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CITATION:
Lavack, Anne M., Mrugank V. Thakor, and Ingrid Bottausci (2008), “Music-Brand Congruency in High-
and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising,” International Journal of Advertising, 27(4), 549-568.
MUSIC-BRAND CONGRUENCY IN
HIGH- AND LOW-COGNITION RADIO ADVERTISING
1
Anne M. Lavack, University of Regina
Mrugank V. Thakor, Concordia University
Ingrid Bottausci, Concordia University
November 12, 2007
Please send all correspondence to:
Anne M. Lavack, Ph.D.
Professor
Faculty of Business Administration
University of Regina
3737 Wascana Parkway
Regina, SK Canada S4S 0A2
Phone: (306) 585-4716
Fax: (306) 585-4805
E-mail: Anne.Lavack@uregina.ca
1
The data used in this paper is drawn from a thesis prepared by the third author as part of the requirements
for a Master’s degree in Administration at Concordia University. The authors are grateful for funding
received from Concordia University in support of this project. The authors also wish to thank the research
assistants, Oren Hoffart Jennifer Wlodarczyk, and Shelley Carlson.
MUSIC-BRAND CONGRUENCY IN
HIGH- AND LOW-COGNITION RADIO ADVERTISING
ABSTRACT
Many radio commercials use background music to accompany a message. This research
examines how brand-congruent music (i.e., music that ‘fits’ the brand) will affect Attitude
toward the Ad (A
Ad
) and Attitude toward the Brand (A
Brand
), specifically when used with
different types of ad copy that are more or less demanding of cognitive resources (high-cognition
vs. low-cognition advertising copy). In high-cognition ads, congruent music results in a more
positive A
Ad
and A
Brand
compared to incongruent music or no music. However, this effect is not
found with low-cognition ads, where A
Ad
(and A
Brand
) are similar for all three conditions of
congruent music, incongruent music, and no music.
KEYWORDS:
music; radio advertising; congruency; high-cognition; low-cognition; attitude toward the ad;
attitude toward the brand
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
1
MUSIC-BRAND CONGRUENCY IN
HIGH- AND LOW-COGNITION RADIO ADVERTISING
Radio advertising often uses instrumental music as a background to the verbal message.
This background music may be intended to enhance the advertiser’s message by drawing greater
attention to the ad, or may complement the message by adding meaning or affect (Hung, 2000;
Roehm, 2001; Stewart and Punj, 1998). Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty et al.,
1983), it has often been assumed that music is an affective cue processed via a peripheral route
(MacInnis et al., 1991; MacInnis and Park, 1991), or that the role music plays is to influence mood
(Alpert and Alpert, 1990). However, music may do considerably more than this by working in
conjunction with other message elements (Scott, 1990; Hung, 2000).
In practice, instrumental background music is usually chosen by advertisers on the basis of
subjective assessments of creative or artistic merit, rather than on objective measures or criteria
(Croft, 1999). This means that choosing background music for radio ads has tended to be more an
art than a science. The creative director looks for a “fit” between the music and the brand. This
concept of “fit” implies that music may be either congruent (i.e., good “fit”) or incongruent (i.e.,
bad “fit”) with the brand (Alpert, Alpert, and Maltz, 2005). In general, it is intuitively believed that
it is better to have music-brand congruence; however, little research has been done to see whether
music-brand congruence truly enhances A
Ad
and A
Brand
, or under what conditions it would do so.
Relatively little is known about the impact of music-brand congruence on attitude toward
the ad (A
Ad
) and attitude toward the brand (A
Brand
). If the effect of music is simply to draw
attention to the ad, then the mere presence of music would be important and music-brand
congruence would be unimportant. If the effect of music is to add an affective component (Alpert
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
2
and Alpert, 1990; Bruner, 1990), then having well-liked background music that creates positive
affect would be of primary importance and music-brand congruence would again be unimportant.
However, if the effect of music is to contribute meaning to the ad that will enhance cognitive
processing, then music-brand congruence should be extremely important since the meanings added
by music could contribute to an improved A
Ad
and A
Brand
. Some recent work supports this
speculation (e.g., Hung, 2001; Shen & Chen, 2006) and reinforces suggestions that music may
operate as more than a mere heuristic cue in terms of elaboration likelihood notions (Petty et al.,
1983).
