The findings were published in the scientific peer-reviewed journal Food Quality and
Preference
A team of researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) studying how the acoustic and visual composition of advertisements impact perceptions, has found that consumers associate a higher frequency “sonic logo” with healthier food products. Sonic logos, also termed sogos, are short melodies created to support the marketing of a specific brand.
The study also linked more stimulating visuals in commercials with consumer perceptions that the food product it was advertising was healthier. Conversely, consumers tended to associate low-pitched sonic logos and commercials with less vivid designs with unhealthy food products.
The team of researchers hope to further investigate the mechanisms in subjects’ brains through functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI), to find out what leads to the association between frequency and perceptions of healthfulness in food products. They will also be exploring the usage of timbre, which is the tone or unique quality of a sound, from different musical instruments in commercials, and how it shapes consumers’ perception of whether a food product is healthy.
Monin Techawachirakul a PhD student from NTU’s Nanyang Business School, who was the study’s co-author, said: “We propose that food brand managers that wish to highlight the healthfulness of their products should employ high-frequency sogos to enhance the health appeal of foods, especially if they are products that promote health benefits or serve as healthier options. The effectiveness of sogos can be further augmented by congruent packaging or visual logos that use more vivid designs to prompt consumers into making healthier choices without having to evaluate complex information, often contained in the nutritional labels.”
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