Music Mood and Marketing Presenter: Cher Wang

Objectives

¤  Examine the behavioral effects of music, with special emphasis on music's emotional expressionism and role as a mood influencer.

¤  Recommend research propositions to guide future studies.

¤  Provide managerial implications in retail environment and in commercials.

Interview: Does music in store affect your shopping experience?

What they said:

¤  “You feel good if there’s something that you enjoy…” ¤  “I want to spend more, and linger around more…” ¤  “hugely encourage to buy…” ¤  “put you in a better mood. If I am in a better mood, I would like to spend money…” ¤  “if the right music, I have the mood of shopping…” ¤  “Time feels faster if in a queue…” ¤  “women feels happy, it brings back good memory, then spend money…” ¤  “lighten your experience…”

Background of M&M&M

Music is… ¤  an efficient and effective means for triggering

moods and communicating nonverbally. ¤  a stimulus in the retail environment (point of

purchase) as well as in radio and television advertising.

¤  a prominent promotional tool of consumer marketing.

Methodology

The author reviews the small body of marketing literature, surveys relevant literature outside marketing, and provides research propositions to guide future studies.

Literature outside marketing:

Appropriately structured music acts on the nervous system like a key on a lock, activating brain processes with corresponding emotional reactions.

Time-Related Findings ¤  Tempo ¤  Rhythm ¤  Phrasing

Pitch-Related Findings ¤  Expressive tendencies

of harmony ¤  Melodic line ¤  Note range

Texture-Related Findings ¤  Musical texture ¤  Volume

Other Relevant Findings ¤  An inverted-U function tends to be found when someone expresses a degree of

liking for a range of music compositions. This function is likely to shift to the right over time as a piece becomes more familiar.

¤  Repetition can lead to perceived changes in complexity with resulting influences on affect when patterns in the music become predictable.

Findings

Marketing-Related Studies

Nonbehavioral Studies In the contexts of radio and television advertising ¤  Changes in affect ¤  Purchase intention ¤  Recall

Behavior-Related Studies In the context of retail environment (point of purchase) ¤  Sales volume ¤  Product selection ¤  Shopping time

Discussion(postulates)

¤  Human beings nonrandomly assign emotional

meaning to music. ¤  Human beings experience nonrandom affective

reactions to music. ¤  Music used in marketing-related contexts is

capable of evoking nonrandom affective and behavioral responses in consumers.

Future research propositions

P1: The components of music are capable of having main as well as interaction effects on moods, cognitions, and behaviors of interest in marketers. P2: The structural nature of music is related to its ability to achieve various purposes. P3: The emotions perceived to be expressed in musical stimuli are capable of evoking corresponding affective reactions in listeners. P4: The influence of music on persuasiveness is greatest under conditions of route and low peripheral route processing and low cognitive involvement. P5: Several variables moderate the relationships between music and consumer responses. P6: Some responses to music are learned where as others are inherent.

Methodological Recommendations

¤  Efforts must be made to raise the level of experimental sophistication to account for the complex workings of the musical stimulus

¤  Future research should control for the effect of music familiarity ¤  The influence of liking music should be accounted for in research

designs. ¤  Methodology should be robust enough to account for nonmonotonic

relationships between music components and affect.

Managerial Implications

¤  Jewelry

¤  Sportswear

¤  Cosmetics

¤  Beer

¤  Cars ¤  Appliances ¤  PCs ¤  Cameras ¤  Insurance

Music is likely to have its greatest effect when consumers have high affective and/or low cognitive involvement with the product.

Q

Apart from involvement, what other variables may moderate between music and consumer responses?

Managerial Implications

Employing well-known hits… ¤  is undoubtedly an effective way to draw attention and evoke positive

responses in many instances. ¤  Caution is justified before rushing to use well-known music for at

least two reasons: l  Research on repetition suggests that what has been

considered pleasant at one point in time can become much less enjoyable if repetition makes it too familiar.

l  Musicians are increasingly sensitive and vocal about the perceived misuse of their songs in commercials.

Managerial Implications

Employing unfamiliar music:

Managerial Implications

Developing original music… Have more to do with one’s profession than with the ability to make expressive music.

The power of loud club music

Case study: Abercrombie and Fitch

¤  Retailers and restaurant owners believe that younger people can withstand loud music longer, while older ones may run from it, enabling establishments to maintain a more youthful clientele and a "fresher" image. (NY Times )

¤  Shoppers make more impulsive purchases when they're over stimulated. Loud volume leads to sensory overload, which weakens self-control. (Emily Anthes)

¤  Overload makes people move into a less deliberate mode of decision making. People might be more likely to be lured by brand names, fooled by discounts on items that they might not really want, and susceptible to other influences. (Kathleen Vohs, the University of Minnisota)

Q2

How about sad or sentimental music? Degrade state of mood? Restrain purchase intention?

The power of pathetic music