The verbal message contained within a radio commercial can vary widely in terms of the
depth of cognitive processing demanded. Some ads contain many facts and figures requiring a
significant amount of cognition, while others contain very few facts and figures and demand less
cognitive effort. The resource matching framework (Anand and Sternthal, 1989; Meyers-Levy and
Peraccio, 1995; Zhu and Meyers-Levy, 2005) suggests that the effectiveness of messages with high
processing demands will vary depending on the resource demands made by other message
elements. Brand-music incongruence is a message element that may demand cognitive effort from
listeners puzzled by the incongruity, and may deplete available cognitive resources. This may
leave insufficient resources available to process cognitively demanding message arguments, with
consequences for advertising and brand attitudes. However, when the message itself is less
cognitively demanding, the diversion of processing resources should not be as detrimental to the
effectiveness of the ad, and the music might also function as more of a heuristic cue (Chaiken,
1980; Petty et al., 1983). The question we investigate is how background music and brand
congruence affects A
Ad
and A
Brand
in radio advertising, when verbal messages make differing
levels of cognitive demands.
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
3
This paper presents an experiment using radio ad copy that differs in the depth of cognitive
processing demanded (high-cognition versus low-cognition). These two types of ad copy are
paired with music that is rated as being either congruent or incongruent with the brand, and the
resulting impact on A
Ad
and A
Brand
is examined. First, we examine the literature surrounding the
use of music in radio advertising and outline the hypotheses for the experiment. The methodology
is then presented, followed by the experimental results. We conclude with a discussion of the
results and some recommendations for future research.
Literature Review
Many studies in the marketing literature have investigated music effects in advertising
(e.g., Bozman et al., 1994; Gorn et al., 1991), but only a few studies have attempted to investigate
the effects of music style (e.g., rock, jazz, classical, etc.) on advertising message comprehension or
impact (Ramos, 1993; Sullivan, 1990; Yalch and Spangenberg, 1990). Music style, particularly the
congruence of that style with other aspects of the message or brand, may have synergistic effects
with other elements of the ad. It seems possible that music fit, or congruence, in advertising
situations may be mediated by the brand image. However, relatively little is known about the
impact of music-brand image congruency on A
Ad
or A
Brand
. Here we review studies that examine
the impact of music on A
Ad
and A
Brand
, in order to determine whether some of the previous results
found in the literature might be confounded by congruence or incongruence of the music style with
the advertised product or brand.
Impact of Music on A
Ad
and A
Brand
A study by Gorn et al. (1991) compared the potential effectiveness of two different
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
4
advertising strategies (information-only versus information-plus-music) on older viewers. A
Ad
and
A
Brand
were equally positive for the information-only and information-plus-music appeals,
suggesting that the presence of music did not affect purchase persuasion. However, the study did
not examine whether the music used was congruent or incongruent with the brand being
advertised. It is possible that introducing greater music congruency could have enhanced the
informational message, creating improvements in A
Ad
and A
Brand
that would not exist otherwise.
Several studies have shown that the style of music associated with a product may affect
A
Ad
, A
Brand
, and purchase intentions. For example, Sullivan (1990) investigated the performance
of radio advertising to determine whether different styles of music can moderate the persuasive
effect of ads for low-involvement products. The results showed that Adult Contemporary music
(compared to Easy Listening) produced the most favorable effects regarding A
Ad
, A
Brand
, and
purchase intention. However, it is possible that the products used in Sullivan’s (1990) study (non-
alcoholic beverages and take-out food) may simply have been more congruent with Adult
Contemporary music, which subsequently may have led to more favorable evaluations. It is also
possible Adult Contemporary music was preferred by younger subjects, and this preference or
liking may have positively influenced attitudes (Gorn, 1982; Groenland, 1994).
Bozman, Muelling, and Petit-O’Malley (1994) also studied the relationship of alternative
music backgrounds (i.e., liked music, disliked music, and neutral music) on A
Brand
, under
conditions of high and low involvement. In the low involvement condition, A
Brand
was more
favorable when emotive cues were positive (i.e., liked music), and less favorable when emotive
cues were negative (i.e., disliked music). In the high involvement condition, A
Brand
was more
favorable when emotive cues were either overtly positive or negative (i.e., liked or disliked music),
rather than neutral. Subjects rated the positive and negative emotive cues equally; but
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
5
surprisingly, negative cues did not adversely affect A
Brand
. However, music-brand congruence
could provide an alternate explanation of music’s mediating role on A
Brand
. If both liked and
disliked music were congruent with the brand, while the neutral music was incongruent with the
brand, this could provide an alternate explanation of why the liked and disliked music conditions
provided superior ratings of A
Brand
, as compared to the neutral music condition.
