Sounds Big: The Effects of Acoustic Pitch on Product Perceptions

There is meaning in sound that transcends language. Structural differences in the sound of a spokesperson's voice or a piece of background music can influence a consumer's perception of product attributes through cross-modal inference. This article examines how differences in acoustic pitch in marketing communications influence consumer's perceptions of product size. Through six studies, the authors find that when associated with a product, lower pitch in voice or music leads consumers to infer a larger product size. Furthermore, evidence shows that this pitch–size effect occurs through a process of visual mental imagery, which can be facilitated through stronger visualization cues delivered via auditory channels and reduced when size perceptions are assessed directly in the presence of visual product information. The cross-modal effects between auditory stimuli and physical products represent an unexplored influence on consumer perception and behavior with important managerial and theoretical implications.