The Impact of Music in Television Advertising

Abstract: Nowadays, consumers are exposed to a growing volume of television advertisements, most of them incorporating music. The challenge for companies is to compete for viewers’ attention within a few seconds of advertising. One way of achieving this attention is through music. For this reason, the purpose of this research was to investigate what impact the use of music in television advertising can have on a consumer’s brand attitude.

In order to gain insight into the relationships between music components and a consumer’s attitude towards the music as well as between the attitude towards the advertising music and attitude towards the brand, a qualitative research approach was pursued. More specifically, a case study and related interviews were conducted with 18 undergraduate students. Their statements were evaluated in order to answer the research questions.

The findings of this study show that music components can have an influence on attitude towards the music. However, it is not likely that only one single component forms the attitude. Moreover, a relationship between a consumer’s attitude towards the advertising music and attitude towards the brand exists, but other elements of the ad might influence attitude towards the brand, additionally. The results suggest the need for further research in this area to investigate other contributing components to a consumer’s attitude towards the brand.