Music Timbre and Regulatory Fit
(A2019-7958)

AUTHORS

Tsutomu Sunaga, School of Business Administration, Kwansei Gakuin University; Xuhong Zhuang, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University; Yan Meng, Grenoble Ecole de Management

KEYWORDS

timbre; regulatory focus; sensory marketing

ABSTRACT

This study examined how musical timbre contributed to regulatory fit and persuasion. The results showed that piano (vs. violin/flute) associated with prevention (vs. promotion) focus (Study 1), which replicated in the marketing context as well (Study 2). Moreover, Study 3 demonstrated that when music played on the piano (violin/flute) was used in an advertisement, regulatory fit occurred among prevention- (promotion-) focused participants, meaning that the participants reported more favorable advertisement and product evaluations. The association between musical timbre and consumers’ regulatory focus offers a novel perspective on the notion of regulatory fit. The current study also provides a theoretical contribution to the sensory marketing and advertising literature by presenting convergent evidence that consumers exposed to music from different types of instruments response a marketing communication differently.

REFERENCES

The authors would like to thank the JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) Number 15K03753 for its financial help.