THE EFFECT OF VOLUME AND ROLE OF
MUSIC ON CONSUMER RESPONSES TO
ADVERTISING MUSIC
By
Sebastiaan Bek
University of Groningen Faculty of Economics and Business
2
THE EFFECT OF VOLUME AND ROLE OF
MUSIC ON CONSUMER RESPONSES TO
ADVERTISING MUSIC
BySebastiaan Bek
Word Amount: 8,472
ABSTRACT
The research presented in this paper set out to find if foreground music with lyrics (jingle) and instrumental foreground music can have a significantly different effect on consumer
responses. Furthermore, it set out to find if a direct effect of volume and an interaction effect between volume and role of music on consumer responses could be observed. Through an empirical study, evidence was found that confirmed the interaction between volume and role of music on purchase intention and advertising effectiveness. The difference in advertising effectiveness and purchase intention increased as the volume of both instrumental foreground music and music with lyrics (jingle) increased. At high volume both roles of music had a more positive effect on advertising effectiveness. At high volume the effect of instrumental music on ad effectiveness was more positive than music with lyrics, whereas at low volume it was the other way around. Instrumental music at low volume had a smaller positive effect on purchase intention than music with lyrics (jingle). As volume increased, purchase intention for instrumental music decreased and purchase intention for music with lyrics rose and was more positive than instrumental music at high volume. A direct positive effect of volume on advertising effectiveness was found, where music at high volume resulted in an increase of advertising effectiveness. Even though no effects of role of music on attitude toward ad music (A(am)) were found, the variable proved to be reliable and is viable for future research. The final sections of this paper are concerned with the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.
Key Words: Advertising music; Attitude toward advertising music; Volume; Role of Music;
Volume interaction
3
Table of Contents
Literature Review
4-12
o Introduction
4, 5
o Theoretical Background
5-12
Research Methods
13-16
o Participants and Design
13
4
Literature Review
Introduction
Music is something you hear every day through various types of sources and has the ability to affect people in many different ways. Music can bring on memories of long lost times as well as bring you comfort during times of duress. Previous research has shown that music can be used to induce all kinds of affective and behavioral responses in people (Park and Young, 1986; Stout and Leckenby, 1988). Its use in advertising and the considerable body of research that surrounds it is therefore not surprising. Prior music research primarily built on the assumption that the mere presence of music will always add value to the commercial (Stout et. al. 1990; Macklin, 1988; Morris & Boone, 1998: Middlestadt et. al., 1994; Park & Young, 1986; Wheatley & Brooker, 1994).
More recent research acknowledges the fact that the positive impact of advertisement music on consumer responses depends on much more than just the presence vs. absence of music and focuses on finding ways to make more effective use of ad music (Allan, 2007; Craton and Lantos, 2011, 2012). Even though music is more likely to have a positive effect than a negative effect on consumer responses, music should not be included in the
advertisement for the sake of adding music. Advertising music should be chosen carefully in order to be able to predict its positive impact on consumer responses and eventually
marketing and business goals more accurately (Allan, 2007).
Attitude measurement has been widely used as a consumer response variable in music research, for its ability to affect other consumer responses to ad music (Macklin 1988;
5
After constructing A(am) Craton and Lantos (2012) created a model of consumer response to ad music in order to facilitate a comprehensive discussion of the effective use of ad music. Recognizing the need for more effective uses of ad music, the study at hand works along the lines of their model by including instrumental foreground music and music with lyrics (jingle) in its research; two roles of music that Craton and Lantos (2012) included in their model. Instead of focusing on the mere presence vs. absence this study intends to find differences in consumer responses to ad music by using these two roles of music. These roles are primarily based on what purpose they serve in the advertisement.
The research at hand diverts and is unique from previous music studies, by taking a closer look at the direct and indirect effects of volume on consumer responses to different roles of advertising music. Some music studies did consider the effects of volume on consumer responses to music, but their findings merely pertained to a retail setting. They found evidence that volume has the ability to moderate positive effects of music (Beverland et.al, 2006). Others have suggested, but did not find evidence of the moderating and direct effect of volume on responses to advertising music (Craton & Lantos, 2012; Kellaris & Rice, 1993). The research at hands tries to bridge this gap in music research by extending these proposed effects of volume to an advertising context and see whether volume directly or indirectly affects consumer responses to different roles of ad music. On forehand, it is important to note that the role of music and volume are used as two distinctive concepts in this paper, based on the fact that role of music is defined in relation to the other (auditory) elements and its purpose in the commercial, not by music volume (Alpert & Alpert, 1991).
Through answering the following research questions, the research presented in this paper set out to provide evidence that contests the music as garnish assumption (Stout et. al. 1990). Thereby showing that effective music placement, through proper use of music roles and volume, can positively influence the effects of music on consumer responses to
advertising.
Do consumers respond differently to advertising music, depending on the role of music?
Is there a direct effect of music volume on consumer responses to advertising music and can an interaction effect between role of music and music volume on these responses be
observed?
6
A substantial amount of advertising and music research to date has focused on music and its impact on recall and memory (Allan, 2006; Roehm, 2001; Wallace, 1991, 1994; Yalch, 1991). However, the effects of music on attitude and other consumer response variables have been researched to a far lesser extend (Allan, 2007; Craton & Lantos, 2011, 2012). The research surrounding music in relation to attitude theory that does exist, has primarily focused on the indexicality, or “the extent to which the music arouses emotion-laden memories,” and fit, or “the music’s relevance or appropriateness to the central ad message” of advertisement music (MacInnis & Park, 1991). Moreover, effects of music on attitude up till now were measured in relation to the entire advertisement (Macklin, 1988; Morris & Boone, 1998; North et. al., 2004; Shen et. al., 2006), instead of focusing on just the effects of ad music. This resulted in some conflicting findings on the effects of music on attitude (Cratonn & Lantos, 2011; Allan, 2007). Despite these deficiencies, attitude is a consumer response variable that cannot be overlooked in music research and the study at hand, since music presence has been proven to affect product preference and purchase intention positively by interacting with attitude (Macklin 1988; Middlestadt et. al., 1994; Morris & Boone, 1995; Park & Young, 1986; Wheatley & Brooker, 1994).
