The overrated power of background music in television news magazines: A replication of Brosius’ 1990 study

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of background music on cognition, evaluations of films and attitudes. We replicated an earlier experiment by Brosius (1990) on the effects of background music on memory and evaluations of informational films. Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM, see Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) as a theoretical framework, we predicted that music would have negative effects on the central route of processing (recognition) but positive effects on the peripheral route (evaluations, changes in attitudes) of the ELM. A television report on toxic substances in energy-saving lamps served as the basic stimulus. Five versions of the report were presented: one with no music and four additional versions with high/low valence/arousal background music. Using a five-group between-subjects design (with approximately 100 members in each group), stimuli were rated in an online study with a representative sample of “consumers” (age range: 18–60 years). The changes in attitudes toward energy-saving lamps and the overall evaluations of the video were measured using pre- and post-test questionnaires. In addition, the subjects completed recognition tests for both the auditory and visual information. No differences in recognition or the evaluations were found between the conditions, and no effects of the valence of the music (i.e., negative vs. positive) were found. Furthermore, there was a pre-post shift in attitudes toward a critical evaluation of energy-saving lamps (dz = 0.85). However, this intervention effect was independent of the experimental condition. Overall, our study found no support for the widely assumed manipulative effect of background music in television news magazines. The results are discussed in relation to the habituation effects of music and the perceived relevance of background music.