Turn on your favorite TV station right now and you’ll find a plethora of commercials directed towards the broader channel audience. You may even see local advertisements encouraging you to go get vaccinated, or Mike from the local Toyota dealership selling low interest rates on cars. More commonly, you’ll hear the commercial before you see it, glancing up from your phone or taking out the trash to see something potentially interesting.
Audio in advertisements are designed to engage the audience, and music is no exception. Ad agencies and companies know that the tune of the commercial can be just as important as the product it tries to sell. Music has to engage the audience into buying into the essence of the product, not simply the product itself. With so many competing products doing the exact same thing, the next step companies take to make you buy theirs is to sell the idea of it.
Take the NCAA March Madness commercials of late. The music is upbeat; in-tune with the audience’s adrenaline to see an upset or their favorite team dominate the other. It’s usually rap or R&B-centric, reflecting the popular music of the time period. Lincoln commercials are far different. It’s a suave Matthew McConaughey confidently driving through the night to a bass-boosted, acoustic twang with background piano clearly geared towards a more mature, affluent crowd.
Whatever product the advertisement contains, the music must match the idea it holds. It’s far more effective, say leading experts, to invoke an emotional response in advertising than a logical one. You don’t need a Lincoln over a Toyota, but that status it sells sure sounds nice.
… emotional component[s] most likely affects purchase intent through brand attitude. It is thought that music stimulates emotions, which may affect the brand attitude and lead to brand purchase and usage.”
(Rossiter & Percy 1991)
You’ll always notice that last “pop,” too; that crescendo and rise in dB/volume at the end of the commercial is the “sticking point,” or the thing you are supposed to look into and buy. Here, music gets louder, scope gets larger, and your wallet gets tested.