Music influence on brand perception. Survey of the commercials' communicative efficiency

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Music Influence on Brand Perception: Survey of the Commercials’ Communicative Efficiency

Author

Yulia Malenkaya, general director in Sound ID Audiobranding

Key words

1. Communicative efficiency 2. Brand attributes 3. Commercial 4. Survey 5. Music

Abstract

Music plays a pervasive role in consumers’ lives and is often used in marketing communication. As a powerful mean of mood creation and communication of feelings and emotions, music appears to be an important component of audio support in commercials.

This paper explores the influence of music on the efficiency of commercials. For this purpose a survey of 6 video-‐spots was conducted. Selected ad videos included 3 videos with music, consciously chosen according to the key brand attributes, and 3 videos in which music is chosen without regard to the image of brand. Selected commercials were shown to the sample of 83 respondents, who filled in questionnaires after the overview. The survey’s results indicate that music may have significant impact on audience perception of the brands: commercials with conscious music choice gave a much clearer idea of brands to the respondents, than the ones with unconscious choice of music.

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Advertisers spend large sums of money on the production of music for the ads. Creative fees for an original composition can be one of the largest expense items, whereas the rights to popular songs can cost much more. Music costs can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the ad budget. For example, Nike spent $500 000 on the rights to use The Beatles' song "Revolution" (Cocks, 1987).

Companies are risking millions of dollars on the belief that music can boost ads’ efficiency, yet there is no universally accepted explanation of how this works. The theory of audiobranding is developing intensively nowadays, meanwhile the issue of semiotic qualities of music and its potential for branding is not enlightened enough in marketing literature.

There are some investigations, which have suggested that music

influences listeners mainly through their feelings and moods (Gorn, 1982; Bruner 1990). Although most of the research is focused on emotional responses to ad music, it is also important to bear in mind a pervasive idea that music is in some way capable of symbolizing emotions, images or ideas. This idea lead to the development of music semiotics in 70s and 80s, but still didn’t find ist place in the theory of marketing communications and branding.

Taking all this into account, the general intent of this essay is to explore the potential of music communication and ist impact on brand perception. For this purpose a research focused on the dependence of the commercials’ efficiency from music choice was conducted.

1. Methodology of research 1.1 Procedure

The study refers to the primary empirical quantitative research. It was carried out in January 2010 by a survey of respondents, based on the questionnaires sent by e-‐mail. The aim of the research is to define the impact of music, chosen for the ad according to the key brand attributes, on the perception of brand, promoted in this commercial. The ability to create a brand image and communicate it’s key features refers to the communicative efficiency of the ad. The notion of commercial’s communicative efficiency implies the change in the viewer’s perception of the brand and usually discussed together with economical efficiency, which stands for increase in sales volume, growth of the demand for the

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product and other economically significant results. In contrast to economical efficiency, the level of achieved communicative efficiency can’t be calculated. It is defined by feedback from the viewers and interpreted through such constructs as perception. feelings, emotions, attention, memory and motivation (Кутлалиев & Попов, 2005).

As the conceptual definition of communicative efficiency is quiet abstract. broad and difficult to evaluate, in this particular research it is interpreted according to the number of key brand attributes, recognized by the viewers. The questions in the form are closed, as they provide several answers to choose. Among the answers there are both correct key brands’ attributes i.e. laid by the owners of brand, and incorrect ones, intentionally contrived for the survey. Since the observed situation has two possible outcomes (either the respondent selects the correct attribute of the brand or not), the information obtained through the survey refers to a nominal level of measurement, and the questions are alternate (dichotomous). According to the aims of the research, 2 alternative hypotheses were formulated: H0: use of music, selected for the commercial according to the key attributes of brand, promoted in this commercial, doesn’t facilitate brand identification, its memorability and generation of the correct associations among the viewers. H1: use of music, selected for the commercial according to the key attributes of brand, promoted in this commercial, facilitates brand identification, its memorability and generation of the correct associations among the viewers.

To test these hypotheses, six video-‐spots were selected: three commercials supported by the music, which, on the author’s opinion, matches the key attributes of brand (further these 3 commercials will be stated as commercials with consciously chosen music):

Brand & commercial title Music Reference to the video Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Joss Stone -‐ «Love» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aibOY18P

kgo

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Nike (Nike Courage) The Killers -‐ «I got a soul but I’m not a soldier»

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHTPoQbYPCE

Miller (In Miller way) FatBoy Slim -‐ «Wonderful Night»

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FxtoR8dltA

Table 1. Commercials with consciously chosen music and three commercials supported by the music, which, on the author’s opinion, doesn’t match the key attributes of brand:

Brand & commercial title

Music Reference to the video

Sberbank Music by A. Ribnikov, lyrics by I. Kohanovsky, “Я тебе конечно верю” [Of course I believe you]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gwhUYdJuAI&feature=youtube_gdata

Megafon (Music expert)

Music, composed for the commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBIRaw5Jix4

Pyaterochka (the nearest low prices)

Music, composed for the commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJh-KzS0t88&feature=related

Table 2. Commercials with unconsciously chosen music

The choice of commercials was motivated by one factor: connection between semiotics of music and brand identity. Decision about the occurrence of this connection in the commercials was made by following 2-‐steps procedure:

1. official sites of chosen brands were scanned for information about brand attributes correlating with elements of Aaker’s Brand Identity Model (Aaker, 1995). After this, key identity elements were structured in a table (see the appendix №1 «Key brand attributes»).

