thesis subject :
Influence de la congruence musicale dans le cadre des publicités pour offres métissées.
Thesis start date :
Octobre 2022
Name of thesis supervisor(s) :
Jean-Philippe GALAN & Michael KORCHIA
Thesis abstract :
Brands almost always use advertising to position themselves in the market. This advertising can be informational, persuasive, reminders, etc., and (in the case of television or radio advertising) is often supported by nonverbal elements such as music. For many years, music was considered to be primarily an almost unconscious phenomenon that led individuals to respond to advertising in a more or less favorable way depending on the emotion evoked by the music. Since then, the way consumers use music has become a completely conscious and objective phenomenon in which they compare the meanings conveyed by the music with those of the central message. In this case, responses to advertising depend on the consumer’s success in finding consistency between the music on the one hand and the other elements of the ad on the other. Music can then “seduce” through so-called peripheral influence, or support the message, in particular by producing judgments of congruence between the product and the music, between the consumer’s self-perception and the music, etc.
Numerous studies have focused on these different aspects of musical influence, sometimes in a cultural context. In this context, research has shown that the greater the congruence between the music and the country of origin of the product or the consumer, the stronger the marketing effect. However, at a time when consumers are much more cosmopolitan, accustomed from an early age to travel (tourism, university exchanges, professional training, etc.) that leads to cultural mixing, the question arises of mixed or hybrid offerings, i.e., those with multiple cultural roots. Either through addition (hybridization) or interaction (mixing). These offerings are becoming increasingly numerous and pose new marketing challenges.
The focus of this doctoral thesis is to study the use of mixed music in advertisements for mixed offerings or positioning (either because the brand itself is mixed or because it targets consumers from mixed cultures). This can be done by using the congruence of the music with the offer and also with the congruence of the music with the consumer (personal congruence).
The objective of this research is to analyze consumer behavior towards mixed-genre music advertising, with the aim of studying the effect of musical congruence on consumer engagement and response to the product or service being offered. The objective is also to make recommendations in terms of the choice of nonverbal elements in international or multicultural offerings as part of the development of communication strategies.
