James Tenser

The Power of Everyday Sounds

March 10, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Advertising principally engages only one sense: sight. Hearing, the author of the best seller, Buyology, argues, can be equally as powerful, though advertisers rarely capitalize on it. How would you rate the opportunities as well as the limitations in using everyday sounds as a marketing tool?      [more...]

This reminds me of a phenomenon I've been noticing in TV commercials lately. It seems some advertisers embed the barely-audible sound of a phone ringer in the background of the sound track. I believe this is a not-so-subtle way to induce viewers to focus their attention. Do you notice this too? Or maybe I just suffer from intermittent ad-onset tinnitus?

But seriously folks...The effectiveness of using certain trigger sounds in ads or in retail selling spaces is testable. We shouldn't be speculating about whether they work; we should be running matched panel in-market studies. One hypothetical finding: Some sounds do arrest our attention (good) but also annoy us deeply (bad).