Music Congruency
Studies examining the effects of music in advertising have generally treated music as an
affective stimulus, overlooking the potential of music as an information medium. Music conveys
meaning to consumers that may be appreciated beyond its affective qualities, and like words in an
ad, it also can contribute to the selling argument for the brand being advertised (Kotler, 1973).
Music has the special ability to convey thoughts, images, and feelings in an abstract fashion (Scott,
1990). Music may also perform a framing function in advertising (Hung, 2001), and musical
meaning may prime specific beliefs about the brand (North and Hargreaves, 1997). Therefore, it
has been suggested that music must be synergistic with other ad elements, especially with the
brand being advertised. When music is used in advertising, it is experienced holistically, so that
the music is interpreted along with the whole ad and message (Kellaris et al., 1993; MacInnis and
Park, 1991; Scott, 1990). However, as noted by Hung (2000), in many studies music has been
seen as a non-semantic cue and the relationship between music and other elements, such as
meaning and context, has not been taken into account. In such studies, the consumer’s ability to
judge and interpret music as part of a multi-faceted message is overlooked (Scott, 1990).
Studies by Kellaris, Cox, and Cox (1993) have been key in initiating the examination of the
fit of the music with the advertising message. Kellaris et al. (1993) proposed a music-message
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
6
congruency construct that was defined as the extent to which purely instrumental music evoked
meanings (i.e., thoughts, images, feelings) that were congruent with those evoked by the ad
message. Therefore, this construct expressed a relationship between non-verbal and verbal
domains. Kellaris et al. (1993) suggest that music-ad message congruency can moderate the
influence of music’s attention-gaining value on at least some aspects of message and brand name
recall. Increasing audience attention to music actually enhanced message reception when the
music evoked message-congruent thoughts (versus incongruent thoughts). When congruency was
low, attention-getting music served more as a distraction from ad processing. When background
music was attention-getting and message-incongruent, it pulled listeners’ attention away from the
message, thereby reducing recall.
When Hung (2000) examined the congruence of music to the visuals in TV commercials,
she found that viewers could draw music-evoked meanings from the ads. Based on subjects’
verbatim responses, she found TV commercials with music incongruent with the visuals made
viewers uncomfortable and resulted in a negative product image. This suggests that music-visual
incongruence may have a negative impact on message effectiveness. Although Hung’s concern
was with visual elements and music, rather than brand and music, the underlying logic suggests
that congruence facilitates transference of meaning, and may facilitate or enhance cognitive
processing. Hung (2000) also observes that previous studies provide a framework suggesting that
when music and visual elements are congruous (i.e., evoke similar meanings), the meanings can be
more readily communicated.
Although researchers have discussed the importance of matching music to image in
retailing contexts (Herrington and Capella, 1994; Kotler, 1973; Yalch and Spangenberg, 1990) and
service situations (Ramos, 1993), the fit of music with brand image is an area that has not been
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
7
explicitly explored. The proposed study is intended to explore congruence between music and
brand image, examining the extent to which purely instrumental music evokes meanings (i.e.,
images) that are congruent with those evoked by the brand’s image. This examination of
congruence will, therefore, examine congruence between two non-verbal domains: music and
brand image.
Music Congruency and Cognitive Processing
In the present study, background music is believed to act as a message-creating medium in
an advertising situation (Kotler, 1973), not just as an affect inducing cue (Alpert and Alpert, 1990;
Bruner, 1990). As such, the style of music must combine positively and synergistically with other
elements contained in an ad. Specifically, music style must be congruent with the brand’s image
in order to help convey a uniform message regarding the product. When elements of a stimulus set
complement other items in the set, the individual parts are not perceived as separable, do not
compete with one another for cognitive resources, and hence create emergent meaning (Kellaris et
al., 1993; Kotler, 1973; MacInnis and Park, 1991). This leads to the question of how brand-
congruent music will affect A
Ad
and A
Brand
when used with different types of ad copy that is more
or less demanding of cognitive resources. This section, therefore, examines issues related to the
processing of messages.
