruent to the commercial has to be dismissed because of its negative effects on heterosexual male viewers.…”

“…When selecting background music for use in advertising, another factor-"musical fit" (e.g., North et al, 2004North et al, , p. 1675)has to be considered. Music that is intuitively perceived as fitting a commercial can improve the evaluation of the commercial, the advertised product, and the brand (e.g., North et al, 2004;Lavack et al, 2008;Galan, 2009), as well as strengthening the recipient's intention to recommend or buy the product (e.g., North et al, 2004;Lalwani et al, 2009;Park et al, 2014;Herget et al, 2020). Thus, in experiments on music's influence on specific advertising parameters, all selected music versions should generally be perceived as congruent with the commercial.…”

The Effects of Ethnically Congruent Music on Eye Movements and Food Choice—A Cross-Cultural Comparison between Danish and Chinese Consumers

“…Although the ideas and applications of sensory marketing have been employed widely by practitioners from small- to large-scale businesses [ 2 , 53 ], and studies have explored the effects of musical fit on consumer behavior [ 11 , 25 , 26 ], this is the first study that focuses on the ethnic congruity between “East” and “West” in terms of participants, music, and food. By utilizing eye-tracking to quantify visual attention during a laboratory-based food choice task, our study has also circumvented the uncertainties of previous experiments that exclusively focused on the choice itself in uncontrolled environments.…”

“…However, the evidence of such influence of ethnically congruent music on food choice/behavior in culturally diverse samples is still lacking. The majority of studies conducted so far have been confined to a single culture group-commonly Western participants [11,18,24,25], which is by no means representative of the actual global consumer market. In contrast, one study focusing on only Asian participants (i.e., Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian) found an effect of musical fit on food choice when both food options were Asian (Malaysian or Indian); but when the food options presented were more distinctive (Western vs. Malaysian), participants simply choose Malaysian food irrespectively of the music condition [26].…”

“People help the people”: Der Einfluss von Musik mit prosozialem Text in sozialen Werbespots

“…Vor über 25 Jahren wurde infolgedessen das Musical-Fit-Konzept entwickelt, um zu konkretisieren, wie Musik in der Werbung effektiv eingesetzt werden kann (Macinnis & Park, 1991). Definiert wird Musical Fit von Macinnis und Park wie folgt: "consumer's subjective perception of the music's relevance or appropriateness to the central ad message" ii (Macinnis & Park, 1991, S. 162 (Allan, 2007;Oakes, 2007 (Bullerjahn, 2001;Cohen, 2010;Evans & Schubert, 2008) und durch das Auslösen spezifischer Assoziationen Bedeutung vermitteln kann (Herget, 2019) (Herget et al, 2018(Herget et al, , 2020.…”