Research Paper on Competing in the Advertising Sector: Logos and Pathos Strategies

Introduction

The current advertising sector is highly competitive because of the sheer amount of marketing carried out by a business to influence consumers to buy their products. Organizations are innovating new strategies to differentiate their marketing mix to create awareness of their products and manipulate their emotions towards their commodities (Robinson, 2004). Logos and pathos are widely used by companies to attract buyers, but the former focus on logical reasoning for using the product. Pathos is more effective than logos because it influences consumers' emotions through the use of catching words, images, music, and actions. Although there are different methods used to persuade consumers to buy certain products, the use of pathos such as music is the most effective because spur an emotional connection to the brand, creating consumer loyalty.

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Emotional Power of Pathos (Music)

Pathos such as music, images, plays a significant role in society. Ho and Siu (2012) conducted surveys that demonstrated that emotion affects individuals' information processing and decision-making. The studies found that pathos an impeccable instrument for encouraging customers to buy commodities. In the current digital era, the marketing team has to expand its industrial feasibility strategies to include the ideal of emotional awareness. Companies are also integrating cultural references in their adverts to involve the consumers (Ho and Siu, 2012).

Music uses powerful language that surpasses all obstacles and unites people. Every individual relates to music on various levels of emotions for instance, some people connect to the lyrics, while others to the beats. However, the technical elements of music trigger the emotions of the listeners (Lusensky, 2010). According to Coloma and Kleiner (2005), songs played in major or higher keys arouse positive emotions compared to those played in minor or lower keys. Other musical elements that influence people's emotions include texture, tempo, pitch, and timbre. Music is used in advertising as a subject to judgment; hence, companies should consider the fact that it may have a different impact on various individuals. Lusensky (2010) found that the emotional power of music is significantly affected by an individual's sense of identity. Lusensky (2010) explains that music is closely associated with beliefs and behaviors because it reveals their identity. The choice of music is a social marker that tells who individuals are and their beliefs.

Advertising companies choose three types of music for their commercials and the include jingles, popular music, and background music. Jingles were traditionally used in radios and televisions advert because they provided information about commodities in a memorable way (Ng, 2016). Over time, there has been the production of multiple brands, increasing competition in the market. Background music instruments are often used in advertising because they do not create brand memory on the audience. Competition, globalization, and digitization have contributed to the focus on emotional advertisements to appeal to consumers to buy products. Popular music is widely used in commercials because it connects the audience with the brand (Jillson, 2014).

Music and Emotional Advertising

Silk and Vavra developed the Superiority of the Pleasant theory that emphasizes that emotional instruments significantly impact the thoughts of the consumers towards the brand. The feelings are provoked by emotional strategies, for instance, music applied in an advertisement conveys to the brand. A study conducted by Micu and Plummer (2010) demonstrated that integrating emotional elements results in high positive and brand scores. Ng (2016) determined the effect of jingles, background music, and popular music on advertising and found that consumers link music to the product. Moreover, the study revealed that consumers are more likely to prefer the brand with emotional stimulus when making purchase choices. For instance, music delivers various feelings to the consumers, influencing their reactions towards a brand. The emotions create conscious opinions, moods, memories, and connections toward the product (Ng, 2016). Individuals' moods or opinions regarding a song or theme influence their reactions to the brand when a song is used in a commercial. For instance, when a commercial plays a song that customers dislike, this could affect their mood and lead to a negative response towards the brand.

Music makes television advertisements effective because the songs create memories that people can associate with the commodities. According to a study carried out by Brader (2005) on the effect of positive and negative images and songs used to advertise during the campaign. The results of the study revealed that voters were exposed to advertisements that were enthusiastic, positive music and images improved their interest in voting. Moreover, people were more willing to vote compared to those who received less enthusiastic music (Brader, 2005).

Vermeulen and Beukeboom's (2016) research highlights studies that show that positive songs impact positive reactions while negative music leads to poor customer connection to the brand. The choice of music is vital to impact perceptions of the viewers. Although the main impact of music is getting the attention and creating an emotional connection with the consumers, it is affected by the tempo and theme of the music. Other factors such as congruency and context affect the reactions. Congruency is the effectiveness of the message and theme of the song to the commercial and the target group. For instance, if the advertisement is targeting children and their parents, children sons and themes are effective in attracting their attention to buy the product (Vermeulen & Beukeboom (2016)). Ng (2016) emphasized that congruency in adverts lead to positive reactions towards the brand. Context is another significant factor that affects consumer response to the adverts. Context assesses whether the style used in advertisement suits a particular product. Janssens and Pelsmacker carried out a study to determine the effect of music's context in influencing consumers' emotions and thoughts (Ng, 2016). Although they found inconclusive results, the study revealed that emotional attraction in adverts provoked positive reactions for well-known existing commodities, but they responded effectively to new ones. The researchers concluded that companies should understand the significance of context and congruency when choosing the type of music for their advertisements. They should keenly select sons that suit the message and theme they were aiming to convey.