2. music, used in the video-‐spots was considered according to the Model of Musical Competence (Stefani, 2000), in order to formulate its main socio-‐cultural aspects: genre, style, audience, national and sub cultural belonging, image of the musician/group/singer, and so on.

The conclusion on whether music matches the brand identity or not, was made after these two analyses.

On the base of Brand Identity Models key attributes of the brands were determined (see the appendix №2 « Key Brand Attributes») and further included in the answers options in

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questionnaires along with wrong options, created intentionally for the survey.

The procedure of survey consisted of two stages: first -‐ watching video-‐spots and then filling the form in. After that, the respondents sent the filled forms to the e-‐mail, mentioned in the questionnaires. 1.2 Sample

The universal set for the survey was determined according to following operational factors:

• Demographic component: o age of respondents: from 18 to 50 years old o gender: doesn’t matter o income: doesn’t matter

• Geographic component: Saint-‐Petersburg (including the suburbs of the city)

Initial sample constituted 100 respondents. 16 respondents refused to participate in the survey during the process of data collection and 1 respondent filled in the form in an incorrect way. As a result, the actual sample constituted 83 respondents.

The sample of respondents for the survey refers to a non-‐random sample type, since it consists mainly of the students of Graduate School of Management – department of Saint-‐Petersburg State University. This is a constraining factor, which has a certain impact on the results of the research. The constraints will be discussed in more detail further, in the section “Constraints of the research”

2. Results 2.1 Analyses

After the collection of survey’s data it was organized into the

EXCEL table (see the attached EXCEL file «Survey data»). Further

analyses consisted of calculation of following rates:

-‐ frequency distribution of correctly recognised atrributes (for

each brand attribute)

-‐ percentage distribution of correctly recognised atrributes (for

each brand attribute)

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-‐ average values of correct responses (for each of two groups of

commercials: commercials with consciously chosen music and

commerciald with unconsciously chosen music)

Tables with results for each brand are stated below:

Table 3. Survey results for Chanel Coco Mademoiselle brand

Table 4. Survey results for Nike brand

Brand attribute Number of respondents, correctly recognised the

attribute

Percentage of respondents correctly recognised the attribute

(%) (data is approximated to whole numbers)

Feminity 59 71 Romanticism 65 78

Discreet luxury 61 74 Elegance in simplicity 71 86

Charm and independence 68 82 Grace of aroma 61 74

Brand attribute Number of respondents, correctly recognised the

attribute



Desire to win 74 89 Determination to strive 57 69

Overcoming yourself 52 63 Commitment and perseverance

51 62

Striving fort success and superioriy

41 49

Enthusiasm 40 48

Brand attribute Number of respondents,

correctly recognised the attribute



Clubbing 68 82 Outstanding events 48 58

Change in everyday city life 53 64 Fresh emotions 43 52

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Table 5. Survey results for Miller brand

Table 6. Survey results for Seberbank brand

Table 7. Survey results for MegaFon brand

Stylish clubs & parties 71 86 Target audience: young people from 18 to 30 years old, income – average

and higher

69 83





Security 24 29 Lidership 25 30

Responsibility & stability 23 28 International authority 10 12

Fast service 20 24 Resistance to crisis 41 49





High quality service 20 24 Available prices 13 16

Reliability 28 34 Convinience 21 25

Wide range of services 38 46 Unified standards of service 17 21





Quality 3 4 Economy 63 76

Respect for Russian traditions 31 37

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Table 8. Survey results for Pyaterochka brand

Average number of recognized attributes is 28,2 for the commercials with conscious choice of music. For the commercials with unconscious choice of music this rate is much lower and constitutes 58,4.

Six attributes from the block of brands, promoted in commercials with conscious choice of music achieved more than 80% recognition (marked in green), whereas from block of brands, promoted in commercials with unconscious choice of music, only one attribute exceeded 80% recognition rate.

One more observation: sixteen attributes from the block of

brands, promoted in commercials with conscious choice of music achieved more than 50% recognition, whereas from block of brands, promoted in commercials with unconscious choice of music, only two attribute exceeded 50% recognition rate.

All in all, the level of response for the first block of brands is

quiet high and therefore testifies to the high level of communicative efficiency of the commercials, in which music was selected according to the key attributes of brands. The information, which was supposed to be perceived by the viewers, was actually perceived. The communicative efficiency of commercials from second block was much lower – it could be seen from the rates.

