Attitude toward the advertising music: an overlooked potential pitfall in commercials

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the causes and implications of potential negative consumer response to music in broadcast commercials. It aims to accomplish this by introducing a new consumer response variable, attitude toward the advertising music (A am ) and relating A am 's components to advertising goals. It also aims to propose that A am is a significant component of attitude toward the ad (A ad ). Design/methodology/approach The paper takes the form of an integrative review of the relevant literatures in the psychology of music, consumer marketing, and advertising to formulate A am . Findings Favorable A am is a necessary but insufficient condition for favorable A ad in ads employing music. Furthermore, a negative A am might cause a negative A ad . Given the numerous possible negative responses to music in a TV or radio commercial, achieving a favorable A am among most target audience members is very challenging, especially when music‐message fit is lacking. Practical implications The paper offers cautionary advice for advertisers using music and directions for future research. Originality/value The paper provides a novel integration of literatures in psychology and marketing/advertising. Whereas most scholars and practitioners assume that music adds value to commercials, the authors demonstrate key ways in which music can cause adverse listener reactions.