The study at hand acknowledges the need for proper attitude toward ad music
measurement by incorporating attitude toward ad (A(am)) music in its research, a new music response variable created by Craton and Lantos (2011). They acknowledged the need for a music response variable other than “Music Appeal”, that merely measured the liking or disliking of music (Allan, 2007; Allen & Madden, 1985; Gorn 1982; Kellaris & Cox, 1989; Pitt & Abratt, 1988).
7
effectiveness, brand associations and ad associations were included in this research, in order to prevent that an unreliable A(am) scale results in no significant findings toward the main aim of this study.
Music Roles
Most music research to date has primarily focused its research on the effects of mere presence of music (Macklin 1988; Middlestadt et. al., 1994; Morris & Boone, 1998; Olsen, 1995; Park & Young, 1986; Wheatley & Brooker, 1994) and built forth on the notion that advertising music will add value no matter what (Stout et. al., 1990). While this previous research did show that music is most likely to positively influence consumer responses to advertising, it did not account for different roles music can assume in the advertisement. The meager evidence that supports the notion that role of music can impact consumer responses to advertising, was found by Grayston 1974 and Macklin, 1988. This study intends to use
different roles of music in its research, in light of the assumption that positive effects of music depend on much more than merely adding it to the commercial and to supplement these previous findings.
As mentioned earlier, Cranton and Lantos (2012) proposed a model of consumer responses to advertising music. In their model they describes the antecedents that constitute A(am). Among these antecedents (I.e. the listening situation and listener characteristics) is the musical stimulus and therein the role of music described. The roles of music were defined by Craton and Lantos (2012) as foreground or background music and serve a specific purpose. These two generic music roles each contain more specific roles of advertising music. Background music only contains instrumental music and serves the purpose of padding the ad, whereas Craton and Lantos (2012) described three roles of foreground music:
- “Music that carries the ad message directly through musical lyrics, usually as a jingle , used to create a mood, brand image or feeling.”
- “Music that incorporates lyrics not directly carrying the ad’s message but used nonetheless as the primary means of communication.”
- “Instrumental music sans lyrics in the foreground with little voiceover or verbal message, used to affect emotions” (Alpert & Alpert, 1991).
8
This hierarchy was based on previous research regarding the effect of music role on recall of the ad message (Wallace, 1994; Yalch 1991; Brooker & Wheatley, 1994), but was not
empirically tested by Craton and Lantos (2012). This study intends to provide partial evidence for this presumption by including “foreground music with lyrics (jingle)” and “instrumental foreground music” in its research. The reason for excluding “foreground music with lyrics that do not carry the ad’s message directly” from this research lies in the fact that it is not very distinctive from foreground music with lyrics (jingle) and that it will not result in significant differences between the two. Moreover, adding all the roles of foreground music would make this study too complex and defeat its primary goal of examining the effects of volume. It is for this reason and the fact that little evidence of the impact of background music on consumer responses has been found (Grayston, 1974), that the role of music as instrumental background music was also excluded from this research. By taking the two roles of foreground music that lie farthest apart in their impact on consumer responses this study hopes to increase its
chances of finding significant results.
At first glance, instrumental foreground music and instrumental background music seem very similar and only different in the volume at which the music is played. This is not true. The role of instrumental foreground music is to play a vocal role in the advertisement, whereas the objective of background music is to play a non-vocal role and should play a less distinctive part in the advertisement (Craton & Lantos, 2012; Alpert & Alpert, 1991). This difference and reason for adoption of instrumental foreground music in the research at hand (instead of instrumental background music), lies in the fact that instrumental foreground music has a more dominant role in the advertisement and is thus more likely to have a more significant impact on consumer responses to advertising. While this difference is clear in a conceptual sense, in a practical sense the difference between the two boils down to the fact that in instrumental foreground ad music the focal point lies with the music being played, whereas with background music, the focal point lies with the spoken message over the music. Hence, not volume, but a verbal voice-over will render instrumental foreground music to the background (Alpert & Alpert, 1991)
Even though background music and instrumental foreground music are fundamentally different based on the focal point of auditory elements in the advertisement mentioned earlier, some similarities cannot be overlooked in the formation of the research hypothesis.. Prior research has proven that background music was less effective in assisting recall than foreground music with a jingle (Yalch, 1991). Furthermore, Craton and Lantos (2012)
9
at assisting message recall, due to its lyrics containing the ad message, than instrumental foreground music. Even though recall cannot be directly compared to attitude and other consumer response variables, it does form an integral part of attitude according to Fishbein’s (1963) definition of attitude as a function of salient beliefs activated from memory. Hence, it can be translated to one’s ability to recall these beliefs. It is for this reason and the similarities between instrumental foreground music and background music, that similar differences in the effect on A(am) and the other consumer response variables are expected to be found between instrumental foreground music and foreground music with lyrics (jingle). The other consumer response variables are expected to show similar differences through their positive correlation with attitude ((Macklin, 1988; Morris & Boone, 1998: Middlestadt et. al., 1994; Park & Young, 1986; Wheatley & Brooker, 1994). This has led to the formation of the following hypothesis:
H1: Foreground music with lyrics (jingle) will have a more positive effect on consumer responses to advertising than purely instrumental foreground music.