These rates show a considerable excess in recognised attributes

of brands, which were promoted in the commercials with conscious choice of music. On the base of this, it could be concluded, that the collected data is statistically significant, which means that the communicative efficiency of the commercials and perception of brands in particular, could be enhanced via music. Therefore the H0 hypotheses is rejected, while H0 hypotheses is true:

Use of music, selected for the commercial according to the key attributes of brand, promoted in this commercial, facilitates brand identification, its memorability and generation of the correct associations among the viewers.

However, the constraints of the research, conditioned mainly by the non-‐random sample type, doesn’t allow to consider this with full confidence.

National belonging 29 35 Walking distance locations 35 42

Low prices 67 81

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2.2 Constraints of the research

Interpreting the results of the study, it is necessary to take into account

multiple constraints and assumptions underlying the design of the study.

First of all, it is very difficult to evaluate the impact of music on the

viewers’ perception of brands singly, since the audience perception of a

brand is a result of all the synergic factors, created by the commercial.

Secondly, even though the respondents were asked to base their

answers solely on the commercials, selected for the study, their

responses are also influenced to some extent by the previous, already

existed image of the brands, which was formed by all the marketing

communications of these brands that they have ever received.

Another, and by far the most significant constraint is the fact

that most of the participants in the study sample (approximately 80% of

the total number) are students of one department. It means that they

may have a sort of similarities in some aspects. The main consequence of

this constraint is the fact that the results of the study can not be

extrapolated to the universal set, as they are not representative.

3. Discussion and Conclusion

We examined the proposition that music may have significant

impact on brand perception. Investigation of six commercials, selected

according to the choice of music used in it demonstrated that this proposition

receives fairly consistent empirical support. The interaction between music

semiotics and brand identity enhance the communicative efficiency of the

commercial, providing the viewer with a clear idea of the brand. The level of

brand recognition is higher in those cases, when the commercials are

supported by music, selected according to the key brand attributes.

Although the results of the study were statistically significant,

they are not representative and couldn’t be extrapolated to the universal

set, because of limitations of the research. The main constraint that

should be addressed in further research is the following – the sample was

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mainly limited to one population group— university students. Though this

group was an appropriate target audience for the survey, their belonging to

the same generation and to the community of one department may affect the

way they respond to all the elements of broadcast commercials.

But, nevertheless, the value of this study is undeniable: such

kind of a cheap and relatively simple research can be a useful practice for

the brand owners and advertisers. The developed procedure and

methodology of study can become an easy way to check the efficiency of

commercial, in respect to brand recognition, securing against money

waste for the use of unfit music.

This study may help as well, to explain some of the conflicting

findings reported in previous research on the relationship between

background music and marketing effectiveness of the advertisement

(Bruner & Gordon, 1990).

Moreover, the main outcomes of the research pose some forward-

looking questions, which appear to be perspective for further research. First

of all, it applies to the issue of market segments and categories of goods or

services, for advertising of which music becomes an important mean of

communication. It could be assumed, that since music enhances the

communicative efficiency of the ad, it is more relevant for the ads which has

first of all an emotional, not cognitive appeal and are aimed at emotional

perception, not the rational one. If so, music appears to be more valuable and

significant element of communication for luxury brands, which satisfy

emotional needs or need less rational motives to be bought (for example, a

high-end fashion brand), than for the goods, positioned as economical,

money-saving offers (for example, economical packs of corn-flakes,) or

imply a multicriteria process of buying decision (for example, garden

machinery). This assumption offers an important area for continued research.

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References Aaker, D. (1996), Building Strong Brands, the University of Michigan:

Free Press Bruner, Gordon C., III (1990), Music, Mood, and Marketing, Journal of

Marketing, vol. 54, issue 4 , pp. 94-‐104. Cocks, J. (1987), Wanna Buy a Revolution?, Time (May 18), p. 78. Gorn, G. J. (1982), The Effects of Music in Advertising on Choice

Behavior: A Classical Conditioning Approach, Journal of Marketing, vol. 46, pp. 94-‐101.

Stefani, G. (2005), On the Semiotics of Music in Derek B. Scott (ed.),

Music, Culture, and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 50-‐55.

Кутлалиев А. & Попов А. (2005), Эффективность рекламы

[Advertising Efficiency]. Москва: Эксмо.

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Appendix № 1 Key brand Attributes

Brand Key brand attributes Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Feminity

Romanticism Discreet luxury

Elegance in simplicity Charm and independence

Grace of aroma Nike Desire to win

Determination to strive Overcoming yourself

Commitment and perseverance Striving fort success and

superioriy Enthusiasm

Miller Clubbing Outstanding events

Change in everyday city life Fresh emotions

Stylish clubs & parties Target audience: young people from 18 to 30 years old, income –

average and higher Sberbank Security

Lidership Responsibility & stability International authority

Fast service Resistance to crisis

MegaFon High quality service Available prices Reliability Convinience

Wide range of services Unified standarts of service

Pyaterochka Quality Economy

Respect for Russian traditions National belonging

Walking distance locations Low prices

Music influence on brand perception. Survey of the commercials' communicative efficiency

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