The effect of music in advertisements on consumers' attitude : a cross-generational study

Abstract

Marketers leverage the persuasive power of music to shape consumer responses and captivate audiences, much like they rely on music, rather than language, to convey their messages. However, the complex dynamics of advertising music and consumer responses have yet to be understood. This cross-generational study set out to examine the attitudes of Generation X, Y, and Z towards both advertisements (Aad) and their accompanying music (Aam), seeking to identify differences and similarities among these cohorts. To achieve the aforementioned objective, an online questionnaire was administered to gather quantitative data from a sample of 330 participants, who indicated their Aam and Aad based on three video advertisements. The collected data underwent a comprehensive statistical examination to evaluate a series of hypotheses. This entailed employing Spearman’s Rank Correlation, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann Whitney-U tests, alongside a moderated regression analysis. As indicated by the research findings, generational cohorts X, Y, and Z exhibit nuanced outcomes in their Aad, with significant differences observed in their Aam. Furthermore, the study revealed a positive correlation between Aam and Aad. Notably, age did not appear to moderate this relationship. The insights obtained emphasize the difficulty of achieving universal appeal of advertising music amongst a diverse audience and thus suggest practitioners to cautiously evaluate their application of advertising music, especially when targeting numerous age groups. This research thus contributes a novel perspective to the discourse on music in advertising and sheds light on a previously unexplored area within the Central European context, paving the way for future studies to delve deeper into the effect of advertising music on attitudinal constructs.