Volume
An important element of music and the primary focus of this paper are the effects of music volume on consumer responses and its interaction with music. Craton & Lantos (2012) hinted that volume might interact with role of music, but never addressed this suspicion more deeply. They believe that foreground music at low volume still appeals to people who like the music, while not turning away people who find the music not appealing. The meager
empirical evidence of the effects of volume on consumer responses that does exist, were found by Beverland et. al. (2006) and pertained to a retail setting. They found that the negative effects of in-store music- brand fit (misfit) were moderated by volume. Low music volume decreased the overall affect of the shopping experience and some of the positive effects of the music on attitude. Kellaris and Rice (1993) suggested but did not prove that different volume levels can induce different affective consumer responses. They believed that volume level could have a direct impact on consumer responses. The research at hand
10
effects, of advertising music. The research at hand believes that this can be accomplished through use of different music roles at the right volume.
Based on the research findings by Kellaris and Rice (1993) and Beverland et. al. (2006), it is expected that volume will have a direct effect on consumer responses to
advertising music, assuming that music is most likely to have a positive effect on consumer responses to advertising (Allan, 2007). Music presented at high volume is expected to have a significantly more positive effect on consumer responses than music presented at low volume. This is caused by the fact that ad music presented at high volume will play a more prominent role in the advertisement and is thus more likely to be evaluated and contribute to a positive consumer response to the advertisement. Music at low volume is less audible and less prone to be evaluated, thus less likely to contribute to an overall positive evaluation of the
advertisement and attitude toward ad music.
H2: The level of music volume in an advertisement can have a direct effect on consumer responses to the advertisement, where music presented at high volume will have a more positive impact on consumer responses to advertising than music presented at low volume.
As for the interaction effect of volume with the role of music on consumer responses, it is expected that low music volume (versus high music volume) will decrease the
distinctiveness of foreground music with lyrics (jingle) by making the jingle less audible and making it thus less distinctive from instrumental foreground music. By decreasing the
distinctiveness of the two individual roles, the overall difference in effect on consumer responses is expected to be smaller. It is important to note that by lowering volume
instrumental foreground music will not change into background music since the music will still be the focal auditory element in the advertisement and not some form of spoken message over the music. The increase in effect of music with lyrics (jingle) as opposed to instrumental music at high volume is larger, because the high volume increases the contrast between the lyrics (jingle) and the music. The advertising message contained in the jingle that may have not been heard at low volume, is now audible and can be used in the overall assessment of the advertisement. Instrumental music to the contrary will show no additional contrasts or
11
H3a: There is a significant interaction effect between volume and role of music. The difference in effect between instrumental music and music with lyrics (jingle) on consumer responses will be smaller at low volume than at high volume
As for the difference in effects between roles of music when interacting with volume, it is expected that the premises suggested by Craton and Lantos (2012), reflected in the first hypothesis, will hold for both volume levels. As the volume of the advertisement music is varied from low to high, music with lyrics (jingle) is expected to be more positive than instrumental music in both instances. It is expected that volume will not initiate change so drastic that it will affect what role of music will impact consumer responses more positively. For these reasons previously the following hypothesis was formed.
H3b: Music with lyrics (jingle) will have a more positive effect on consumer responses to advertising than instrumental music at both high and low volume.
Furthermore, it is expected that when volume interacts with role of music, responses to both roles of music will be more positive at high volume as opposed to low volume. This is reflected by H2. Music in general will be evaluated more positively at high volume as
opposed to low volume by making it better audible and more prone to positive evaluations by consumers. This positive effect will probably not be limited by the role assumed by the music in the advertisement and will be true for both instrumental music and music with lyrics (jingle). These expectations are reflected in the following research hypothesis;
H3c: Responses to both roles of music will be more positive at high volume.
Figure 1 displays the conceptual model that was constructed from the hypotheses mentioned above. Figure 2on the nest page is a graphic presentation of H3 and the interaction effect between volume and role of music on consumer responses to advertising. The graph gives a sense of the direction and differences in effects of both roles of music at low and high volume.
Figure 1
Role of Ad Music
- Instrumental foreground Music
- Foreground Music with lyrics ( jingle)
Consumer Responses to Advertising
- Advertising Effectiveness - Attitude toward ad music - Purchase Intention - Brand Associations - Advertisement
12
13
Methods
Participants and Design
120 students from various educational backgrounds were asked to participate in the experiment. 100 Dutch and international students were approached online (through social media and Email) and 20 students were approached at several RuG faculties. The sample consisted of 58 male and 62 female student with M age = 23.68 and SD = 5.122. A 2 x 2 (Role of music: Foreground music with lyrics (Jingle) vs Instrumental foreground music X Volume: High volume vs low volume) between-subjects factorial design was employed in this study. The main purpose of this research was to find a significant difference between
consumer responses to purely instrumental foreground music and foreground music with lyrics (jingle)
Procedures
The online survey was distributed among the participants by using Qualtrics to construct the experiment. The program was used to produce one experiment with 4 different conditions. The respondents were randomly assigned to either one of the 4 stimuli. This was established by using the Qualtrics survey director option, which offers the ability to produce a dynamic web link that randomly directs the participants to one of the different stimuli. The exact same web-link was also used for the participants that were approached at some of the RuG faculties. Both online and live respondents were used to check whether the responses of the online respondents were congruent with responses of live participants in a controlled environment. This was done in order to see if the instructions were followed and to check if the online experiments were not answered at random by the participants, as is sometimes the case when an experiment is conducted through online channels. The live respondents were directed to the same web-link as the online respondents. However, before posting the
experiment online the live participants were asked to take the experiment. The time stamps of the live results were used to differentiate them from the online respondents. The means of the live scores and online scores were analyzed separately. The mean score on the consumer response variables of 20 live respondents were compared to those of 20 online respondents and were found similar. Thereafter the data was primarily gathered through the online channel, since it showed reliable results.
