Expectancy and meaningful relevance constitute key dimensions of advertising congruity (Oakes, 2007). The current study suggests that the pop music treatment is more expected than classical and jazz treatments as it has been regularly used in advertisements promoting UK universities. However, it can be proposed that different genres may be relevant in distinct manners. While pop music is associated with the “club scene” and the enjoyment of social life, classical music may represent a more aspirational and sophisticated image for the university. Advertising campaigns promoting various universities typically transfer the exciting experience of social life in addition to emphasis on quality of teaching and research.
Research suggests that various properties of music are capable of communicating different meanings. For example, in a case study, Sanchez-Porras and Rodrigo (2017) discuss how Coca-Cola audio- visual advertising produces emotional benefits to the public because it aroused positive feelings that lead to happiness through manipulating and selecting the most suitable rhythm and melody, as the aim of the brand is to persuade the consumer that they will be happier if they drink its product. They point out that, for instance, music with medium tempo transmits the widest variety of feelings, including
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feelings of joy and humour. Similarly, musical genres may be considered to have their own identity. For example, dance music is believed to be hedonic, trendy and exciting, whereas classical music is considered to be up-market, sophisticated, and high quality (North and Hargreaves, 1998). If the musical genre is congruous with the advertising message, communication effectiveness is likely to be enhanced. Hung (2000) examined the congruity of music to the visuals in TV advertisements and found that consumers could draw music-evoked meanings and images from the advertisement. She found that advertisements accompanied by music incongruent with the visuals made viewers uncomfortable and resulted in a negative product image. Although Hung’s study was concerned with visual elements and music, rather than brand and music, the underlying logic suggests that musical congruity and different associated identities of various musical genres assist transference of different meaning and images. Although the existing research studies have discussed the importance of matching music to image in retailing context (Kotler, 1973; Yalch and Spangenberg, 1990; Herrington and Capella, 1994; North et al., 2016) and service situations (Ramos, 1993), the in/congruity of music with brand image is an area that has not explicitly been investigated. Background music style or genre must combine positively and synergistically with advertised brand characteristics as well as other elements contained in the advertisement. Specifically, musical genre must be congruent with the brand’s identity in order to facilitate conveying a uniform message regarding the advertised product. Furthermore, music in advertising became an interpretive cue in a study revealing that upscale, high quality brand image of an advertised shopping mall was enhanced through congruously sophisticated, classical music (Hung, 2001). Rock music paired with the Swatch brand in radio advertisements enhanced perceptions of elegant, classy and fashionable styles, whereas classical music paired with the Rolex brand intensified perceptions of sophistication and quality, proposing that consumers make inferences based on musical cues that have prior associations (Lavack et al., 2008). Consequently, it is proposed that the relevant, stereotypical associations of various congruous and incongruous musical genres used in university advertising may influence the perceived identity of the university:
H1: Perceived identity of the university will be a function of the stereotypical identity of the musical genres used in the promotional video.
