
Music and personality
On July 13, 2019 by Miriam DelorenzoDo you consider yourself an empathetic person, systematic or a little of both? A study conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge and published on the medical Xpress scientific dissemination portal, empirically demonstrated that there are very specific correspondences between musical taste and personality.
Whether at home with family, or in day-to-day life with friends, you have certainly noticed that there is a correlation between people’s behavior and the type of music they listen to. This is due, first of all, because in childhood and adolescence we usually define our identity from the songs we listen to.
However, this relationship between musical taste and personality can go much further than this and can still help us to understand the way people think and even how they consume, which makes this knowledge interesting for entrepreneurs and communication professionals.
Continue reading to understand a little more about yourself and your consumers analyzing your musical tastes and your personality!
What is the relationship between musical taste and personality?
Considering preliminary tests, the researchers of the mentioned study traced three types of personality: empathic, systematic and balanced (which would be a junction of the first two). The empathic are those who show a lot of interest and connection with people’s emotions, and the systematic are those who stick to patterns, rules and definitions.
After a series of behavioral tests and evaluations carried out on more than four thousand people, they discovered a very well defined relationship between the musical taste and the personality of the participants.
As expected, empathics generally prefer lighter beats tied to deep and exciting lyrics, characteristics present in genres such as soft rock, folk and R&B. Systematics, on the other hand, are interested in more intense songs such as punk, hard rock and heavy metal.
The results are simple, but they help to understand the profile of many people and even anticipate their actions using nothing more than their favorite playlist. Certainly this pattern is not a rule and will not always represent the reality of a group, but the data helps us to formulate interesting insights for marketing campaigns and sensory branding.
Empathic people generally get more involved with the brands they consume and tend to adopt more personal criteria on the choice of their products. Systematics, on the other hand, are more analytical and, that’s why they are usually interested on exclusive goods and services and make many comparisons and analyses before consuming.
How important is a playlist for business?
The songs awaken and revive emotions in a unique way. The songs are not only part of our daily life, but they also contribute for the connection between consumers and brands to be more remarkable and intense.

Music Branding is the marketing strategy that aims to create a musical identity for companies and strengthen the identification, engagement and appreciation of people for companies and their products and services, using songs strategically selected.
This kind of “musical curatorship” is also used to influence people’s behavior in different types of establishments and create endomarketing experiences capable of connecting an organization’s employees with the values and proposals of the business, besides making the administrative routine much more welcoming.
Even the selection of artists in large advertising campaigns does not happen by chance or simply because of the fame of the singer or singer. Most of the time there is a very well defined goal in this type of hiring: to create an emotional connection with the public, something that is only possible with the elaboration of detailed studies and the creation of personas.
How can a brand connect with its audience?
There are many ways for a company to connect with its audience and this has never been more important. People are taking a new look at consumption and their favorite brands, in which the old repetitive and invasive advertising doesn’t work as before.
With the rise and popularization of digital media, organizations are discovering new opportunities to approach the public. Digital marketing has brought new possibilities in terms of monitoring, research and interaction allowing companies to promote content and actions extremely aligned with people’s interests.
In stores, especially retail, new ways of captivating consumers are gaining popularity. Far beyond visual pieces, Sensory Marketing is the new bet of brands that intend to connect with their clients in every sense, literally.
In this scenario, we have Sound Branding which, like Music Branding, is used to establish a sound relationship with a brand, however, is more focused on the creation of jingles and sound design – the musical signature of an organization or product.