According to a study conducted by Abolhasani, Oakes S, and Oakes H (2017) described results on Youtube postings classified to identify genres concerning customer's experience of music in adverts. Primary genres relate to music indexicality, taste, repetition, and authenticity. The posts demonstrate the effect of music on people's thoughts by associating them with personal feelings and memories (Abolhasani et al, 2017). Consumers dislike normative identity and protect it by resisting musical repetition created by advertisers. Most people criticized repetition hence a negative response towards the products. Likewise, when advertising companies devalue the genuineness of iconic parts of music, customers regularly resist such legitimacy misbehaviors as intimidation to their identity (Abolhasani et al, 2017).

Another study by Bhattacharya, Zioga, and Lewis (2017) recognized that music advertising is an integral part of the marketing mix because it creates customer loyalty by creating a connection with the product. The study tried to determine the best technique (strategic or tactical) to use music in advertising. The tactical approach uses various pieces of background music while the strategic approach uses the same piece of music consistently (Bhattacharya, 2017). The study was to monitor the thoughts or brain responses of the recipient of TV and radio advertisements with tactical, strategic, and no music. The participated liked advertisements with strategic music and found them more familiar on the radio than TVs. The neural correlated to advertisements that applied music, reflecting that consumers' preferred such products. Moreover, advertisements that used the strategic approach of music had a larger frontal asymmetry, showing positive effective response. The researchers also noted an improved and continued neural effect of strategic versus tactical music use in a radio advertisement. The research concluded that background music is the most effective tool to promote advertisements.

Conclusion

Pathos is becoming a common tool for drawing customers towards the use of certain products by targeting their emotions. Music is appropriate in the advertisement because it has an intrinsic value that improves the persuasiveness and captures the attention of the targeted consumers. Music creates memories on the consumers, hence affecting their decision during purchase. Music creates emotions such as happiness or sorrow influencing the thoughts of the audience. The choice of song and context is crucial to reach the targeted market effectively. The above-discussed studies showed that advertisements that were associated with music yielded positive response, increasing purchase. Companies should, therefore, choose an appropriate piece of music to play in the background when promoting their products. Music not only gets the attention of the buyers but also creates awareness and connects them to the brand.

References

Abolhasani, M., Oakes, S., & Oakes, H. (2017). Music in advertising and consumer identity: The search for Heideggerian authenticity. Marketing Theory, 17(4), 473-490. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1470593117692021

Bhattacharya, J., Zioga, I., & Lewis, R. (2017). Novel or consistent music? An electrophysiological study investigating music used in advertising. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 10(4), 137. Retrieved from https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/34450/Zioga%20Novel%20or%20consistent%202017%20Accepted.pdf?sequence=2

Brader, T. (2005). Striking a responsive chord: How political ads motivate and persuade voters by appealing to emotions. American Journal of Political Science, 49(2), 388-405. Retrieved from http://www.uvm.edu/~dguber/POLS234/articles/brader.pdf

Ho, A. G., & Siu, K. W. M. G. (2012). Emotion design, emotional design, emotional design: A review of their relationships from a new perspective. The Design Journal, 15(1), 9-32. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175630612X13192035508462

Jillson, A. (2014). The Effects of Popular Music in Television Advertisements on Branding. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=honors_marketing

Lusensky, J. (2010). Sounds like branding: hur varumarken blev de nya skivbolagen (och konsumenter blev till fans). Norstedts.

Micu, A. C., & Plummer, J. T. (2010). Measurable emotions: How television ads really work - patterns of reactions to commercials can demonstrate advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, 50(2), 137. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/506569815?accountid=36823

Ng, J. J. L. (2016). Music in Advertising: An Overview of Jingles, Popular Music and the Emotional Impact of Music in Advertising. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1675&context=honors

Robinson, M. (2004). The comprehension shift, HMI of the future-designers of the future. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=vBJqD22G2lkC&oi=fnd&pg=PA20&dq=Robinson,+M.+(2004).+The+comprehension+shift,+HMI+of+the+future%E2%80%93designers+of+t...