Music in Advertisements for Unmentionable Products—A Classical Conditioning Experiment

Abstract

This article describes an experiment used to determine the effects of liked or disliked music on preference for sensitive or ‘unmentionable’ products. It replicates experiments into the classical conditioning effects of music in advertisements conducted by Gorn in 1982. The attempt to influence product choice by means of classical conditioning did not prove successful in this study, which is in sharp contrast to Gorn's results. The implications are discussed in some detail.