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Research findings suggest that university fee is one of the obstacles to prospective students to take up university places (McGiveney, 1993; Callender, 2003). The cost of a degree is an important factor in determining prospective students’ decision to enrol to a particular university. There have been notable changes in the level of tuition fee in the UK in recent years, and thus, it is vitally important for universities to be aware of the factors that can potentially moderate the effects of increased tuition fees on student enrolment. Sá (2014) investigated the effects of fees on the demand for higher education, university attendance, and course choice through focussing on the removal of upfront fees in Scotland since 2001 and the increase in fees in England in 2012. The results revealed that 2001 reform in Scotland increased applications while 2012 reform in England reduced applications. Dearden et al. (2011) utilise data on university enrolment from the UK Labour Force Survey from 1992 to 2007 for the UK universities and find that fees have a significantly adverse effect on university participation. Stange (2015) investigates a policy in which 142 universities increased the fees for individual programmes, revealing that a rise in tuition fees reduced demand. Furthermore, similar results were found in the report by UCAS (2012), as well as the report of the independent Commission on Fees (ICOF, 2012). Similarly, studies conducted in non-UK universities also confirm that the increase in tuition fees adversely affects enrolment. Deming and Dynarski (2009) review the literature on university fee and enrolment for US students and find that most studies provide evidence that a decrease in college costs may increase college entry. The evidence for other countries such as Canada, Germany, Italy and Denmark also suggests a negative effect of tuition fees on enrolment (e.g., Neill, 2009; Nielsen et al., 2010; Garibaldi et al., 2012;
Hübner
, 2012). Anticipated cost of a service may also have an effect on consumers’ behavioural responses. Therefore, it is important to explore how various types of background music used in advertisements for a university course affect prospective students’ anticipated tuition fee level.Areni and Kim (1993) investigate the effects of various musical genres in retail environments and reveal that customers purchased more expensive wines when classical music rather than pop music was played in the background, thus associating the consumption of wine with prestige and sophistication. Classical music, in turn, may elicit perceptions of a more sophisticated environment,
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indicating that only expensive merchandise may be considered for purchase, therefore underpinning the effectiveness of classical music in transferring a highly prestigious and high-quality image justifying the higher costs. In the case of advertising a university course, it is proposed that undergraduate students may associate the prestige and complexity of classical music with high quality and excellence which leads to expectations of a high level of tuition fees for the advertised postgraduate course. Consequently, the current study intends to investigate whether stereotypical identities of various genres with varied associations would affect students’ anticipated cost of enrolling for the advertised course.
H2: The anticipated level of university fees will be a function of the stereotypical identity of the musical genres used in the promotional video.
The two most important approaches used in advertising to influence consumer behavior are described as value-expressive (image) or symbolic appeal and utilitarian (functional) appeal (Park et al., 1986; Snyder and DeBono, 1985). These appeals may influence advertising persuasion via two different psychological processes, namely self-congruity and functional congruity (Johar and Sirgy, 1991). While self-congruity is defined as the match between the product’s value-expressive attributes (product-user image) and the consumer’s self-concept (Myers, 1976; Johnson, 1984; Sirgy et al., 2000), functional congruity deals with the match between the beliefs of the product’s utilitarian or performance-related attributes and the consumer’s referent (e.g., ideal) attributes (Johar and Sirgy, 1991). Greater congruity between consumers’ utilitarian beliefs about the actual brand and the referent beliefs may lead to greater persuasion (Grether and Wilde, 1984; Shimp and Kavas; 1984). However, consumers often involve their self-images in their evaluation of a brand and are more likely to pay attention to and choose the one with image characteristics that they perceive to be the most suitable for the brand (Koo et al., 2014). Since self-congruity focuses on product cues, it can be regarded as a peripheral route to persuasion (Petty and Cacioppo, 1981; Johar and Sirgy, 1991). While the relationship between self-congruity and brand personality is an extensively studied aspect of self- congruity theory (Klipfel et al., 2014), the current research investigates the effects of musical- congruity and advertising messages reflecting brand personality. Background music, as a peripheral
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cue encompassing hedonic attributes in advertisements, may affect consumers’ behavioural responses (e.g., purchase intent) through eliciting value-expressive advertising appeals, as it is capable of eliciting various types of images that may be perceived as congruent/incongruent by consumers and their self-images. Consumers tend “to express themselves by purchasing or consuming particular brands, for instance, the extent to which customers’ self-concept closely matches the store image” (Kang et al., 2015, p. 106). Congruent or incongruent background music in an advertisement may conform to or detract from the image that potential consumers prefer to be portrayed from a particular brand. Therefore, it is important to explore how these congruent and incongruent pieces of music affect consumers’ behavioural responses to the advertisements.