Park and Young (1986) crossed music conditions (music versus no music) with ad copy
conditions (high cognitive, low cognitive, and high affective), and examined the impact of these
music-ad copy pairings on A
Ad
, A
Brand
, and behavioral intentions. They suggested that the music in
their study acted as a persuasion cue and influenced A
Ad
, which subsequently affected A
Brand
. A
Ad
was expected to contribute to A
Brand
formation more when a commercial contained music than
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
8
when it did not. However, it is unknown whether the music in this study was congruent or
incongruent with the brand, but it is likely that the music selected would have been somewhat
congruent in order to “fit” with the brand. This leaves open the question of what would have been
the effect on A
Ad
and A
Brand
under conditions of music-brand incongruency. It is possible that such
incongruency could create negative emotions, thereby reducing evaluations of A
Ad
and A
Brand
.
Furthermore, messages that require high-cognition processing versus low-cognition processing
may interact differently with background music in terms of advertising attitudes and effectiveness.
MacInnis and Park (1991) studied the impact of the fit of the music with the ad message on
A
Ad
and A
Brand
using an elaboration-likelihood perspective (Petty et al., 1983). In both the high-
and low-involvement conditions, a fit between the music and ad message increased attention to the
message and supported central-route processing. However, attention to the message strengthened
positive beliefs about ad claims only in the high-involvement condition, but not in the low-
involvement condition. In both conditions, good fit (i.e., congruency) also influenced peripheral-
route processing by inducing more positive emotions, but this only affected A
Ad
in the low-
involvement condition. Negative emotions were generated by lack-of-fit in the low-involvement
condition, but not in the high-involvement condition, and a direct path from fit to A
Ad
was found.
In summary, their results suggest that fit between music and ad message serves to increase positive
emotions and is important in enhancing A
Ad
, particularly for high involvement (central processing)
conditions. However, these results need to be interpreted with caution given their
operationalization of music-message fit as existing between two verbal domains, song lyrics and
ad copy.
Similar results were found in a study by Lord, Lee, and Sauer (1995), where liked or
disliked music was a peripheral cue that had a significant effect on A
Ad
in both low and high
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
9
involvement conditions. The central cue, argument strength, had an effect on A
Ad
only in the high
involvement conditions but not in the low involvement ones. These results again indicate that to
regard music merely as a peripheral cue or an affective signal is to take an overly simplistic view
of the role played by background music in advertising (Scott, 1990; Hung, 2000).
Studying the experimental literature (MacInnis and Park, 1991; Hung, 2000) in concert
with the cultural studies literature (McQuarrie and Mick, 1996; Scott, 1990) suggests a more
complex relationship between music-message congruency, cognitive processing, and attitudes.
Resource matching notions (Anand and Sternthal, 1989; Meyers-Levy and Peracchio, 1995)
appear to provide a fruitful perspective here. This framework suggests that music-message
incongruency may consume cognitive resources, thus inhibiting processing, and thus affecting the
formation of attitudes regarding both the ad and the brand. This effect is more likely to be
observed when the level of cognitive effort demanded by the ad is high, since cognitive resources
are likely to be fully extended in such a case, and may be unable to cope with the extra burden
imposed by music-message incongruity.
We draw on resource matching principles to propose that congruency between the music
and the brand will interact with the ad copy cognition demands. When the ad creates a coherent
whole, ad elements do not compete for processing resources (MacInnis and Jaworski, 1989).
Hence, in the high-cognition demand copy condition, where the message comprises many facts
demanding processing, music that is congruent with brand style will facilitate message processing
and enable ad claim substantiation (Edell and Staelin, 1983; Unnava and Burnkrant, 1991).
Message-congruent music provides important information about the ad and the brand, which
should enhance the overall liking for the ad and the brand. To the extent that music fits the ad
message, it should also help consumers focus on the message, which should, in turn, enhance
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
10
message encoding and learning (MacInnis and Park, 1991). Therefore, congruent music should
positively affect A
Ad
and A
Brand
, when compared to both the incongruent condition and the no-
music condition.
