JUAN GUERRERO 1

Juan Guerrero

Dr. Sharity Nelson

ENGL 1302

5 September 2022

Music: Mind or Manipulation

Introduction:

In today’s world, many believe music to be innocuous, to simply be a background for a

greater whole of advertisement. Most other people only believe music to be influential as its own

thing, as a standalone piece of work, mostly unrelated to any other pieces in terms of direct

connection and influence. There have been numerous studies as to the effect music can have on a

person’s actions, whether it be in mood, or an influence or change in the consumption of various

products, to even the speed at which a person conduces themselves regarding certain actions

(Buhmann et al.). While some would argue that the effect of music is minimal against things like

scenery, themes, and imagery, there is no doubt that a choice in music most certifiably moves

individuals in whichever ways a provider intends for.

Experiment:

Two experiments were conducted in attempt to see if music can truly influence a person

in a consistent manner. Volunteers were forced to watch two advertisements, both having

opposing aims as for the desired feelings to evoke in the viewer, in this case The Legend of

Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s trailer from Nintendo’s 2017 Nintendo Switch E3 presentation and

an advertisement for a charity dedicated to Middle Eastern refugees. The experiment was

conducted over the course of four days, and the tests were practiced a full two days apart, as to
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mitigate whatever influence there would be from the previous experiment. After each

experiment, the volunteers were made to fill a form where they explained how they felt after

watching the videos.

Results:

The results were satisfactory as to the proposed hypothesis, most of the volunteers shared

the same responses as to how the videos made them feel. The trailer for Breath of the Wild

resulted in a mix of positive feelings, some described it as a feeling of adventure and a promise

for a heroic tale, like the kind of thing that they as a consumer would not be able to get anywhere

else on the market. Meanwhile, the commercial for the charity gave rise to a mix of negative

emotions, the volunteers described it as making them feel sad and disturbed, as if they have been

fortunate compared to the people shown in the video, as if they should try and help in some way

that they can.

Discussion:

Although both videos used music for a similar goal, their intent and the method of

achieving said goal could not have been further apart. As mentioned in the results section, the

trailer for the game made the viewers feel as if the game was just an adventure in the waiting,

something which they would not want to miss. Meanwhile the charity video tries to make the

viewer sad, present them with a kind of uncomfortable truth in order to make them more willing

to donate money for the cause. The trailer for the game appeals to the emotions of excitement

and a promise of freedom, meanwhile the charity utilized negative emotions to goad the viewer

into donating money, either out of pity, or a sense of guilt. Balteș and Miu mentioned a

connection between emotional build up and musical changes, both of which can be seen in the
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videos. The trailer begins with a calm piano piece which leads to a build up to a full orchestra

performance, with the orchestra playing in a quick fashion, as to imply a sense of hurry.

Meanwhile the charity commercial rather lacks music in certain parts, instead choosing to have

the voices of the refugees be the main draw of the commercial, meanwhile a piano piece played

in the interludes between refugees, or when displaying contact and website information,

choosing instead to forgo a narrator for simple text on screen which leaves the silence and

background noise uninterrupted.

The speed of the music could also be tied to what Buhmann et al discussed. The trailer

began with slow music, and then sped up, with the screen beginning to be filled with many

different things to attract the viewers attention. Meanwhile the commercial for the charity was

plain, as if to almost draw an apathy from the viewer, from which they would then feel bad

about. An interesting thing to talk about in its own right, but more importantly is how the music

is slower, and gives the viewer more time to take in the plain visual. Two opposite strategies

aimed at two opposite emotions both attempting the same goal, to get the viewer to do something

with their money, either spend it buying the game, or donating it.

Conclusion:

With the undertaking of this experiment, the conclusion is that music in fact does have a

discernable impact on the mood and actions of a person. The study showed a clear change in

emotions before, during, and after the volunteers watched the video. The volunteers felt either

uplifted by the music selection, or where made to feel negative, rousing feelings of sadness.

These findings are important to demonstrate how music can influence someone, and how it has

become further tuned by the commercial industry, as the videos chosen were seen as the most

obvious examples available. However, some questions yet remain, such as how exactly the
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method has been refined, as how much impact does it still have when the variables have been

minimized as to become unintrusive to the viewer. And a secondary question that would arise

directly from the way the experiment was conducted is how this data correlates to other

examples that would relate to the same industry, and with the exact same purpose in mind rather

than examples whose objectives were only vaguely related to one another, i.e. convincing the

viewer to spend money on something that would be of interest.

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Works cited

Balteș, Felicia Rodica, and Andrei C. Miu. “Emotions during Live Music Performance: Links

with Individual Differences in Empathy, Visual Imagery, and Mood.”

Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, vol. 24, no. 1, 2014, pp. 58–65.,

https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000030. 

Buhmann, Jeska, et al. “Optimizing Beat Synchronized Running to Music.” PLOS ONE, vol. 13,

no. 12, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208702. 

Chen, Dan, et al. “How Background Music of Shopping Sites Affects Consumers during Festival

Season.” Cognitive Computation and Systems, vol. 4, no. 2, 2022, pp. 165–176.,

https://doi.org/10.1049/ccs2.12044. 

Philp, David. “Get Classy: Comparing the Massive Marketing of Anchorman 2 to the Non

Marketing of Beyoncé’s Beyoncé Album.” Journal of the Music and Entertainment

Industry Educators Association, vol. 14, no. 1, 2014, pp. 219–249.,

https://doi.org/10.25101/14.8.