Musical influences in advertising: how music modifies first impressions of product endorsers and brands

Abstract

The ability of music to create differentiating effects on subjects’ impressions of product endorsers and brands of an advertisement were examined based on the theory of ‘musical fit’. Subjects ( N = 132) listened to one of three versions of a radio commercial in which the music varied in each version. The music selections differed in style, tempo, rhythm, etc., but matched product and message of the commercial in terms of ‘musical fit’. After listening to the commercial, subjects rated the endorser's personality via the external version of a personality inventory. Impressions of the brand were measured using semantic differentials. The results concur with previous findings: depending on musical style, music can lead to significantly different impressions of the endorser as well as the brand without affecting general evaluations of the product. Based on sex, interesting differences concerning music perception and its impacts were found. Self-critical annotations and suggestions for practitioners and future studies are discussed.