Abstract: Musical fit refers to the fit degree of background music with advertising, consumption environment, and goods' features, which reflects the interaction effect between background music and these commercial elements. Although much is known about the effects of single commercial element, their combined effects are less obvious due to a wide range of interactions of people's perception of multiple commercial elements. The interaction effects between background music and other commercial elements has always been a controversial issue, and different or even opposite results have emerged in empirical studies. In contrast to previous studies that simply emphasized that preferred music promoted positive emotions, the perspective of musical fit emphasizes the music's power to convey information related to commercial elements. Relevancy and expectancy have been identified as key dimensions of fit. Relevancy reflects the extent to which stimulus information is helpful or harmful to clear identification of the target topic and its meaning. Expectation refers to the degree to which stimulus information is consistent with people's preexisting knowledge structures associated with a given topic. To this end, certain types of music may be useful for highly involved consumers who are more actively focused on and critically evaluate the sensory experience of consumption, and music perceived as a “fit” with other commercial elements may be more effective because it corresponds with the consumers' subjective perceptions and expectations of music’s relevance or appropriateness to the commercial elements. The fit between background music and commercial elements can be reflected in three aspects: music characteristics, social implications and cultural implications. Music characteristics of background music can reflect the characteristics of the music itself(including the music is sad or joyful, quiet or lively, light or heavy etc.), which is usually determined by the volume, rhythm, tempo, genre and other basic elements. Social implications of background music which is usually determined by the style of music (i.e., classical music, pop music, rock music, rap music, etc.) can reflect the high or low social status and whether the values are traditional or rebellious. Cultural implications of background music may reflect different countries, nationalities, religions and customs. These fit between background music and commercial elements have an impact on consumers’ congnition, emotion and behaviors. In terms of music characteristics, the high fit between background music and commercial elements can attract consumers' attention, help them form deeper memory of goods and promote consumers' willingness to buy. As for social implications, the fit determines consumers' attitude to brand, mood state, memory and choice of goods. When it comes to the culture implications, the high fit can produce a positive attitude towards brand, boost purchase intention and influence purchase behavior. Future study should explore the effect of more structural attributes of background music; seek the boundary conditions of the promotion effect of background music on consumers; break through the existing theories to explore a deeper theoretical mechanism; and explore the effect and mechanism of music fit on consumers' cognition and emotion.

Key words: background music, consumers, musical fit

摘要： 音乐契合度指的是背景音乐与广告、消费环境及商品特征等消费要素的契合程度。背景音乐与消费要素的契合可以体现在音乐特性、社会隐义和文化意蕴三个方面，这些契合程度能够对消费者的认知、情绪和行为等方面产生影响。若背景音乐的音乐特性与消费要素之间存在较高契合度，则能够提升消费者的注意效果、加强对商品的记忆并提升购买意图；背景音乐的社会隐义也能与消费要素产生契合关系，两者之间的契合程度决定了消费者对品牌的态度、情绪状态、对商品的记忆和选择；背景音乐与消费要素在文化意蕴方面的高度契合则能够促进消费者对品牌的态度、提升购买意愿、促进购买行为。未来研究应探索背景音乐更多的结构属性，进一步挖掘背景音乐影响消费者的边界条件，突破现有理论探索更深入的理论机制,并进一步探索音乐契合对于消费者认知和情绪的影响效应及其影响机制。

关键词: 背景音乐, 消费者, 音乐契合度