Martin-Santana et al. (2015) analyse the influence of background music and its congruity with advertising message on advertising effectiveness and argue how congruent music attracts consumers’ attention and results in enhancing advertising effectiveness and credibility. Congruity between the context-specific purchase occasion and the mood produced by music enhances purchase intention (Alpert et al., 2005). Furthermore, Alpert and Alpert (1990) investigate the effects of mood congruity and reveal how using sad music to promote a greeting card for an ill friend produced higher purchase intent compared to happy music and silence. In this context, congruity between the context-specific purchase occasion and the mood produced by the music enhances purchase intention. Although advertising for higher education contains a mixture of utilitarian and hedonic messages, it can be proposed that perceived musical congruity may influence students’ intention to enrol for the advertised course in the context of university advertising:
H3: Perceived congruity between music and advertising message will enhance intention to enrol.
Several studies have shown that the style of music associated with a product may affect consumer attitude towards the advertisement and the brand as well as their purchase intentions. For example, Sullivan (1990) investigated the performance of radio advertising to determine whether using various styles of music can affect the persuasive effect of advertisements for low-involvement products. The results revealed that adult contemporary music produced the most favourable effects regarding ad and
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brand attitude and purchase intention, compared to easy listening music. Pop music is clearly the dominant genre in advertising for the late teenage consumer. However, various universities may choose different musical genres to be used in their advertisements depending on factors such as the identity they want to portray and the reputation of the university and city. Similar to what has been discussed for H3, it can be argued that the stereotypically hedonic identity of pop music may enhance intention to enroll through eliciting value-expressive or symbolic appeal route. North and Hargreaves (1999) reveal that individuals have normative beliefs about characteristics of fans of different musical genres (i.e., classical, pop). For example, pop music fans were regarded as physically attractive, conventional, and enthusiastic, while classical music fans were regarded as intellectual, traditional, and religious. Similarly, the work by Rentfrow and Gosling (2007) confirm the existence of genre- stereotypes amongst fans. Fans of various genres are stereotyped with qualities associated with specific genres, because, indeed, each genre portrays specific types of image or identity. Hargreaves et al. (2002. p. 14) suggest that stereotypical identities of various types of music might be based on “generic distinctions between broad categories of musical activity, as well as on specific distinctions which cut across these categories, in particular instruments and genres”. For example, North and Hargreaves (1998) suggest that pop music can be considered as stereotypically hedonic, while classical music is regarded as an upscale and sophisticated genre. As Cook (1998, p. 5) points out, “In today’s world, deciding what music to listen to is a significant part of deciding and announcing to people not just who you want to be… but who you are. Music is a very small word to encompass something that takes as many forms as there are cultural or sub-cultural identities”. Just as different individuals can use different musical genres as means of associating with, and portraying and developing various identities, the identities associated to varied musical genres can also be transferred to the advertised product. Therefore, as hedonic qualities associated with pop music may produce positive responses in potential consumers through eliciting a favourable image of the university environment, it is suggested that the stereotypically hedonic identity of pop music will encourage enrolment:
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H4: Intention to enrol will be a function of the stereotypically hedonic identity of the pop music genre used in the promotional video.
Various studies have examined music and recall (e.g., Fraser and Bradford, 2013; Gorn et al., 1991). For example, North et al. (2004) reveal that people are more able to memorise advertising messages when background music is congruent with the perceived images of the advertised products compared to when such congruity is absent. However, recall studies have mainly investigated musical effects in the context of advertising where the degree of involvement is relatively low (e.g., Oakes and North, 2006; Olsen, 1997). In contrast, the present research investigates the influence of the stereotypical identities of various musical genres in the context of advertising a university as a high-involvement service. In the context of the present study, consumers (students) may find the pop music genre and its associated qualities as the genre that best matches the advertised brand. In a high-involvement advertising context such as a university, music-message incongruity may inhibit recall of advertising information. Because the level of cognitive effort demanded by the advertisement is high, cognitive resources are likely to be fully extended in such a case (Lavack et al., 2008), and may be unable to cope with the extra load and burden imposed by the incongruity between background music and advertising message. Therefore, considering the hedonic nature and identity associated with pop music (North and Hargreaves, (1998), and considering the study by North et al. (2004) mentioned above, it is proposed that the more stereotypically hedonic pop music genre will enhance recall of visual and verbal information:
H5: Visual and verbal recall of information will be a function of the stereotypically hedonic identity of the pop music genre used in the promotional video.