Music as an Unconditioned Stimulus: Positive and Negative Effects of Country Music on Implicit Attitudes, Explicit Attitudes, and Brand Choice¹

Abstract

An experiment (N = 68) explored how background music in a realistic web advertisement could condition implicit and explicit attitudes toward a novel brand. Conditioning effects were apparent in both traditional explicit attitude measures and also in the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Further, brand choice was predicted by explicit attitudes, but prediction improved significantly when implicit attitudes were considered. Mood‐congruent judgment, demand effects, and conditioning are considered as potential explanations for our results, and we argue that conditioning provides the most parsimonious explanation. Finally, the results are discussed within the context of the associative‐propositional evaluation model (Gawronski & Bodenhausen, 2006). This model provides a framework for the integration of the implicit attitude construct into the study of consumer behavior.

Can Evaluative Conditioning Change Attitudes toward Mature Brands? New Evidence from the Implicit Association Test

“…The results of these and other experiments (Brunel, Tietje, and Greenwald 2004;Forehand and Perkins 2005;Maison, Greenwald, and Bruin 2004;Redker and Gibson 2007) suggest that the IAT can be a valuable measure in consumer research. It seems reasonable to suggest that the areas of consumer research most likely to benefit from use of the IAT are those areas based on associative learning.…”

Implicit and Explicit Evaluation: A Brief Review of the Associative–Propositional Evaluation Model

“…In addition, the APE model offers precise predictions about the conditions under which a given factor should lead to (a) changes in implicit but not explicit evaluations, (b) changes in explicit but not implicit evaluations, or (c) corresponding changes in implicit and explicit evaluations. Over the past years, research drawing on the core assumptions of the APE model has provided valuable insights in a wide range of areas, including romantic relationships (e.g., Eastwick, Eagly, Finkel, & Johnson, 2011), prejudice and stereotyping (e.g., Gawronski, Peters, Brochu, & Strack, 2008), social justice (e.g., Van den Bos & Maas, 2009), consumer behavior (e.g., Redker & Gibson, 2009), alcohol consumption (e.g., Moss & Albery, 2009), psychopathology (e.g., Ouimet, Gawronski, & Dozois, 2009), political decision-making (Galdi, Arcuri, & Gawronski, 2008), eating behavior (e.g., Hollands, Prestwich, & Marteau, 2011), and media effects (Strick, Holland, Van Baaren, Van Knippenberg, & Dijksterhuis, 2013). In the current article, we review the core assumptions of the APE model and its predictions regarding changes in implicit and explicit evaluations.…”

The role of faith in intuition, need for cognition and method of attitude formation in implicit–explicit brand attitude relationship strength

“…For example, a good deal of consumer research has focused on evaluative conditioning as a means to create brand attitudes (Allen & Janiszewski, 1989;Allen & Madden, 1985;Gibson, 2008;Redker & Gibson, 2009;Shimp, Stuart, & Engle, 1991;Stuart, Shimp & Engle, 1987). In many cases, commercial advertisements rely on simple pairings of a brand (CS) to a variety of positive stimuli (US's).…”

“…Explicit attitudes, in contrast, are more considered, verbal, and available for conscious consideration. Consumer psychologists have recently turned their attention to implicit attitudes in an attempt to understand how they function in the consumer domain (Brunel, Tietje, & Greenwald, 2004;Forehand & Perkins, 2005;Friese, Wanke, & Plessner, 2006;Gibson, 2008;Maison, Greenwald, & Bruin, 2004;Redker & Gibson, 2009).…”