14
about to undergo, without mentioning the exact goal of the experiment. Accordingly, the respondents were directed to an instruction page which explained that they should get their earplugs and plug them directly into the computer and set their main computer volume at level 50 in order to fully experience every aspect of the commercial they were about to see. The former instruction was phrased this way in order to provide the online respondent with an incentive to follow these instructions. Thereafter they were told that they were about to see a short commercial and that they would have to answer some questions about the commercial. The first few questions were concerned with the demographic characteristics of the
respondents, whereas the subsequent questions were based on a measurement of attitude toward advertisement music (A(am)) and the other consumer response variables. After the respondents answered the questions, they were directed to the final page where they were thanked for their participation and that they would have the opportunity to see the results of the experiment after the research was completed. All four different questionnaires were exactly the same, except for the stimulus used in each of them.
Independent Variables
The stimuli (independents variables) used in the experiment, were constructed from an existing American TV commercial on “Double Mint” bubble gum (appendix C2). An
American TV commercial was used, since the majority of the participants were of non-American decent and thus not likely to be familiar with the commercial. A largely unknown commercial was used to make sure that familiarity with the commercial (message) would not interfere with the results.
Music with lyrics (jingle) stimulus
The music in the original commercial featured a song by Chris Brown, “Forever”. The original score was adapted by “Dubble Mint” and Chris Brown in order to include their message/jingle “Double the pleasure, Double the fun”. The video itself does not include this message in written form, but merely shows Chris Brown dancing while showing the product. The only text featured in the commercial is shown in the end and pertains to new slim
packaging of the product. In constructing the music with lyrics (jingle) stimulus, the music in the original commercial that contained the jingle was recorded sans video by using
15
“Windows Movie Maker” was used to add the message of the jingle in written form in the same fond (Arial), size (18) and color (green) as the text already present in the commercial. An animation was used to make the text appear in order not to make it look engineered. The message “Double your pleasure, double your fun” was placed at the end of the commercial. The text was added to the commercial, in order for the commercial with instrumental foreground music to be able to convey the message without placing the instrumental foreground music to the background by using a voice over to add the message (Alpert & Alpert, 1991). The text was also added to the music with lyrics (jingle) commercial in order to make sure that all elements of the commercial other than the music were kept the same between the stimuli (foreground music with lyrics (Jingle) vs purely instrumental foreground music).
Instrumental music stimulus
The stimulus featuring the commercial with instrumental foreground music was constructed by recording the readily available instrumental version of the song “Forever” by Chris Brown with Audacity at the 0,2 (low-volume) level and at the 0,8 (high-volume) level. Accordingly, Windows Movie Maker was used to replace the original music (with jingle) with the instrumental music at low and high volume. Again, Windows Movie Maker was used add the written message of the jingle (“double your pleasure, double your fun”) in the same fond (Arial), size (18) and color (green) as the text already present in the commercial, for reasons mentioned above.
Accordingly, these four different videos were uploaded onto “Youtube” and were embedded into the online experiment through “Qualtrix” by using the “Youtube” web URL’s (Appendix C2)
Dependent variables
Attitude toward advertisement music
The multi-item measurement scale of A(am), developed by Craton and Lantos (2012), was used in this experiment. They constructed A(am) as having both cognitive and affective components. The exact same format and wording of the components was used in the
16
of A(am) was used, where the centre score was used in further analysis. Since the scales are reversed scores above the centre score indicated a negative response and a score below the centre score constitutes a positive response on the variable A(am).
Purchase intention
The variable purchase intention was measured on a multi-item measurement scale with the three items shown in appendix C1.4. The respondents were asked to answer three questions on 5-point semantic differential scale. The scale was found reliable through a Cronbach Alpha reliability test with CA > .7 (Table A1).
Advertising effectiveness
Advertising effectiveness was measured on a multi-item measurement scale with the four items shown in appendix C1.5. The respondents were asked to answer four questions on 5-point semantic differential scale. The scale was found reliable through a Cronbach Alpha reliability test with CA > .7 (Table A1).
Brand associations
Brand associations were measured on a multi-item measurement scale with the 7 items shown in appendix C1.3. The respondents were asked to answer 7 questions on 5-point semantic differential scale. The scale was found reliable through a Cronbach Alpha reliability test with CA > .7 (Table A1).
Ad associations
The variable ad associations was measured on a multi-item measurement scale with the four items shown in appendix C1.2. The respondents were asked to answer four questions on 5-point semantic differential scale. The scale was found reliable through a Cronbach Alpha reliability test with CA > .7 (Table A1).
