Member Only Access
Summary
A new Journal of Advertising Research study investigates how music tempo—a ubiquitous but understudied element in video advertising—interacts with regulatory focus to shape consumer purchase intentions. Analyzing 26,025 real-world video ads and running three controlled experiments, the researchers find that fast-tempo music significantly boosts purchase intention for promotion-focused ads, while tempo has no meaningful effect in prevention-focused ads. The mechanism is driven by time pressure and consumers’ reliance on heuristic vs. systematic processing. These findings offer actionable insights for advertisers optimizing creative strategy in short-form video environments.
