Inclusive advertising through the soundtrack: insights from people with tinnitus

Palencia-Lefler Ors, Manuel

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2022.2103584

Inclusive advertising through the soundtrack: insights from people with tinnitus

Citació

Palencia-Lefler M. Inclusive advertising through the soundtrack: insights from people with tinnitus. J Mark Commun. 2024;30(1):102-22. DOI: 10.1080/13527266.2022.2103584

Resum

This study explores the question of inclusive advertising soundtracks for people with tinnitus, a group that until now has been largely ignored by the marketing industry. The research applies a methodology based on Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) and combines grounded theory and the focus group model as a data collection technique. The study took an objectivist approach for the first stages of data coding, and a constructivist approach to develop the theory, in an effort to tell a story about people with tinnitus and their relationship with today’s audiovisual advertising. A comparison of the contributions of three focus groups of tinnitus sufferers reveals a specific pattern that may provide clues for the creation of inclusive ads that will be tolerable to this target. The participants agree that they need clear and simple sound that poses fewer interpretation problems for the brain, and that advertising messages can be made more receptive and persuasive for them by improving the audio, through high-quality equalization. As a strategy to facilitate understanding of the advertising message, tinnitus sufferers suggest that ads should make what is heard visible, establishing the diegetic relationship between image and sound.