A Walk on the Wild Side: The Impact of Music on Risk-Taking Likelihood.

Rickard Enström,Rodney Schmaltz

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00759

Abstract

From a marketing perspective, there has been substantial interest in on the role of risk-perception on consumer behavior. Specific ‘problem music’ like rap and heavy metal has long been associated with delinquent behavior, including violence, drug use, and promiscuous sex. Although individuals’ risk preferences have been investigated across a range of decision-making situations, there has been little empirical work demonstrating the direct role music may have on the likelihood of engaging in risky activities. In the exploratory study reported here, we assessed the impact of listening to different styles of music while assessing risk-taking likelihood through a psychometric scale. Risk-taking likelihood was measured across ethical, financial, health and safety, recreational and social domains. Through the means of a canonical correlation analysis, the multivariate relationship between different music styles and individual risk-taking likelihood across the different domains is discussed. Our results indicate that listening to different types of music does influence risk-taking likelihood, though not in areas of health and safety.

Highlights

Consumers’ risk perceptions and the impact they have on their behavior in the market place has received substantial attention in the marketing literature
Looking at the dimensionality of the multivariate relationship between risk domains and music domains, the analysis revealed that in addition to the full model, the canonical functions 2 to 5 were statistically significant, F = 1.74, p = 0.035
While Intense music like punk, rap, and heavy metal has been correlated with risky behavior such as drug use and promiscuous sex, we found no relationship between listening to intense music and risk-taking likelihood

Summary

Introduction

Consumers’ risk perceptions and the impact they have on their behavior in the market place has received substantial attention in the marketing literature. When considering product and service options, consumers may use a number of strategies in an attempt to reduce the perceived risk (Brunel and Pichon, 2004). Consumers have been found to use extensive search efforts as a way to reduce perceived risk (Srinivasan and Ratchford, 1991; Dowling and Staelin, 1994). From the marketer’s point of view, the consumers’ perceived risk can be altered by investing in the branding of product or service (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993; Heilman et al, 2000; Erdem and Swait, 2004; Erdem et al, 2006)

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