Accordingly, the items
17
Results
After the reliability of the variables was established, aggregated scales of the variables were formed by adding the items specific to each variable. A two-way (M)ANOVA was used to find significant differences between the responses to (Music with lyrics vs. Instrumental Music) and if these responses were moderated by volume. The (M)ANOVA test was followed up by separate two-way ANOVA tests for the individual dependent variables. The semantic differential scales are interpreted on a 5 point scale where a score higher than 3 implies a more negative response and a score lower than 3 implies a positive score. Since the items were aggregated into one measurement scale the scores were also aggregated into a summated score. The interpretation of the scores is the same as with the single item scale, where the centre score represents a neutral response
Attitude Toward Ad Music (A(am))
A 2 (role of music: music with lyrics (jingle) vs. instrumental music) x 2 (volume: high vs. low) ANOVA on A(am) showed an insignificant main effect of the role of music (F(1, 116) = .016, p > .05, not in line with predictions. The main effect of volume also did not show any significance (F(1, 116) = .131, p > .05. Moreover, the proposed interaction effect between volume and role of music was insignificant (F(1, 116) = .019, p > .05. These findings are not in line with predictions concerning the main effect where music with lyrics (jingle) should show a larger impact on A(am) than instrumental music. The findings failed to show a significant interaction effect between volume and role of music in line with predictions, where the difference in effect on A(am) between music with lyrics (jingle) and instrumental music should be smaller with low volume and larger with high volume
Advertising associations
18
music, where the difference in effect on ad associations between music with lyrics (jingle) and instrumental music should be smaller at low volume and larger at high volume
Brand associations
A 2 (role of music: music with lyrics (jingle) vs. instrumental music) x 2 (volume: high vs. low) ANOVA on brand associations showed an insignificant main effect of role of music (F(1, 116) = .000, p > .05, not in line with predictions. The main effect of volume was not significant (F(1, 116) = .116, p > .05. Moreover, the proposed interaction effect between volume and role of music was insignificant (F(1, 116) = .811, p > .05. These findings do not confirm that music with lyrics (jingle) shows a larger impact on brand associations than instrumental music. The findings failed to show a significant interaction effect between volume and role of music in line with predictions, where the difference in effect on brand associations between music with lyrics (jingle) and instrumental music should be smaller at low volume and larger at high volume.
Advertising effectiveness
A 2 (role of music: music with lyrics (jingle) vs. instrumental music) x 2 (volume: high vs. low) ANOVA on advertising effectiveness showed an insignificant main effect of role of music (F(1, 116) = .429, p > .05, not in line with predictions. However, the main effect of volume was significant F(1, 116) = 8.147, p < .05, η2
= .066 where the effect size of volume level on advertising effectiveness is medium with η2
> .06 (Cohen, 1988) The main effect of volume indicated that the advertisement was perceived as less effective when presented at low volume (M = 13.517, SD = 3.811) than when the advertisement was presented at high volume (M = 11.483, SD = 4.082. A significant interaction effect was also found for advertising effectiveness (F 1, 116) = 4.434, p < .05, η2 = .037 where the effect size is moderately low at
η2
> .01 (Cohen, 1988). At low volume, people who listened to the instrumental version perceived the advertisement as less effective (M = 14.033, SD = 3.586) than people who listened to the music with lyrics (M = 13.006, SD = 4.017). At high volume however, the effect reversed and the difference between group means increased displayed by figure B2 in the appendix. It is important to note that reversed scores were used during measurement of the variables hence a downward slope in figure B2 implies a positive increase in effect on ad effectiveness. People who listened to the instrumental version perceived the advertisement as more effective (M = 10.500, SD = 4.195) than people who listened to the music with lyrics (M = 12.467, SD = 3.821). These findings partially confirm the proposed interaction effect
19
the positive interaction effect, these findings confirm that responses to both instrumental music and music with lyrics were more positive at high volume. Hence, the advertisement was perceived more effective at high volume for both types of music. Furthermore, the suspicion that the difference in effect between the roles of music on ad effectiveness was smaller at low volume than at high volume, was confirmed. However, these findings also show that at low volume the music with lyrics resulted in a more effective advertisement and at high volume the instrumental music resulted in a more positive perception of the
advertisement effectiveness (Figure B2). The scores indicate that both the instrumental music and music with lyrics went from a negative score on ad effectiveness at low volume to a positive score at high volume. (Table A2).
Purchase intention
A 2 (role of music: music with lyrics (jingle) vs. instrumental music) x 2 (volume: high vs. low) ANOVA on purchase intention showed an insignificant main effect of role of music (F(1, 116) = .472, p > .05, not in line with predictions. The main effect of volume was not significant (F(1, 116) = .087, p > .05. However a significant interaction effect of volume and music type on purchase intention (F 1, 116) = 4.52, p < .05, η2
= .038) was found, where the overall effect size is moderately low with η2
> .01 (Cohen, 1988). At low volume, the people who listened to the instrumental version, had a more positive purchase intention (M = 9.37, SD = 2.34) than people who listened to the jingle version of the music (M = 10.1, SD = 3.16). However, at high volume the difference in effect size increased and reversed (Figure B1). At high volume, people who listened to the jingle version of the music showed more positive purchase intentions (M = 9.17, SD = 3.16) than the people who listened to the instrumental version (M = 10.6, SD = 2.34). These findings partially confirm the interaction effect of volume on responses to music type for purchase intention. The findings confirm that the difference in effect on purchase intention is smaller at low volume than at high volume. However, they do not confirm that music with lyrics will have a more positive effect on purchase intention at both high and low volume, and that the effect of on purchase intention of both roles of music is more positive at high volume. Figure B2 shows that the difference between the effects of music type on purchase intention is reversed and increased as volume increases; where at low volume the instrumental music had a more positive effect on purchase intention and at high volume music with lyrics had a more positive effect on purchase
20
instrumental music displayed a negative score on purchase intention at low volume, whereas at high volume the score became more positive (Table A2)
Discussion
Even though no direct effect of role of music on consumer responses to advertising music could be found, the results of the statistical analysis show that volume in itself can have a direct effect on advertising effectiveness. The advertisement presented with music at low volume was perceived as less effective than the advertisement with the music at high volume. The overall effect size of volume on advertising effectiveness was considerable.