H1a With high-cognition ad copy, A
Ad
will be more positive under the music-brand
congruent condition than under the music-brand incongruent condition.
H1b With high-cognition ad copy, A
Brand
will be more positive under the music-brand
congruent condition than under the music-brand incongruent condition.
H2a With high-cognition ad copy, A
Ad
will be more positive under the music-brand
congruent condition than under the no-music condition.
H2b With high-cognition ad copy, A
Brand
will be more positive under the music-brand
congruent condition than under the no-music condition.
Past studies have shown that the presence of music, compared to no music, will serve to
draw attention to the ad and act as a persuasive cue (Park and Young, 1986), as well as create
positive affect (Alpert and Alpert, 1990; Bruner, 1990). This should be particularly apparent in the
low-cognitive demand condition, where attitude is more likely to be driven by such executional
cues (Petty and Cacioppo, 1983).
H3 With low-cognition ad copy, A
Ad
will be higher under the music conditions than
under the no-music condition.
Methodology
The purpose of the main experiment was to pair a music-brand congruency condition
(congruent versus incongruent, plus a no-music control condition) with an ad copy condition (high
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
11
cognition versus low cognition), and determine the impact on A
Ad
and A
Brand
. In order to create
the music-brand congruency conditions, two brands and two musical selections were chosen. A
particular music-brand pairing would result in congruency (i.e., music A and brand A, music B and
brand B), while a cross of this music-brand pairing would result in incongruency (i.e., music A and
brand B, music B and brand A). A series of pretests were first conducted in order to choose the
music, choose the brands, and test the ad copy.
Pretest #1. We began by pretesting a group of ten instrumental musical excerpts (five
Classical and five Rock, since these represent two disparate styles of music that might readily
provide exemplars of music-brand congruency and incongruency). All ten excerpts had the same
volume, the same fast tempo (92-110 beats per minute), and all were 30 seconds long. These ten
musical excerpts were presented to a group of 34 undergraduate business students. After hearing
each excerpt, students indicated their attitude toward the music using a seven-point semantic
differential scale (like-dislike, offensive-tasteful, favorable-unfavorable, repulsive-appealing,
pleasing-disturbing), based on attitude scales used by Wells, 1964 and Venkat and Abi-Hanna,
1995). Pretest subjects were asked to categorize each musical excerpt as Classical, Rock, or
Other, and indicated their level of familiarity using a 4-point scale (1=not at all familiar, 4=very
familiar). Out of this process, the selected pair of excerpts from Prince and Handel was deemed to
be equally liked and equally familiar, and were correctly categorized by all 34 respondents as
being Rock and Classical, respectively, and were therefore chosen to form the background music
in the radio commercials for the main experiment.
Pretest #2. A second pretest was conducted to choose two equally familiar brands within
the same product category, but with brand personalities likely to be associated with distinctly
different styles of music. A list of eleven pairs of well-known brands was generated in nine
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
12
different product categories, with each pair containing a brand that might fit better with Classical
music, and a second brand that might fit better with Rock music (e.g., Perrier/Naya, Bic/Mont
Blanc, Nike/Reebok, etc.). The 22 brands were presented in random order (i.e., not in pairs).
Using a new sample of 39 undergraduate business students, respondents were asked to indicate
their familiarity with each brand on a scale of 1 to 4 (where 1=not at all familiar, 4=very familiar).
Subjects also rated the suitability of Classical versus Rock music for the brand image (i.e., music-
brand congruency) on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1=Classical music is much more appropriate,
2=Classical music is somewhat more appropriate, 3=Either is appropriate, 4=Rock music is
somewhat more appropriate, and 5=Rock music is much more appropriate). Based on this pretest,
Rolex and Swatch were the brands chosen because both of these brands were found to be equally
familiar, and each was clearly identified with a particular musical style (Rolex with classical and
Swatch with rock).
Pretest #3. A third pretest was conducted to develop high- and low-cognition ad copy.
