New (sound)waves in sport marketing: do semantic differences in analogous music impact shopping behaviors of sport consumers?

Ballouli, Khalid ; Bennett, Gregg

Introduction

Retailers increasingly recognize that the physical attributes of their facilities provide a means to enhance the delivery of goods and services to consumers. The atmospherics of a retail store (e.g., colors, lighting, sounds) can be manipulated to produce certain emotional and behavioral responses in consumers (Kotler, 1973). Bitner (1992) argues positive mood states produced by the physical environment in which services are experienced significantly influence consumers' emotional, cognitive, and physiological responses. Extant research suggests these responses are primary determinants of the extent to which consumers will spend beyond their original expectations (Donovan & Rossiter, 1982). Ambient features of the store environment can also produce negative behavioral outcomes when atmospheric variables are perceived as incongruent with other store features, leading to adverse effects (Beverland, Lim, Morrison, & Terziovski 2006; Mattila & Wirtz, 2001). Such dynamics point to the primacy of focusing on atmospherics to ensure these features serve a role complementary to retail branding and image development (Beverland et al., 2006).

Music is an atmospheric cue applied frequently to enhance the delivery of products and services in brick-and-mortar retail settings. Extensive literature demonstrates the potential for atmospheric music to influence consumer behavior. For example, researchers suggest music played in a retail store is significantly influential in explaining choice behaviors and impulse purchases (North, Hargreaves, MacKenzie, & Law, 2004; MacInnis & Park, 1991; Mattila & Wirtz, 2001). It is further suggested that consumer evaluations of merchandise and attitudes toward the brand are more favorable when music is perceived as congruent with other store elements (Mattila & Wirtz, 2001; Oakes & North, 2008). Dube and Morin (2001) suggest music in the retail environment is often the primary influence of consumers' evaluations of the store and satisfaction with the shopping experience. Further, evidence supports the notion that music is perhaps capable of fulfilling a role larger than most other store elements in impacting decisions at the point of purchase (e.g., Areni & Kim, 1993). While investigations of the application of atmospheric music in retail settings have been at the forefront of consumer research for some time, there is a relative dearth of empirical research related to the effects of music employed in service settings located within the confines of the sport stadium (Lee, Heere, & Chung, 2013).

Some researchers have employed the concept of "music fit" to understand the effects of atmospheric music on consumer behavior (e.g., Beverland et al., 2006; MacInnis & Park, 1991). Previous studies on music fit have included assumptions about various factors, such as genre (Areni & Kim, 1993), style (North et al., 2004), and tempo (Chebat, Chebat, & Vaillant, 2001), but relatively little attention has been given to song lyrics inherent to all non-instrumental music. The theoretical perspectives of conceptual fluency and semantic relevance suggest certain words and phrases may enhance an individual's overall recognition and processing of concepts when the words or phrases are congruent with the individual's expectations in a context setting (Lee & Labroo, 2004). Based on these principles, atmospheric music with song lyrics related to a brand should be more conceptually fluent in a service environment where patrons expect to experience brand-related marketing activity, thereby leading to more efficient processing of environmental stimuli among consumers. To this end, research focused on consumer perceptions of lyrical content in background music (e.g., Brodsky, 2010) have emerged to provide important implications for new "brand music" to positively affect consumer behavior.

Brand music is custom-designed music featuring composition and lyrics tailored exclusively for brand-related communications (Jackson, 2003). The design of brand music involves a process by which a brand partners with a music artist to create original music and custom song lyrics that--while appealing to a diverse group of consumers--reflect the values and personality unique to the brand (see Jackson, 2003; Lusensky, 2010). For example, Gatorade worked with music producer David Banner to create a "brand song" written and produced exclusively for the enhancement of the brand's new G Series (Schnipper, 2010). This partnership led to a brand song titled "Gatorade Has Evolved," which became the featured song in Gatorade commercials advertising the G Series.

While there is limited research on brand music in sport marketing literature (Ballouli & Heere, 2014), the number of brands investing in the development of brand music to enhance brand equity and brand loyalty has steadily grown in recent years (Jackson, Jankovich, & Sheinkop, 2013). This study was motivated by recent developments within the US sport industry, where numerous college and professional sport teams have developed brand music in efforts to create more memorable experiences and longer lasting impressions among sport consumers. For example, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) recently created an entire CD featuring original music written and recorded specifically for team marketing purposes. Such music branding efforts have been shown to enrich brand experiences, thus improving brand perceptions (Fulberg, 2003).

The more properties in the sport and entertainment industry continue to employ music in innovative and pioneering ways, the more apparent that empirical assessments of such strategies are needed. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of one professional US sport team's efforts to incorporate custom-designed brand music in the retail store of its home stadium. More specifically, this research examines the effects of brand music on consumers' evaluations, satisfaction, and attitudes related to a shopping behavior, as compared to the effects caused by "generic" (i.e., popular, mainstream) music typically featured in retail stores. In the subsequent sections, a theoretical framework, operational definitions of relevant constructs, and a series of study hypotheses derived from the broader literature are provided, all of which are intended to invite research into an area largely underdeveloped in marketing theory and research.

