Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [191]
In another lab experiment, 80 women were randomly divided into two groups to view TV commercials with the theme, “Estée Lauder introduces a hair shampoo, Shena.” Those in the high-involvement group were told that there was a substantial difference in quality, and were asked to pay special attention to the product’s benefits. Those in the low-involvement group were told that there were no differences among brands of shampoo; to distract their attention, they were also instructed to “Assume that you have just received a long-distance telephone call stating that one of your closest friends of 20 years is seriously ill, and wants to see you.” Half the subjects in each group were exposed to the commercials with background music. In the high-involvement group, those hearing music had lower purchase intentions, 3.0 versus 3.7 for the no-music group (on a seven-point scale). The effect was reversed for the low-involvement group—2.8 versus 2.1 (Park and Young 1986).
Now for non-experimental data, where, unfortunately, we know little about whether the products are high or low-involvement. When words were spoken over background music on TV commercials, recall suffered by 9 percent and persuasion by 3 percent (Walker 2008).
An analysis of results from unpublished studies by four advertising research companies—Burke, Mapes and Ross, McCollum Spielman, and Y&R—showed that the recall index for TV commercials with music was about 6 percent lower than the average for this sample (Hecker 1984).
TV commercials with music were no better on recall or persuasion than were ads without music, and they were slightly lower on comprehension. In addition, the commercials in which music created a mood were less persuasive (Stewart and Furse 1986).
Assume that you are walking past a wine display of German and French wine in a local supermarket. French music is playing. Would hearing this music make you more likely to purchase a French wine?
10.3.2. If music or sound effects are used, make them relevant to the product
Consider sound effects that are clearly relevant to the product, its use, or to a key aspect of the message. For example, Maxwell House commercials used the sound of percolating coffee. Another example: Soft drinks add a fizzing sound as the drink is poured.
Avoid sound effects that might distract from good arguments.
Music is most appropriate when the advertisement uses emotion. Experts have collaborated to develop guidelines on how to match elements of music to emotion. Bruner (1990) provides the following summary table. It updates work that was first published in 1937 and revised in five publications since that time.
In a personal communication, Bruner said that these findings apply mostly to Western cultures. However, if the music is “pure” (i.e., it does not mix the emotional expressions shown in the table), it seems likely that it would raise the same emotions in other cultures.
A Dallas Morning News TV commercial for their sports coverage showed a typewriter spelling out the word “b-a-s-k-e-t-b-a-l-l.” As each key was struck, it had the sound of a basketball being dribbled. The word “football” was typed all at once to the sound of football players colliding. This ad won a 1988 CLIO award (based on voting by advertising executives).
Evidence on the effects of relevant music
Studies on greeting card advertisements found that music worked best when it evoked feelings that fit the occasion (Alpert, Alpert, and Maltz 2005). So let’s go back to whether you would select that French wine:
French music led people to buy French wine. A two-week experiment was conducted in the alcoholic beverages section of a U.K. supermarket. When German music was playing, shoppers bought almost twice as much German wine as French wine, and when French music was playing, they bought five times as much French as German wine. When asked on a follow-up question what factors influenced their choices, only one of the 44 respondents mentioned music. When asked specifically about the music, 86 percent