The high-cognition ad version gave specific reasons for buying the brand, with a selling argument
based on rational grounds. The low-cognition ad version appealed to the consumer’s emotions and
feelings to convey brand image. An expert panel of four judges, consisting of two university
marketing professors and two marketing graduate students, rated the level of information in the
ads to ensure that both ads contained an equal number of information points (see Table 1 for radio
scripts). The two ads had the same number of words (81), both mentioned the brand name four
times, and both presented the informational points in the same order. A professional male radio
announcer recorded the ads on high-quality digital tape. This process resulted in identical high-
cognition ads for Swatch and Rolex (differing only in the brand name mentioned), as well as
identical low-cognition ads. These four ad versions were then completed by digitally adding the
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
13
Rock or Classical music style excerpts chosen in Pretest 1, as well as a no-music control condition.
Main Experiment
The three pretests provided the basis for developing a 3 x 2 x 2 between-subjects
experiment [3 (Music type: Classical vs. Rock vs. No-music) x 2 (Brand: Rolex vs. Swatch) x 2
(Ad copy cognition level: High vs. Low)], resulting in 12 experimental cells. For purposes of
hypothesis testing, this was later collapsed into a 3 x 2 statistical analysis [3 (Brand-Music
congruency: Congruent vs. No-music vs. Incongruent) x 2 (Ad copy cognition level: High vs.
Low)].
Subjects
A total of 397 undergraduate business students were participants in the main study, each
participating in one of the 12 experimental conditions. Participants were each exposed to a 30-
second ad twice, and then filled out a questionnaire that took approximately 15 minutes to
complete (see Table 1 for radio scripts). Sixteen of the questionnaires were found to be
substantially incomplete and were discarded from the study, leaving a total of 381 questionnaires
suitable for analysis (218 males and 163 females). While the use of student samples has
sometimes been criticized, comparable studies in this area have previously used student samples
(e.g., Kellaris et al., 1993; MacInnis and Park, 1991; Park and Young, 1986). As well, the product
and brand selected (Swatch and Rolex) are ones that the business students were fully familiar with,
as demonstrated by the brand familiarity ratings in the second pretest.
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
14
Questionnaire
The questionnaire was designed to test the hypotheses outlined earlier. A
Ad
and A
Brand
were each measured using a five-item 7-point scale (1=dislike, 7=like; 1=offensive, 7=tasteful;
1=unfavorable, 7=favorable; 1=repulsive, 7=appealing; 1=disturbing, 7=pleasing), with a
Cronbach alpha for A
Ad
and A
Brand
of 0.87 and 0.93 respectively. Involvement with the ad was
measured using a three-item 7-point scale (1=detached, 7=interested; 1=bored, 7=fascinated;
1=indifferent, 7=excited), with a Cronbach alpha of 0.84 (adapted from Zaichkowsky, 1994). Ad
originality was measured using a three-item 7-point scale (1=common, 7=original; 1=traditional,
7=innovative; 1=conventional, 7=inventive), with a Cronbach alpha of 0.88. Some questionnaire
items were presented in reverse order (and were therefore reverse-scored for statistical analysis),
but all have been shown here in a consistent format for ease of presentation. Demographic
questions were asked at the end of the questionnaire. Prior to the start of the main study, the
questionnaire was refined through pre-testing with a total of 55 student subjects.
Results
A series of manipulation checks measured level of ad copy cognition, brand recognition,
brand familiarity, music familiarity, music style recognition, and congruence between music style
and brand image. All manipulation checks showed that the anticipated results were obtained.
High-Cognition Ad Copy: Congruent vs. Incongruent. A 2 x 2 ANOVA was conducted to
examine the impact of ad copy cognition level (high cognition / low cognition) and music-brand
congruence (congruent / incongruent) on A
Ad
. While there was a main effect for ad cognition
(F=5.550, df=1,244, p=.02), there was no significant main effect for congruence (F=1.219,
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
15
df=1,244, p>.10), and no significant interaction effect (F=2.241, df=1,244, p>.10). However, an
examination of the means for the high cognition condition shows that A
Ad
is significantly higher in
the congruent condition than in the incongruent condition (
x
congruent
= 4.93,
x
incongruent
= 4.54, t =
1.84, p<.05 one-tailed; see Figure 1 and Table 2), which supports H1a. (Because
a priori
hypotheses were presented and these hypotheses make predictions that are directional in nature,
one-tailed tests are used to test the hypotheses.)