Theoretical Background

The theoretical perspectives of conceptual fluency and semantic relevance served as a foundation for this investigation. Conceptual fluency involves the ease and accuracy with which a targeted concept is grasped by an individual (Danesi, 1995). The key premise of conceptual fluency lies in the assumption that while a person focuses his or her attention on a main task (e.g., shopping), other information that is not the object of attention (e.g., atmospheric music) is incidentally processed (Janiszewski, 1988; Shapiro, 1999). Whether this information consists of closely interrelated associations or stimuli related to the main task determines the extent to which a person will make prompt and explicit decisions (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). Lee and Labroo (2004) suggest a conceptually fluent association or stimulus in a service setting should be readily understood and easily processed. For instance, a study by North, Hargreaves, and McKendrick (1999) found that playing French or German music in a wine section of a supermarket significantly affected the propensity for consumers to buy more French or German wines, respectively. It was these authors' contention that the geographical origin of French and German music served as distinct associative mechanisms that likely primed concepts related to French or German wines in consumers' minds. Studies indicate that incidental exposure to tightly linked information in this manner can affect one's attitudes and behaviors (Lee & Labroo, 2004). Yet, while these studies have been instrumental in enhancing our knowledge of conceptual fluency and its effects, key issues remain as warranting further investigation.

With one or two exceptions, the focus of the existing literature is on the structural components (e.g., genre, instrumentation) of music rather than lyrics as a way to affect consumer behavior (Yeoh & North, 2011). The current study is an investigation of whether conceptually fluent lyrics can produce similar effects as these structural components found in earlier studies, which would contribute to our current understanding of conceptual fluency and variables from which musical effects might emanate. Such findings would be particularly useful in the context of sport since certain musical selections are made based on lyrics being able to communicate more specific and less ambiguous messages to sport consumers (Ballouli & Heere, 2014).

With regard to brand communications and consumer behavior, conceptual fluency is considered a function of high-level semantic associations related to a stimulus (Shapiro, 1999)--that is, certain words or phrases in various forms (e.g., song lyrics) are thought to enhance one's overall recognition and processing of a targeted concept (e.g., brand) when they are congruent and predictable within a context setting (e.g., retail store). For example, the concept Olympics is identified easier when used in a predicable context (e.g., "he won a gold medal in the Olympics") as opposed to an unpredictable context (e.g., "she has been training for the Olympics"). Building on conceptual fluency principles, Sartori and Lombardi (2004) introduced a theory of semantic relevance that takes into account the degree to which a "semantic feature"--a word or phrase of words--eases the processing one engages in to identify a target concept. The basic premise of semantic relevance is that certain semantic features more effectively relay concept information than others. For instance, the phrase has red seams serves as a highly relevant semantic feature for the concept of baseball since most people use it to define a baseball, whereas very few use the same phrase to define other concepts. Conversely, the phrase made of leather is a semantic feature with relatively lower relevance for the concept of baseball because fewer people use it to define the concept while using it to define numerous other concepts (Sartori & Lombardi, 2004). Hence, while a specific concept may be associated with various semantic features, only a few actually assist to isolate the target concept ahead of other closely related concepts. A semantic feature can assist in concept retrieval only when, according to theory, the semantic relevance for the feature is strongly dominant and distinctive with regard to the key concept. Semantic features that are strongly dominant are features that people cite regularly in defining a concept. Semantic features that are strongly distinctive are features that are seldom cited by individuals in defining other concepts. Semantic features exhibiting strong dominance and distinctiveness are likely to facilitate communication with greater efficiency.

Based on these illustrative examples, it is plausible to suppose that brand music--consisting of tightly linked brand associations--will come to mind more readily and will be easier to process in a retail store, thereby leading to improved processing of information among consumers. Grimes (2008) suggests conceptual fluency "is likely to be enhanced by the inclusion of context information that facilitates identification of the brand and therefore increases the likelihood of associations being activated in memory" (p. 79). Further, Jackson (2003) argues that certain dialog systems (e.g., music) consisting of semantic representations of a brand may also lead to more favorable consumer attitudes and responses. While the construction of brand music involves the strategic arrangement of various individual components (e.g., genre, tempo, voice), the integration of brand-specific concepts and meanings into semantically relevant song lyrics is a foremost requisite (Jackson, 2003), as well as an under-researched area (Olsen & Johnson, 2002). Some researchers suggest that song lyrics have the capability to create meaningful relations among specific concepts and constructs in the minds of consumers (e.g., Olsen & Johnson, 2002). Brodsky (2010) suggests that individuals are ably equipped to decode the intentions of marketers to express brand characteristics and product features through music, and they are equally capable of successfully designating lyrics to the appropriate brand. Therefore, because a sport team's brand music should play a formative role in priming brand-specific concepts related to the team, we predict this music will lead to favorable store evaluations, levels of satisfaction, and brand attitudes among shoppers when played in a stadium retail store (Lee & Labroo, 2006).

Hypotheses Development

Areni and Kim (1993) examined how perceptions of music fit in a retail store influenced shoppers' attitudes and behaviors. These authors found classical music played in the background of a wine cellar led consumers to purchase significantly more expensive wine than did Billboard Top 40 music. It was concluded the attributes associated with classical music were more fitting of the attributes salient to expensive wine. Results of this study demonstrate the potential for music to highlight product attributes and store qualities to the extent that can effectively prime shoppers' product selection. Beverland et al. (2006) found that misfit between background music and other atmospheric variables can have adverse effects on shopping behaviors. These results indicate the importance of emphasizing atmospheric variables that fit seamlessly with retail environment, otherwise adverse thinking about the store and brand may be triggered.