An indirect effect of role of music on consumer responses was found when role of music interacted with volume. A significant interaction effect between volume and role of music was confirmed for both purchase intention and advertising effectiveness. Advertising effectiveness was more positive at high volume for both instrumental music and music with lyrics. However, the difference in effects changed when the music was presented at high volume. At high volume instrumental music resulted in a more effective perception of the advertisement, whereas at low volume the music with lyrics resulted in a more effective perception of the advertisement. The effect of music with lyrics on purchase intention was more positive at high volume. However, the effect of music with lyrics on purchase intention became less positive at high volume. Just like with advertising effectiveness the difference in effects of music type on purchase intention reversed when presented at high volume. At high volume, music with lyrics showed the more positive effect on purchase intention, whereas at low volume the instrumental music showed a more positive effect on purchase intention. Overall, the effect of music with lyrics on purchase intention and ad effectiveness was more positive as volume increased. However the effect of instrumental music on purchase intention became more negative as volume increased.
In response to the research question mentioned earlier in this paper, there is evidence to support the notion that the role of music used in advertisements does indeed have an effect on consumer responses to advertising. Moreover, the results of the experiments presented in this paper show that volume has a significant interaction role on this effect and a significant direct positive effect on advertising effectiveness.
21
music interacted with volume. A direct effect of role of music on consumer responses to advertising could not be confirmed.
H2 was supported by the findings presented in this paper. A significant direct effect of music volume on advertising effectiveness was found. The advertising music presented at high volume resulted in a significantly more positive perception of advertising effectiveness.
H3 as a whole is partially supported by the findings presented in this paper, where some of its elements were fully supported and others were partially supported. H3a was fully supported by the findings presented in this paper. A significant interaction effect between music type and volume was found for both purchase intention and advertising effectiveness. The music with lyrics (jingle) was less distinctive from instrumental music at low volume and caused a smaller overall difference in purchase intention and advertising effectiveness
between both roles of music.
H3b was could not be supported by the results; music with lyrics did not have a more positive effect on purchase intention and advertising effectiveness at low and high volume. The results on purchase intention partially support H1 in the sense that purchase intention was more positive for people who listened to the music with lyrics as opposed to the people who listened to the instrumental music. In case of advertising effectiveness, H1 was only true at low volume. The reasons for these apparently contradicting findings between ad effectiveness and purchase intention will be elaborated on in later sections of the paper.
H3c is partially confirmed by the findings presented in this paper. In terms of advertising effectiveness, the findings fully support H3c, because it was evaluated more positive at high volume for both music roles. For purchase intention however, H3c could not be confirmed.
Overall, the findings in this paper were in line with a substantial amount of the expected outcomes. The theoretical and practical implications of these outcomes will be discussed in the following sections. Furthermore, the causes for some of the apparently contradictory findings will be elaborated on in the following sections of the paper.
Theoretical implications
Previous research suggested that volume could have a moderating effect on consumer response to music (Craton and Lantos, 2011; Beverland et. al., 2006). In a retail setting, actual evidence of the moderating role of volume was found by Kellaris and Rice (1993). The
22
advertising effectiveness. Overall, this suggests that future research in the effects of music on consumer responses has to be approached with caution, since maybe more factors than just volume may interact with advertising music.
Furthermore, the findings presented in this paper support the premise that the role assumed by music used in an advertisement can affect consumer responses to advertising differently (Craton and Lantos 2012, 2011; Allan, 2006; Roehm, 2001; Wallace, 1991, 1994; Yalch, 1991). Craton and Lantos (2012) hypothesized that music with lyrics will produce a more positive response than instrumental music. This hypothesis could not be impartially confirmed by the research conducted in this paper. Although this is true when the music is presented at low volume, at high volume the effect of instrumental music on advertising effectiveness was more positive than the effect of music with lyrics. In case of purchase intention the exact opposite was found. Here, difference in effect is only true for the music types presented at high volume, whereas at low volume instrumental music had a more
positive effect on purchase intention. The research paper at hand has only addressed a fraction of the questions that surround advertising music, but its results have shown that a number of factors, like volume and role of music, influence consumer responses to advertising. The findings presented in this paper are a piece in a much larger puzzle into the complex dynamics of use of advertising music and its effect on consumers. The interaction between volume and role of music shows that research in advertising music entails much more than merely the presence versus the absence of music in advertising and its presumed positive effect on
consumer responses (Macklin, 1988; Morris & Boone, 1998: Middlestadt et. al., 1994; Park & Young, 1986; Wheatley & Brooker, 1994). These results put their question marks behind the assumption that music will always add value to the commercial (Stout et.al., 1990), by showing that the effectiveness and possible positive effects of advertising music depends on much more than the mere presence vs. absence of music. The fact that volume had both an interaction effect with role of music as well as a direct effect on consumer responses to
23
more positive response since the advertisements main message is included in the music and is thus processed through the central route.
The research presented in this paper further contributes to existing literature and research, through its use of A(am) as a consumer response variable. Even though no difference in effects of music type on attitude toward advertisement music A(am) could be found, the scale items of A(am) provided by Craton and Lantos were found reliable. Proving the reliability of A(am) as a measurement scale makes the variable eligible for future
advertising music research and the antecedents A(am) proposed by Craton and Lantos (2012) in their research framework. Even though no significant results were found here, the many facets of consumer responses to advertising music contained in the variable have the ability to shine a light on the complexities of consumer responses to advertising music
Practical implications
In practice, the findings presented in this paper have the potential in advertising with regard to music used in advertisements. The results presented in this paper show that volume especially can be used to induce different responses in consumers with different roles of music. Instrumental music used in commercial advertisements would benefit, in terms of advertisement effectiveness, from being played at high volume. Whereas, the focus of the advertisement was to induce more positive purchase intention, music with lyrics (jingle) presented at high volume would produce a better result. In terms of advertising effectiveness, volume does not have the potential induce any negative effects since for both instrumental music as well as music with lyrics will produce more positive results at high volume. However in terms of purchase intention, volume should be used with caution when instrumental music is used. The findings presented in this paper suggest that instrumental music presented at high volume will have a more negative effect on purchase intention than when presented at low volume, which suggests that instrumental music might benefit more from a low volume than music with lyrics if the instrumental music is to affect both
advertising effectiveness and purchase intention positively. As for the direct effects of
24
Future Research
The findings presented in this paper are just a small step in the clarification of the under investigated world of advertising music and its effect on consumer responses. They highlight that music cannot be assumed to be a one-dimensional element in ads and that “the music as garnish assumption” is not as straight forward as it seems (Stout et. al. 1990). This study confirms that there are ways and elements of music, such as volume and role of music, that can instill a more effective use of advertising music and show that music is not as straightforward as it seems.
