Jingle Modification: Does Slogan Help?

Abstract

In advertising, jingle modifications are often executed to inject freshness. Slogans on the other hand, are often included to improve consumers’ memory of the brand and develop positive attitude. Although the effects of jingle modification and slogans have been studied in the past, the investigations focused on their independent effects. As such, the combined effects of the two variables remain unclear. This study seeks to determine the effects of jingle modification on brand attitude and brand recall, and whether the inclusion of a slogan influences that relationship. With classical conditioning as the theoretical lens, a between-subject experiment was conducted to test the effects of jingle modification (original versus modified) and slogan inclusion (without slogan vs with slogan) on brand attitude and brand recall. The results indicate that jingle modification induces positive and significant effects on brand attitude and brand recall. No main effects were found on slogan inclusion. Moreover, slogan inclusion did not moderate the relationship between jingle modification and brand attitude or brand recall. The implication is that in advertisements with modified jingles, slogan is not required in enhancing consumers’ brand attitude or brand recall. The study provides a strong support for jingle modifications and shows that they can have substantial impact even without incorporating any slogans.