AccScience Publishing / AC / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ac.4374
ARTICLE

Aurally enhanced media promotion: Music and sound in Greek television commercials

Eleni Oikonomou1 Nick Poulakis2*
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1 Department of Ethnomusicology, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, United States of America
2 Department of Music Studies, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Attica, Greece
Submitted: 30 July 2024 | Accepted: 30 August 2024 | Published: 29 October 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

The sonic dimensions of modern media—including speech, sound effects, and music—play a significant role in communicating signs, meanings, and messages through multimodal channels of audiovisual connotations. Each feature can be regarded as a discrete unit; however, the overall framework is established through an orchestrated “interaction” of these components. Receiving information through televised advertisements is a cognitive process that requires critical analysis. This study examines the functions of music and sound in television advertising, emphasizing the collaboration between visual and audio material. Our objective is to equally investigate optical and musical conventions in selected TV commercials. We will also analyze how meaning emerges through visuals, sounds, and music in correlation to the product, branding, and the purpose of advertisements as short, concise audiovisual narratives. The data for this study were collected from a series of food and drink ads shown on Greek television between 2015 and 2020. The research draws upon contemporary culturally informed, musicological, semiotic, and interpretive methodologies, applying both textual and contextual analyses to examine how these techniques captivate audiences and effectively communicate messages. Understanding music’s psychological and pragmatic effects in advertising is crucial for recognizing its role as a powerful tool that influences consumer behavior and perception.

Keywords
Television commercials
Greece
Audiovisual analysis
Music and sound
Music and meaning
Music and image
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
Nick Poulakis is an Editorial Board Member of this journal but was not involved in the editorial or peer-review process for this study, either directly or indirectly. The other authors have declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this study.
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Arts & Communication, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4090 Published by AccScience Publishing