The apparent contradicting results in this study such as the interaction effects of
volume on the effect of music type on purchase intention and advertising effectiveness merely confirm that music is multi-faceted element of advertising that cannot be assumed to always work as intended.
Contradictory findings concerning the assumption that music with lyrics will always have a more positive effect on consumer responses, might be caused by the fact that the lyrics of the music with lyrics (jingle) at high volume drew the attention away from other visual messages and cues presented in the advertisement, thereby decreasing advertising
effectiveness. On the other hand music with lyrics presented at high volume underscored the main message and might have been perceived as funny for people who were familiar with the music and noticed the change in lyrics, resulting in more positive purchase intention than music with lyrics (jingle) at low volume. Future research might consider the use of newly composed, unheard scores and an advertisement that keeps visual stimuli at a minimum, to see if the premise set out in this paper still hold. The difference in reversal of the effects of music role between purchase intention and advertising effectiveness for high volume as opposed to low volume could have been caused by the fact that the difference between the two types of music were hardly audible at low volume and could not have resulted in an accurate placement of one role of music effect over the other. Future research could include more than two volume levels in order to see if these premises might be true.
25
Increasing the volume of instrumental music, that for some did not had anything to do with the advertisement through the lack of lyrics, just increased the incongruence of the music in the ad and created less positive responses to purchase intention. On the other hand the items included in measuring advertising effectiveness applied to both music and other elements of the advertisement the focus could be diverted to the other elements of the advertisement in responses to the instrumental music responses. Future research might include more music oriented items in the construction of advertising effectiveness and purchase intention to see whether these differences will still exist.
The research presented in this study was primarily based on future research suggestions made by Craton & Lantos (2012) and their consumer response to advertising music model. Moreover, this study supplied in the general need for research into more effective use of ad music. The section of the model by Craton & Lantos that was covered by the research in this paper, provided evidence that parts of the model are of value to future research. By continuing future research along the lines of their model, a more refined and complete overview of advertising music and its effects on consumer responses can be formed. An in-depth investigation of other elements (I.e. the listening situation and listener
characteristics) in the model can contribute to increasing effectiveness of ad music. All though beyond the scope of this paper, possible negative effects of music on consumer attitude and responses to advertising are interesting for future research into ad music
effectiveness. Especially now that the consumer response variable A(am) was found reliable. Through this variable, possible negative effects of advertising music can be directly related to changes in attitude and will uncover on what components of attitude they can have a negative effect. Uncovering these negative effects will help to prevent certain music from decreasing music effectiveness and contest the simple notion that music will always add value to the advertisement (Stout et al. 1990).
26
References
Allan, D. (2007). Sound Advertising: A Review of the Experimental Evidence on the
Effects of Music in Commercials on Attention, Memory, Attitudes, and Purchase intention, Journal of Media Psychology, (Vol. 12, No. 3)
Allan, D. (2006). Effects of popular music on attention and memory in advertising. Journal of Advertising Research, 46, 4, 1-11.
Alpert, J. I., & Alpert, M. I. (1991). Contributions from a musical perspective on
advertising and consumer behavior. Advances in Consumer Research, 18, 232-237.
Beverland, M., Lim, E.A.C., Morrison, M., Terziovski, M. (2006), In-store consumer-brand
relationships: Relational transformation following experiences of (mis)fit. Journal
of Business Research, 59, 982-989
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power analysis of behavioral sciences, second edition.
Craton, L.G. and Lantos, G.P. (2012),"A model of consumer response to advertising
music", Journalof Consumer Marketing,, 29, 22 – 42
Craton, L.G. and Lantos, G.P. (2011), “Attitude toward the advertising music: an
overlooked potential pitfall in commercials”, Journal of Consumer Marketing , 28
No. 5.
Fishbein, M. (1963). An investigation of the relationship between beliefs about an object
27
Gorn, G. J. (1982). The effects of music in advertising on choice behavior: A classical
conditioning approach. Journal of Marketing, 46, 94-101.
Grayston, D. (1974), “Music while you work”, Industrial Management, 4, 38-9
Kellaris, J. J., & Cox, A. D. (1989). The effects of background music in advertising: A
reassessment. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 113-118.
Kellaris, J.J. and Kent, R.J. (2001), “An exploratory investigation of responses elicited by
music varying in tempo, tonality, and texture”, Journal of Consumer Psychology,
2, 381-401
Kellaris, J.J. and Rice, R.C. (1993), “The influence of tempo, loudness, and gender on
responses to music”, Psychology & Marketing, 10, 15-29
MacInnis, D. J., & Park, C. W. (1991). The differential role of characteristics of music on
high- and low-involvement consumers' processing of ads. Journal of Consumer
Research, 18, 161-173.
