The effect of dispersion interactions on the electronic spectra of organic compounds is analyzed within second-order perturbation theory. A formula is obtained which makes is possible to determine the change in the polarizability of the molecules upon excitation, ∆α eg , using data on the effect of the bulk polarizability P n of the solvent on the position of the electronic spectrum. It is shown that when the solutions are cooled, the long-wavelength shift of the absorption spectra for the studied anthracenes in alcohols is mainly due to dispersion interactions and is caused by an increase in P n . The possibility of using the new formula for ∆α eg is demonstrated for anthracenes as an example. It is found that for anthracene, 1-chloroanthracene, 9,10-dichloroanthracene, 9,10-dibromoanthracene, 9,10-diiodoanthracene ∆α eg is 16.5, 16.9, 17.2, 18.6, and 20.2 Å 3 respectively.