Music fit is a multi-faceted concept by which many researchers have largely based their assumptions on likability (MacInnis & Park, 1991), genre (Areni & Kim, 1993), and structural elements (Chebat et al., 2001; Kellaris & Kent, 1991). However, extant literature provides only slight discussion on the effects of lyrical content. Further, while researchers suggest music can play a chief role in the total communicative task of presupposing information and communicating messages (Fulberg, 2003), the study of music as it relates to "fit" in sport settings should not be remote from the semantics and meanings that accompany it. To this end, it might be supposed that sport consumers who hear music with lyrics featuring brand associations in sport settings should have more favorable perceptions of music fit than sport consumers who hear music with lyrics that do not feature brand associations.

An important factor to consider in dealing with atmospherics is the personality trait of atmospheric responsiveness. Atmospheric responsiveness was first developed in the field of environmental psychology by McKechnie (1974), who argued the tendency for qualities of the immediate physical environment would be to influence individuals' dispositions and behaviors. The basic premise is that individuals who possess the trait will exhibit a heightened sensitivity to their immediate physical surroundings, and will therefore respond more affectively to changes in atmospheric stimuli than individuals who lack the trait (Craik & McKechnie, 1977; McKechnie, 1974). Grossbart, Lapidus, Rammohan, and Hampton (1990) applied this principle to the retail environment, where they more appropriately defined atmospheric responsiveness as "the extent to which physical design and condition influence a customer's decisions on where to shop and how much time to spend shopping" (p. 226). These authors argued that shoppers who are more aware of the environmental features in a retail store are more likely to experience the affective states of which the store was designed to produce. Previous models adopting the construct depict how the mood states caused by store atmospherics mediate the relationship between store atmosphere and shopper attitudes, satisfaction, and approach/avoidance behaviors, but only by moderating effects of atmospheric responsiveness (e.g., Eroglu, Machleit, & Davis, 2003). As such, we propose the following hypotheses:

H1: Shoppers who hear brand music in a stadium retail store will perceive a higher degree of musical fit than shoppers who hear generic (popular) music.

H2: Shoppers' atmospheric responsiveness will moderate the relationship between music played in a stadium retail store and shoppers' perceptions of musical fit.

Previous researchers suggest that consumers make judgments and evaluations based on a factor known as "associative learning," the mechanism by which thoughts and feelings towards a target are generated (Shimp, Stuart, & Engle, 1991). Scholars have recognized the importance of understanding consumer judgments and evaluations, since they are important indicators of brand success (Aaker & Keller, 1990; Boush & Loken, 1991) and significant contributors to shoppers' overall store assessments (Grewal, Baker, Levy, & Voss, 2003). Dube and Morin (2001) found music to be an effective atmospheric stimulus for priming desired thoughts and feelings among shoppers, which, in turn, significantly affect evaluations of the store's environment. Specifically, these authors found that well liked music perceived by shoppers led to positive evaluations of the store as opposed to music that was disliked by consumers. In addition, scholars argue evaluations of the store environment ought to be more favorable when music is perceived as being congruent with other observable stimuli in the store (Grewal et al., 2003; Mattilla & Wirtz, 2001; Oakes & North, 2008; Yalch & Spangenberg, 1993). Further, Mattila and Wirtz (2001) found music was a key factor in how consumers evaluated the overall store environment, and that store evaluations were significantly influential in explaining consumers' satisfaction levels and choice behaviors. Aaker and Keller (1990) also demonstrate the propensity for consumer evaluations to impact shopping behavior such that evaluations of the store are powerful predictors of satisfaction with the shopping experience. Thus, the following two hypotheses are offered:

H3: Shoppers who perceive a higher degree of musical fit will have more positive evaluations of the shopping environment in a stadium retail store.

H4: Shoppers who have more positive evaluations of the shopping environment in a stadium retail store will have higher levels of satisfaction with the shopping experience.

Over the years, there has been a growing interest in the effects of store music on a wide range of consumer behaviors and shopping outcomes (see Bruner, 1990; Garlin & Owen, 2006; Turley & Milliman, 2000). One of the most important of these studied is shoppers' satisfaction with the shopping experience (Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994). A positive shopping experience leads to approach behaviors (Davis, Wang, & Lindridge, 2008) that are consistent with a higher number of unplanned purchases (Babin et al., 1994), increased time spent in the store (Yalch & Spangenberg, 2000), and enhanced customer loyalty (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009). In their study focused on shoppers' emotional responses, Mattila and Wirtz (2001) manipulated the effects of scent and music in a specialty store and offered evidence that only when atmospheric stimuli fit in terms of their arousing qualities can they increase one's level of satisfaction with the shopping experience. Using an experimental design in the context of banking services, Hui and Dube (1997) also revealed how positive perceptions of music might improve one's sense of satisfaction with a service experience, which thereby leads to positive attitudes one has towards the service organization. As such, the following two hypotheses are forwarded:

H5: Shoppers who perceive a higher degree of musical fit will have higher levels of satisfaction with the shopping experience.

H6: Shoppers who have higher levels of satisfaction with the shopping

experience will have more positive attitudes toward the brand (sport team).