Macklin, M. C. (1988). The relationship between music in advertising and children's
responses: an experimental investigation. In S. Hecker & D. W. Stewart (Eds.),
Nonverbal Communication in Advertising (pp. 225-245). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books
Meyers-Levy, J. and Tybout, A. (1989), Schema congruity as a basis for product
evaluation, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 16, pp. 39-54.
Middlestadt, S. E., Fishbein, M., & Chan, D. K.-S. (1994). The effect of music on brand
attitudes: Affect- or belief-based change? In E. M. Clark & T. C. Brock & D. W.
28
Morris, J.D. and Boone, M.A. (1998), “The effects of music on emotional response, brand
attitude, and purchase intent in an emotional advertising condition”, Advances in
Consumer Research, 25, 518-26
North, A. C., MacKenzie, L. C., & Law, R. M. (2004). The effects of musical and voice
"fit" on responses to advertisements. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(8),
1675-1708
Olsen, G.D. (1995), Creating the contrast: the influence of silence and background music
on recall and attribute importance Journal of Advertising, 14, No. 4,
Park, C.W. and Young, S.M. (1986), “Consumer response to television commercials: the
impact of involvement and background music on brand attitude formation”,
Journal of Marketing Research, 23, 11-24
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). Communication and persuasion: Central and
peripheral routes to attitudes change. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Peterson, R.A., Sauber, M., (1983) A mood scale for survey research. American Marketing Association Educator’s Proceedings, 409-414
Pitt, L. F., & Abratt, R. (1988). Music in advertisements for unmentionable products - a
classical conditioning experiment. International Journal of Advertising, 7(2),
130-137.
Roehm, M. L. (2001). Instrumental vs. vocal versions of popular music in advertising. Journal of Advertising Research, 41(3), 49-58.
Shen, Y.-C., & Chen, T.-C. (2006). When east meets west: The effect of cultural tone
congruity in ad music and message on consumer ad memory and attitude.
29
Stout, P. and Leckenby, J.D. (1988), “Let the music play: music as a nonverbal element in
TV commercials”, in Hecker, S. and Stewart, D.W. (Eds), Nonverbal Communication
in Advertising, Lexington Books/D.C. Heath, Lexington, MA, 207-23
Stout, P.A., Leckenby, J.D. and Hecker, S. (1990), “Viewer reactions to music in television
commercials”, Journalism Quarterly, 67, 887-98
Wallace, W. T. (1994). Memory for music: effect of melody on recall of text. Journal of
Experimental Psychology, 20(6), 1471-1485.
Wallace, W. T. (1991). Jingles in advertisements: Can they improve recall? Advances in
Consumer Research, 18, 239-242.
Wheatley, J. J., & Brooker, G. (1994). Music and spokesperson effects on recall and
cognitive response to a radio advertisement. In E. M. Clark & T. C. Brock & D. W.
Stewart (Eds.), Attention, Attitude, and Affect in Response to Advertising (pp. 189-204). Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Yalch, R. F. (1991). Memory in a jingle jungle: Music as a mnemonic device in
30
Appendix
APPENDIX A
Table A1
Variable Cronbach Alpha
Attitude toward ad music .896
Ad associations .904
Brand associations .887
Advertising Effectiveness .801
Purchase intention .785
Table A2
Purchase Intention Score Centre Score
Instrumental Low Volume 9.367 High Volume 10.600 8.000 Jingle Low Volume 10.100 High Volume 9.167
Ad Affectiveness Score Centre Score
31
APPENDIX B
Figure B1
32
APPENDIX C Appendix C1 1. Demographics
What is your age? What is your gender What is your occupation
2. Attitude toward advertising music
The music in the ad was appealing /unappealing The music in the attracted/ did not attract my attention The music in the ad brought on memories/ no memories The music in the ad was memorable/ unmemorable
Whenever I hear the music in the ad I will think/ not think of doublemint
The link between doublemint and the music in the advertisement is positive/ negative With the music in the ad I have prior/ no prior associations
Prior associations I have with the music in the advertisement are positive/negative The music presented in the advertisement is unique/ not unique
The image I have of doublemint and the musivc in the advertisement match/do not match
The music and the message presented in the advertisement match/ do not match The music in the advertisement I like./ dislike
The music in this ad makes me feel good/bad Because of the music I am currently in a good mood As I answer these questions I feel cheerful
Because of the music I feel uncomfortable now At this moment I feel edgy or irritable
33
Prior feelings I have with the music presented in the ad are strong/weak Current feelings I have with the music in the ad are good/bad
Current feelings I have with the music in the ad are strong/ weak After hearing the music in the advertisement I felt aroused/ unaroused The music presented in the ad was interesting/ boring
The music made the overall experience of the advertisement pleasant/unpleasant
3. Ad Associations
The advertisement you just saw was: Pleasing/ irritating
Memorable/ unmemorable Effective/not at all effective
4. Brand Associations
What is your opinion of Doublemint Fun/ not fun
Creative/ uncreative Pleasurerable/ unpleasurable Interesting/ boring Exciting/ unexciting Appealing/ unappealing 5. Purchase Intention
After viewing this ad I am very likely to buy Doublemint
If I was to notice Doublemint in a store I would be likely to buy it I would consider buying Doublemint if I needed bubblegum
6. Advertising effectiveness
34
The benefits described in the ad are believable
The ad message is double your pleasure double your fun
Appendix C2 Video URL’s
http://youtu.be/ZYBKfBB65IA (Jingle Version Low Volume) http://youtu.be/60q9mtPnPVU (Jingle Version High Volume) http://youtu.be/ehimXLUeJxQ (Instrumental Version Low Volume) http://youtu.be/dRcbzDwzBnY (Instrumental Version High Volume)
