Exploring the Congruence Level of Music and Product Category. A Content Analysis on Global Musical Ads

Abstract

The race to capture consumers’ attention has rapidly increased in the past years. Besides the importance of the channels, the elements composing an ad are as crucial as ever in promoting compelling messages relevant to the target group. Music is one of the mechanisms through which the interest of consumers can be aroused while enhancing the advertising message and giving it more nuance. There have been several attempts to understand advertising music better, but most of the works focus on individual dimensions. There is a need to understand advertising music choices more coherently and complexly. The present study aims to provide a comprehensive instrument of several items that help understand musical congruency within an ad. The paper provides a content analysis of 95 global musical ads for 2019-2022. The primary product/ service categories are reviewed, and the dimensions used in the analysis present the essential aspects of musical congruency, underlining the importance of original music composed for the ads, the capacity to adapt to various music sources, and giving additional importance to elements such as pitch, dynamics, and tempo. The paper offers a bigger picture of the musical landscape in advertising and interweaves music knowledge and elements with advertising purposes.