Much of the extant literature on brand attitude stems from theoretical principles developed by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), an individual's attitude is a function of his or her salient beliefs at a given point in time. Therefore, attitudes toward a concept can only be changed through changing salient beliefs about the same concept. In marketing terms, changing consumers' salient beliefs about a product or service can change their attitudes toward a brand in the same way. Mitchell and Olson (1981) suggest that the causal determinants of attitudes are critically important to understand due to the mediating effects they have on marketing decision variables. These authors further argue a more comprehensive understanding "of the causal dynamics of attitude formation would not only aid marketing researchers in measuring the attitudinal impact of marketing variables, but also help managers develop more effective marketing strategy" (Mitchell & Olson, 1981, p. 318).

Rossiter and Percy (1991) showed purchase intentions influenced by changes in song selections were mediated by consumers' attitudes toward the brand. Specifically, findings show consumers were less likely to buy a product when the brand was perceived as being linked with disliked music (negative attitude), and more likely to buy a product when the brand was matched with liked music (positive attitude). Beverland et al. (2006) examined the influence of music on brand attitude formation by examining the different uses of background music in television ads. Researchers found that music positioned to fit an ad significantly affected participants' attitudes toward the brand. The findings also showed that music demonstrating a good overall fit with the advertisement was particularly effective among consumers without prior knowledge of the brand. On this point, the authors concluded that consumers with less knowledge of a brand observed an advertisement's background music as an important indicator of the brand's overall personality and identity. To this end, music that is fitting of a stadium retail store may also positively affect shoppers' attitudes toward the organization. The following hypothesis is therefore put forth:

H7: Shoppers who perceive a higher degree of musical fit will have more positive attitudes toward the brand (sport team).

Method

Materials and Pilot Study

The design of this research consisted of two experimental field groups: brand music (conceptually fluent) and generic music (not conceptually fluent). To satisfy the conceptually fluent condition needed for the brand music group, three songs were selected from the Carolina Panthers' (NFL) music album titled Black & Blue: The Official Music of the Carolina Panthers based on the authors' judgments that these songs all featured semantically relevant song lyrics and had relatively the same tempo and genre. The descriptors of tempo and genre can be crucial to music analysis, as they are used widely as meaningful differentiators between music selections across various research disciplines (Kellaris & Kent, 1991). The songs selected for this condition were written and produced for the Carolina Panthers by popular local music artists Electric Blitz, Paper Tongues, and Sloe Gin Army, and featured the song titles "Panthers Runnin' Wild," "Gridiron Fight," and "Sweet Carolina," respectively.

Two coders who were trained in musical analysis performed a content analysis on these songs to ascertain whether their lyrics consisted of words or phrases (i.e., semantic features) related to the Carolina Panthers, as well as confirm the authors' judgments that these songs did not differ significantly in tempo or in genre. As expected, results from the coders' analyses indicated that these songs consisted of numerous semantic features highly associated with the Carolina Panthers. Some examples of semantic features coded as dominant and distinct included "this is Panther Nation," "down here in Carolina," and "boys in black and blue." Further, there was a high degree of agreement among coders that the songs each contained complete phrases, were analogous in tempo (i.e., 116 bpm for "Panthers Runnin' Wild"; 122 bpm for "Gridiron Fight"; 118 bpm for "Sweet Carolina"), and belonged to the same musical genre (i.e., rock). Due to the overwhelming presence of dominant and distinct semantic features related to the Carolina Panthers in these songs, it was predicted that sport consumers who shopped in the retail store at Bank of America Stadium--the home field of the Panthers--would perceive the songs in this music condition as having a high degree of music fit (Hypothesis 1).

To satisfy the "not conceptually fluent" condition needed for the generic music group, three songs were chosen from the Billboard rock charts, which rank the most popular rock songs based on radio airplay and audience impressions as measured by Nielson BDS (DeWall, Pond, Campbell, & Twenge, 2011). The songs selected represented three of the top ten rock songs on the Billboard rock charts at the time data were collected, namely "Up in the Air" by 30 Seconds to Mars, "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons, and "Safe and Sound" by Capital Cities. Songs from the rock genre were selected for the generic music condition on the basis of previously determined studies that rock music is used most commonly in football stadiums. Bateman and Bale (2009) argue rock music and classic rock music are the choice genres for the marketing and advertising of the so-called "physical sports" in the United States. Moreover, the selection of these specific songs was substantiated by the fact that all three songs were featured on ESPN's Artists of the Month program, where musicians or bands receive exclusive airtime during live event converge and daily programming on ESPN (Hamp, 2012), during the time of the study. A second content analysis was performed on these songs to ensure their song lyrics did not consist of semantic features relevant to the Panthers. A high degree of agreement was found on song lyrics in this condition, as the coders concluded there were no specific relations to the team in these songs' lyrics. Coders were also asked to analyze these songs for the same purposes as above, and both coders agreed the songs contained complete phrases, were relatively similar in tempo (i.e., 120 bpm for "Up in the Air"; 114 bpm for "Radioactive"; 118 for "Safe and Sound"), and belonged to the same musical genre (i.e., rock).