A second 2 x 2 ANOVA examined the impact of ad copy cognition level (high cognition /
low cognition) and music-brand congruence (congruent / incongruent) on A
Brand
. There was a
marginally significant effect for ad congruency (F=3.290, df=1,244, p=.071), but no significant
main effect for cognition (F=0.670, df=1,244, p>.10), and no significant interaction effect
(F=0.994, df=1,244, p>.10). In line with the ANOVA results, an examination of the means in the
high cognition condition shows that A
Brand
is significantly higher with congruent music than with
incongruent music (
x
congruent
= 5.49,
x
incongruent
= 5.08, t = 2.15, p<.05 one-tailed; see Figure 2 and
Table 3), which supports H1b.
High-Cognition Ad Copy: Congruent vs. No-Music.
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was conducted to
examine the impact of ad copy cognition level (high cognition / low cognition) and music-brand
congruence versus the no-music control condition (congruent / no-music) on A
Ad
. There was a
main effect for ad cognition (F=8.339, df=1,255, p=.004), and a marginally significant main effect
for congruence (F=3.649, df=1,255, p=.057), but no significant interaction effect (F=2.025,
df=1,255, p>.10). An examination of the means shows that A
Ad
is significantly higher in the
congruent condition than in the no-music control condition (
x
congruent
= 4.93,
x
no-music
= 4.48, t =
2.42, p<.05 one-tailed; see Figure 1 and Table 2), which supports H2a.
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was also conducted to examine ad copy cognition level (high cognition /
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
16
low cognition) and music-brand congruence (congruent / no-music) on A
Brand
. This showed that
there was a marginally significant main effect for congruence (F=2.844, df = 1,255, p = .093), but
no significant main effect for cognition (F=1.360, df = 1,255, p >.10), and a marginally significant
interaction effect (F=0.378, df = 1,255, p > .10). An examination of the means shows that A
Brand
is
significantly higher in the congruent condition than in the no-music control condition (
x
congruent
=
5.49,
x
no-music
= 5.15, t = 1.72, p<.05 one-tailed; see Figure 2 and Table 3), which supports H2b.
Low-Cognition Ad Copy.
Within the low-cognition ad copy condition, there was no
significant difference in A
Ad
under the music condition versus the no-music condition (
x
music
=
4.38,
x
no-music
= 4.28; t=.49, p>.10), hence H3 was not supported.
Discussion
This study investigated the effects of high- and low-cognition ad copy when combined with
either no background music or background music that was (in)congruent with the brand. These
results suggest that when the high-cognition ad was shown, both A
Ad
and A
Brand
were significantly
more positive in the congruent music condition than in either the incongruent music condition or
no-music condition. Under the low-cognition ad copy conditions, the impact of congruent and
incongruent music is relatively equal (i.e., both less positive than under the high-cognition
congruent condition). This study contributes to the literature on the use of music in advertising by
considering the overlooked issue of congruency between brand image and music, distinct from
previous studies that have focused on the mere use of music, or on aspects of music such as liking.
We focus here on the effects of music in radio advertising, an area that has received little
attention.
Our findings suggest that in addition to facilitating or hindering processing through its
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
17
effects on cognitive resources, music can provide a framing function in advertising, where it
enhances the consumer’s focus on the message (Hung, 2001; MacInnis and Park, 1991). In the
high-cognition ad copy condition, brand-appropriate music may provide convergent information
about the brand that helps interpret the factual information in the ad. Music may serve to promote
thoughtful processing, and in doing so, affect attitudes. In this study, classical music paired with
the Rolex brand may have enhanced its claims of quality and durability, while rock music paired
with the Swatch brand may have enhanced its claims relating to style and fashion. However, in
low-cognition ad copy conditions where the ad copy was general and lacked specific facts, neither
the presence or absence of music, nor the congruence or incongruence of music, helped to
substantiate ad claims or provide information to increase liking for the ad or brand. Accordingly,
we found that in the low-cognition condition, there was no significant difference in A
Ad
and A
Brand
across the conditions, regardless of whether music was congruent or incongruent or absent
completely.
Limitations and Future Research
A limitation of this study is that it examines only two brands within a single product
category, and uses only two types of music and two sets of ad copy. Future research should focus
on extending this study by using other products and brands, by using different types of music and
ad copy, by using lesser-known or unknown brands, and by examining television ads. We were
concerned in this study only with radio ads, so the results regarding music-brand congruence need
to be extended to television advertising. Although some work has been done in this regard (Hung,
2000), much remains to be done as practice seems to be well ahead of theory in this area. In this
study, we included only music excerpts that were pre-tested to ensure they were relatively well-
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
18
liked; while this choice seems rational with reference to prevailing practices in radio advertising, it
would perhaps be useful to replicate the experiment using music excerpts that were less well-liked.
