Correlation Between Culture and Music Used in Advertising

Objective: The objective of this study was to find out if there is a correlation between a country’s culture and the type of music they use in their TV advertisements. Methods: We used the Hofstede model profiles for each of the five countries we selected for this study in order to determine if there is a correlation between each country’s profile (which represents its culture), and the music that was selected in each country’s advertising. Of the six dimensions in the Hofstede model, we chose to focus on three dimensions for the purpose of this study. The three dimensions we used are individualism/collectivism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance. We analyzed the music by using Spotify’s Web API tool, which gave us three values: energy, danceability, and valence. We chose those values from Spotify since they are well-suited to be linked to the Hofstede dimensions that we are investigating here. Individualism/collectivism (from Hofstede’s culture model) is associated with danceability (from Spotify’s music tool); masculinity (from Hofstede’s culture model) is associated with energy (from Spotify’s music tool), and uncertainty avoidance (from Hofstede’s culture model) is associated with valence (from Spotify’s music tool). Results: The USA has a medium-high country/song coherence value (321) and a low-medium commercial/song coherence value (492). India has a high country/song coherence value (251) and a low-medium commercial/song coherence value (446). The Netherlands has a low country/song coherence value (548) and a low commercial/song coherence value (512). Japan has a high country/song coherence value (227) and a medium-high commercial/song coherence value (392). Singapore has a medium-high country/song coherence value (342) and a low commercial/song coherence value (529). Conclusion: We have found that there is correlation between a country’s culture and the type of music they use in their TV advertisements in countries with Eastern culture such as India and Japan but not in countries with Western culture such as the US, The Netherlands, and Singapore.