An initial pilot study was conducted to ensure the songs applied in the primary study (1) were identifiable as either brand music or generic (i.e., popular) music, (2) were observed as rock music, and (3) were equally likable (MacInnis & Park, 1991). Forty-six students who were self-identified fans of the Carolina Panthers were recruited from graduate sport management courses at a major university in the Southeastern region of the United States. Participants were asked to listen to each group of songs from the brand music and generic music conditions and to respond to the following questions regarding each song: "Does this song remind you of a brand; if so, what is it," "What is the musical genre of this song," and "On a scale of 1 to 5, how much would you say you like this song?" Consistent with prior judgments, participants classified all songs as belonging to the rock genre, and reported the songs "Gridiron Fight," "Panthers Runnin' Wild," and "Sweet Carolina" reminded them of the Carolina Panthers, while no brand was reliably recounted when "Up in the Air," "Radioactive," or "Safe and Sound" was played. Lastly, participants in the pilot study reported the songs in both conditions were equally likable (MacInnis & Park, 1991).

Procedure

This research involved a between-subjects field experiment in which study participants heard either the generic music or brand music analyzed during the pilot study while shopping in a retail environment. The sample consisted of sport consumers visiting the stadium retail store of the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium located in Charlotte, NC. Data were collected over a span of six hours during two NFL preseason games scheduled in the month of August, which helped neutralize any positive or negative feelings fans might have had about the team's performance during the actual season. Songs from one of the music conditions were played sequentially and, after a brief time of no music allowed for survey completion with previous participants, were substituted for with songs from the second condition. This process continued for the course of each preseason game, during which the primary researchers and six graduate assistants trained in field experimentation monitored the store for visitors who entered and shopped for a period of time in which they heard only one condition of background music. A crossfade feature was used to provide a more professional and realistic sound that might be heard in a retail store. Crossfading is an audio layering and mixing technique used by sound and music professionals to smoothly transition between songs in background music soundscapes, whereby the acoustic environment becomes more abstract and the abstract becomes more environmental (Truax, 2008). Songs in the brand music condition had a combined length of approximately 10 minutes, whereas songs in the generic music condition were roughly 11 minutes in total length. Songs in each group were played in the same order, and the music volume in the store was set at a consistent level across all participants. Visitors of the store were randomly and individually identified and asked to participate in a study conducted by "consumer behaviorists curious about the shopping behaviors of sport consumers." Participants who agreed to participate in the study were asked to read and answer questions related to the dependent variables, and concluded their participation by providing demographic information in the closing section of the questionnaire. Once the steps of these procedures were completed, participants were debriefed concerning the purpose of the study and thanked for their participation. The demographic makeup of the study sample (N = 232) was 58.5% males, an average age of 36.22 years old, with a racial breakdown of 69.1% Caucasians, 17.1% African Americans, 7.4% Hispanics, 3.8% Asians, and 3.6% other. Most participants (94%) resided in North Carolina and all participants were self-identified fans of the Carolina Panthers.

Measures

A five-item scale developed by MacInnis and Park (1991) was adopted to measure perceptions of music fit. Items were measured using a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree ([alpha] = .91). Evaluation of the store environment was measured using a seven-item scale developed by Mattila and Wirtz (2001), who adapted the items from Fisher's (1974) environmental quality scale (a = .90). Satisfaction with the shopping experience was assessed with three seven-point scale items (strongly disagree to strongly agree) developed by Westbrook and Oliver (1981) ([alpha] = .92). A four-time scale created by MacKenzie and Lutz's (1989) was used to assess participants' attitudes toward the brand ([alpha] = .90). The standardized regression weights for the scale items of each abovementioned latent variable are presented in Table 1. Atmospheric responsiveness was measured using a four-item scale developed by Eroglu et al. (2003): "I pay attention to my physical surroundings while shopping," "Store elements like music, colors, and lighting affect my shopping experience," "My shopping decisions are affected by different atmospheric elements in the store environment," and "Store environment influences my decisions about where I shop." These items were measured on a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree ([alpha] = .90). Lastly, the trait characteristic known as team identification is a commonly studied variable in sport marketing literature that has been shown to predict cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of consumer behavior (Kwon, Trail, & Anderson, 2005). In order to isolate the effects of music on the dependent variables, it was necessary to assess whether there were any significant differences among participants with regard to their identification with the Carolina Panthers. Further, using team identification as a covariate in our analysis effectively increased the precision of the experiment (Lattin, Carroll, & Green, 2003; Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tahum, 2006). Trail and James' (2001) three-item scale was used to measure levels of identification with the Carolina Panthers: "I consider myself to be a fan of the Carolina Panthers," "I would experience a loss if I stopped being a fan of the Carolina Panthers," and "Being a fan of the Carolina Panthers is very important to me." These items were analyzed on seven-point scales from strongly disagree to strongly agree ([alpha] = .93).

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Data Analysis

Structural equation modeling was used to test the afore-mentioned seven hypotheses (see Figure 1 for an illustrative summary of study predictions). Following the suggestions of Marsh, Wen, and Hau (2004), moderation analysis was conducted whereby a standardized measure of the atmospheric responsiveness variable was used to create the music condition atmospheric responsiveness product term. Prior researchers have noted difficulties detecting interactions via moderated regression due to a significant loss in statistical power (McClelland & Judd, 1993); therefore, researchers and statisticians generally accept significant alpha levels of .10 for such analyses (Harrison, Price, & Bell, 1998). The fit indices that were utilized to assess the goodness of fit of the hypothesized model included: comparative fit index (CFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and Tucker Lewis Index (TLI), whereby CFI values greater than .95, RMSEA values less than .08, and TLI values greater than .90 were considered to be suggestive of acceptable model fit (Hu & Bentler, 1999).