We also examined the effects of music-brand congruence using brands that were relatively well
known; perhaps results would differ with lesser-known brands. The fact that we obtained the
expected results with A
Brand
using established brands and two short exposures to ads suggests that
stronger effects may be obtained when music is paired with brands that are lesser known and elicit
weaker initial attitudes.
Another area that could be further investigated is the notion of congruity. While we
manipulate congruity here using two levels, it is possible that there exists a curvilinear relationship
between congruity and liking such that moderate levels of congruity are preferred to higher levels
(Hung, 2000). It would also be interesting to see different operationalizations of incongruity being
employed.
Conclusion
The results of this study suggest that the presence of brand-congruent music in an ad can
have a positive impact on A
Ad
and A
Brand
when the ad copy is high-cognition. Managers would
therefore be well advised to pre-test background music selections to ensure they are congruent, or
have a good fit, with brand perceptions, particularly for ads that present facts and details. Lack of
fit between brand and music can have a detrimental impact on A
Ad
and A
Brand
when the ad copy is
high-cognition. Therefore, music congruent with the brand represents a better choice with high-
cognition ad copy, while incongruent music can more safely be used with low-cognition ad copy.
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
19
Table 1 – Radio Scripts
High-Cognition Ad Copy
ROLEX (SWATCH). [pause] ROLEX (SWATCH) adheres to the highest standards of quality.
Every watch is designed with the most precise Swiss movement – it’s guaranteed to always be
accurate. Tested for durability, ROLEX (SWATCH) will certainly last you a lifetime. And you
never have to worry because every watch comes with an extended warranty. With a wide
selection to choose from, there are styles bound to suit your taste. And fashions so versatile, they
can be worn on any occasion. ROLEX (SWATCH) – it doesn’t get any better than this!
Low-Cognition Ad Copy
ROLEX (SWATCH). [pause] Ahhh – the Swiss Alps last Spring – fresh air – sunshine – on top
of the world – Snowboarding down crisp, clean slopes – and suddenly my ROLEX (SWATCH)
fell from the chair lift – but no problem – I found it – at exactly 2:01 p.m. and 20 seconds
counting. And ROLEX (SWATCH) followed me right into the hot tub afterwards – Kept the
beat through a night of dancing – ticked away the minutes until an unforgettable sunrise. All day,
all night – always in style. ROLEX (SWATCH) – it doesn’t get any better than this!
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
20
Table 2 – Table of Means for Attitude toward the Ad (A
Ad
)
Congruent
Music Style
Incongruent
Music Style
No-music
High-Cognition
Ad Copy
4.93 (0.96)
n=53
4.54 (1.28)
n=57
4.48 (1.17)
n=79
Low-Cognition
Ad Copy
4.35 (1.07)
n=67
4.41 (1.33)
n=68
4.28 (1.01)
n=57
NB: Above table shows cell mean and (standard deviation). 1=negative, 7=positive
Table 3 – Table of Means for Attitude toward the Brand (A
Brand
)
Congruent
Music Style
Incongruent
Music Style
No-music
High-Cognition
Ad Copy
5.49 (0.94)
n=53
5.08 (1.06)
n=57
5.15 (1.33)
n=79
Low-Cognition
Ad Copy
5.23 (1.17)
n=67
5.11 (1.30)
n=68
5.07 (1.15)
n=57
NB: Above table shows cell mean and (standard deviation). 1=negative, 7=positive
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
21
Figure 1
Attitude toward the Ad (A
Ad
)
4.35
4.93
4.41
4.54
4.28
4.48
4
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5
5.2
Low Cognition High Cognition
Congruent
Incongruent
No Music
Figure 2
Attitude toward the Brand (A
Brand
)
5.23
5.49
5.11 5.08
5.07
5.15
4.8
4.9
5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
Low Cognition High Cognition
Congruent
Incongruent
No Music
Music-Brand Congruency in High- and Low-Cognition Radio Advertising
22
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