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Results

Descriptive Statistics

Means, standard deviations, and bivariate correlations were computed in order to understand the relationships between the antecedent variables and outcome variables (see Table 2). It is important to note that music was coded as 0 = generic music, 1 = brand music. The results indicated that participants who perceived music as a better fit with the brand (r = .55, p < .01), expressed more favorable evaluations of the store environment (r = .42, p < .01), had an overall satisfactory experience while shopping (r = .30, p < .001), and displayed more positive attitudes toward the brand (r = .46, p < .01). Perceived music fit was significantly related with atmospheric responsiveness (r = .41, p < .01), as were evaluations of the store environment (r = .36, p < .05), and attitudes toward the brand (r = .39, p < .01). As expected, team identification was found to have no significant impact as a covariate, Wilk's Lambda = .95, F(1, 228) = 2.73, p = .45, and a small effect size (partial n2 = .06). As such, the observed effects of music on the dependent variables were not contaminated by differences among the participants' affinity for the Carolina Panthers, which for both groups was high. Given the participants were surveyed upon exiting the official retail store of the Carolina Panthers' at Bank of America Stadium (the home stadium of the Carolina Panthers), the result of a highly identified sample was anticipated.

Hypothesis Testing

Hypotheses were tested through observed path analysis. Results yielded good support for the model: [x.sup.2] (df = 109, n = 232) = 258.64, p < .001; RMSEA (90% CI: .06, .08) = .07; CFI = .97; TLI = .94. An illustrative summary of the hypothesized findings appears in Figure 2. In comparing model fit statistics of alternative structural equation models, only a few differences were found, none of which were statistically significant. As such, the present model was retained on the basis that more parsimony could be obtained given the presence of a moderating variable.

Hypothesis 1 predicted brand music would be positively related to perceptions of music fit. This hypothesis was supported ([beta] = .47, p < .001), demonstrating that participants who heard brand music while shopping viewed this music more favorably in terms of fit with brand than did participants who heard generic music. This effect was qualified by a significant music x atmospheric responsiveness interaction ([beta] = .17, p = .06). Interaction effects between Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 were measured with atmospheric responsiveness as a continuous variable (see Aiken & West, 1991) so that more responsive participants in the generic music condition could be compared with more responsive participants in the brand music condition, and so that--vice versa--less responsive participants in the generic music condition could be compared with less responsive participants in the brand music condition. The results of this interaction reveal that, among participants with low atmospheric responsiveness, there were no significant differences between the two music conditions with regard to perceptions of music fit (i.e., the songs in both conditions had the same degree of fit). Among participants who displayed high levels of atmospheric responsiveness, however, there were significant differences between the two music groups whereby selections in the brand music condition were perceived to be a better fit with the Carolina Panthers than were songs in the generic music condition. These interaction effects support Hypothesis 2 and are depicted in Figure 3.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Hypothesis 3 predicted a positive relationship between the participants' perceptions of music fit and their evaluations of the store environment, while Hypothesis 3 predicted a positive relationship between evaluations of the store environment and participants' satisfaction with the store environment. Both hypotheses were supported ([beta] = .41, p < .001, and [beta] = .54, p < .001, respectively). Support was found for both of these predictions equally through the preliminary correlation analysis as well as by observed path analysis statistics. In regards to Hypothesis 3, results indicate that sport consumers are likely to evaluate team environments more favorably when atmospheric music (when utilized) is perceived as being a good fit with the brand. With concern to Hypothesis 4, previous researchers indicate consumers often make judgments about their satisfaction with a shopping experience based on their evaluations of a store environment (Donovan & Rossiter, 1982; Dube & Morin, 2001). This notion is supported here, as correlation analysis and SEM model results suggest these two constructs were significantly related to each other.

Hypothesis 5, which predicted a positive relationship between music fit and satisfaction with the shopping experience, was supported ([beta] = .30, p < .05). In addition, Hypothesis 6, which predicted that satisfaction with the shopping experience would have a positive relationship with attitude towards the brand, was also supported ([beta] = .51, p < .001). Participants who perceived a greater degree of music fit in the brand music group had significantly more satisfactory shopping experiences, which led to more positive attitudes toward the brand among these participants.

Finally, Hypothesis 7 predicted that favorable perceptions of music fit would positively relate to participants' attitudes toward the brand. Support for Hypothesis 7 was demonstrated ([beta] = .39, p < .05). Based on these results, all seven of the aforesaid significant paths were retained in the final model.

Discussion and Implications

Results of this research indicate brand music designed specifically for the enhancement of brand communications has significant potential for positively affecting consumer behavior in a stadium retail store.

Specifically, our findings reveal that branded music leads to more positive perceptions of music fit among listeners than generic music, especially among listeners who are more sensitive and responsive to auditory cues present in the physical service environment. The enhancement of listeners' perceptions related to background music in the retail store were also found to have a positive impact on important consumer research variables, namely evaluations of the store environment, satisfaction with the shopping experience, and attitudes toward the brand. Despite its simplicity, the model presented in this research is significant in that it emphasizes an area of emerging importance in the sport marketing literature where sensory research is involved (see Lee et al., 2013; Lee, Lee, Seo, & Green, 2012). Furthermore, the pilot study in this research indicates people do indeed recognize lyrical differences in the music they hear, which sheds light on a gap in current marketing literature on music effects that, until now, has focused primarily on various structural components (e.g., tempo, tonality, style) of music in retail stores.

Because the study of music in sport contexts is still in its relative infancy, extant research on the topic is still evolving and reported findings are largely still inconclusive (see Likes, 2013). This might perhaps be due to the fact there are various potential moderating effects of individual traits that affect attitudes and behaviors of sport consumers (see Funk, Mahony, & Havitz, 2003). To this end, Eroglu et al. (2003) found atmospheric stimuli such as music created reactions from shoppers only under conditions where these ambient features were more pronounced. We argue that the use of brand music examined in this research, as opposed to generic music studied, was very much a pronounced effort on the part of the organization to bring music to the foreground of the shopping experience. Since the construction of brand music emphasizes the attributes of the brand through style and lyrics, participants in this research likely responded more favorably to brand music in the retail store because the sensory features in the shopping environment were tightly linked with other prominent in-store features (e.g., retail merchandise, store layout) and out-store experiences (e.g., game day activities, game itself). As was mentioned, sport marketers traditionally feature generic music of various genres in their stores largely to appease the current preferences of the vast majority of sport consumers. Such a casual and haphazard practice is not limited to background music in the retail store--most sport organizations do not understand the importance of stadium music in fulfilling the sport consumer experience, or at least they don't execute practices that leverage a unique aural experience (Ballouli & Bennett, 2012). We show in this investigation how a team's brand music surpassed generic music in regard to consumers' perceptions of music fit with the team's stadium retail store. Hence, a major implication of this study is one from the standpoint of sport retailing, as brand music seems to have the ability to positively influence the shopping behaviors of sport consumers.

Our sport retailing results also offer some meaningful insights for comparable studies in actual stadium environments in which spectators consume the event. Compared with the stadium atmosphere, retail stores lack certain properties unique to the actual sport experience, including crowd behaviors and fan interactions (see Hocking, 1982). Music has been an integral part of the sport consumer experience, ranging from European soccer fans singing The White Stripes' "Seven Army Nation" after every goal during the UEFA's Euro 2012 championship, to Boston Red Sox fans singing "Sweet Caroline" during midway point of the seventh inning in a MLB baseball game, to the Chicago Bulls' notorious theme song "Sirius" by the Alan Parsons Project.

Although these songs have carved out a place in each organization's storied history, music played in sport contexts generally does not always have as fond and lasting impression on sport fans. However, our findings suggest that brand music, which is focused on style and lyrics that complement the brand identity of the sport organization, may positively enhance evaluations of the environment, satisfaction with the experience, and attitudes toward the organization such that lasting and fond impressions of music might be more conditioned and less chanced.

This research also extends some new discussion on how the theoretical perspectives of conceptual fluency and semantic relevance may relate to the influence of lyrical content in music played in consumer settings. Under conditions where tempo and genre effects are held constant, this investigation demonstrates how song lyrics written expressly for brand music might play an important role in facilitating desired concepts in minds of consumers. The brand music utilized in this study was most likely effective in emphasizing the attributes of the team by highlighting concepts and semantic features that, to a larger extent than the generic music utilized, were likely more fluent and relevant, respectively. Therefore, rather than playing generic music available to all brands at a premium cost, our findings imply brands should look to join with music artists in designing and creating music that is proprietarily owned and managed. To this end, managers should provide information to potential music artists regarding the purpose behind the project, including information about the image or personality of the brand, or demographic information about the audience to which the music is to be directed. Artists can then use this information to create original music written and arranged specifically with the brand in mind, stressing distinct concepts and features related to the brand in the form of song lyrics. Such efforts might lead to an overall increase in brand equity and brand loyalty among sport consumers.

Interesting effects of the characteristic trait known as atmospheric responsiveness were also found, in which participants with a greater innate consciousness of their immediate physical surroundings responded more favorably to brand music than did participants with self-reported lower levels of consciousness. In the context of sport retailing, this begs the question of whether this trait can be primed with a heuristic cue in the store environment. Whereas in the context of live sport events, this finding is particular noteworthy given the opinion of some researchers that sport consumers, as compared to the general population, are more perceptive and "in tune" with the sport stadium atmosphere created during live events (Uhrich & Benkenstein, 2010). To date, however, the handling of music by sport organizations at live sport events has been for the most part without scholarly direction or knowledge of theoretical considerations (Ballouli & Heere, 2014). If indeed sport consumers are more aware and responsive to their physical environments than consumers of more traditional goods and services, then sport marketers should make a more serious effort to construct an optimal strategy for applying music in sport facilities and arenas.

Limitations and Conclusion

Several limitations of this research should be noted. First, authors purposefully selected the brand music of the Carolina Panthers to serve as the primary focus of this study. It is possible that brand music created for other teams or sport organizations could impact consumers in future studies differently. Further, it is plausible to assume that other structural elements of brand music could be more or less relevant to the brand than lyrics. Future studies should consider examining whether consumers perceive a specific genre, tonality, or voice as fitting with their image of the brand. To this end, an added note for future research concerns the examination of music beyond brand music to see if significant differences exist between brand music and "associated music" (i.e., songs traditionally associated with a stadium/team). While the practice of audio branding has grown considerably among sport organizations in recent years, the reality is that most still rely on the associative value of generic music that can sometimes grow during opportune, yet unreliable, circumstances.

Another noteworthy limitation of this research is the fact purchase behaviors were not addressed in the model. Researchers were provided limited access during this field experiment; therefore, some measures yielding potentially greater practical implications were not analyzed. It should also be noted the location of data collection was a major limitation of this work, as highly identified fans do not always represent the majority of the consumer audience as they did here. As such, researchers looking to advance the work we've presented here might consider using a more diversified sample of participants to see how brand music affects casual fans who may not be as emotionally invested in the sport consumer experience as those examined in this study. In addition, field experiments conducted in the future should make concerted efforts to investigate the effects of brand music on more practical applications (e.g., unplanned purchases, time spent shopping, revisit intentions).

The findings presented here may also be limited with respect to observed behaviors in the service settings outside of the stadium retail store. Additional research is needed to evaluate the effects of brand music in broader sports contexts, including live sport events, sport advertising, and sport sponsorship activation. A limitation that perhaps imposed constraints but could not be circumvented due to the nature of this field research was that a "no music" control group was not employed. While the presence of an additional experimental group that did not experience music while shopping would certainly have added to the scientific value of this investigation, this study lends itself more to the discussion of whether semantic differences between otherwise analogous music can affect shoppers differently than to the debate of whether music should be played at all.

In sum, research on sensory marketing within the structure the sport stadium has largely gone without the attention of sport marketing researchers; therefore, very little is known when it comes to using music effectively to generate positive behaviors among sport consumers (Ballouli & Heere, 2014; Lee et al., 2013). In fact, Ballouli and Bennett (2012) argue peripheral music in sport contexts is "typically selected randomly and without regard to whether the effects of the music played reinforce or contradict the [team's] brand identity and value proposition" (p. 56). A recent example of this is when the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL featured pop star Katy Perry's song titled "Roar" during the team's stadium entrance. The marketers responsible for the decision likely believed that the lyrics of the song (featuring the chorus "I am a champion / you're gonna hear me roar") were a close enough fit with the team's moniker that they would positively affect the overall attitudes and behaviors of Bengals fans in attendance. The outcome was not positive, however, as fans responded negatively and even expressed discontentment on social media both during and after the game (Harvey, 2013). This example illustrates the need for focused research on the use of music in sport contexts, as the dynamics of sport are most often captured in the production and consumption of music. This study provides insightful implications in this regard.

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Khalid Ballouli, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include sport consumer behavior, branding, and music in contemporary sport. Gregg Bennett, EdD, is a professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University. His research interests include branding, effective event management, and sport marketing.

Table 1 Standardized Regression Weights for Scale Items of Latent
Variables.

Scale               Items                                  Estimates

Musical Fit (b)     I think the music is suitable for         .85
                    this store.

                    I think the music is suitable for my      .88
                    shopping experience in this store.

                    I think the music fits well with the      .93
                    merchandise sold in this store.

                    I think the music goes together well      .88
                    with other features in this store.

                    I think the music fits the image and      .92
                    personality I have of the Carolina
                    Panthers. (Based on MacInnis and
                    Park, 1991)

Evaluation of       How bright did you find the store         .86
                    environment to be?

the Store           How attractive was the environment        .88
                    in the retail store?

Environment (a)     How interesting was the overall           .84
                    store environment?

                    How comfortable did the store             .85
                    environment make you feel?

                    How cheerful did you feel in the          .88
                    store environment?

                    How pleasant was the overall store        .89
                    environment?

                    How good did the store environment        .86
                    make you feel?
                    (Based on Mattila and Wirtz, 2001)

Satisfaction with   I truly enjoyed visiting this store.      .89
the Shopping        I am satisfied with this store.           .87
Experience (b)      My decision to visit this store was       .89
                    a good one.

                    (Based on Westbrook and Oliver,
                    1981)

Attitude towards    How favorable is your attitude            .94
the Brand (a)       toward the Carolina Panthers?

                    How would you describe your attitude      .95
                    toward the Carolina Panthers?

                    How much do you like the Carolina         .93
                    Panthers?

                    How would you describe your overall       .95
                    attitude toward the Carolina
                    Panthers?

                    (Based on MacKenzie and Lutz, 1989)

(a) Items were measured using a 7-point semantic differential scale.

(b) Items were measured using a 7-point Likert-type (1 = strongly
disagree, 7 = strongly agree).

Table 2 Means, Standard Deviations, and Bivariate Correlations of
Antecedent Variables and Latent Variables.

Table                                     M      SD      1        2

Music                                    0.59   0.50     --
Atmospheric responsiveness               4.75   1.23   .28 *      --
Music fit                                4.79   1.57   .55 **   .41 **
Evaluation of the store environment      4.86   1.28   .27 *    .36 *
Satisfaction with shopping experience    3.98   1.52   .23 *    .15
Attitude towards the brand               4.83   1.46   .39 **   .39 **

Table                                      3        4        5      6

Music
Atmospheric responsiveness
Music fit                                  --
Evaluation of the store environment      .42 **     --
Satisfaction with shopping experience    .40 **   .34 **     --
Attitude towards the brand               .46 **   .45 **   .51 **   --

Notes: Music was coded as 0 = generic music, 1 = brand music.

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed)

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tailed)