Research on the influence of music and its relationship with advertising has made little progress in Japan. This study attempts to identify musical characteristics that have the greatest emotional appeal to Japanese people and explore the strategic use of music in marketing. First, this study shows that Japanese characteristics, such as natural intonation that do not deviate greatly, are more effective and popular than musical characteristics. Additionally, bright music that uses minor keys with many key changes is favored. Second, each cluster of songs has features and areas of expertise that appeal to target audiences through different media and commercial applications. As music preference is still largely unexplored, this study’s value lies in identifying variables that appeal to consumers and influence their preferences. It is also a first step in promoting consumer preferences and assisting marketers in practical and strategic use of background music. This study is limited by the number of variables that were considered, and a more detailed analysis will be possible if other factors such as music rationalization and pitch are included. Nevertheless, these findings can be replicated for other countries based on their cultural and linguistic characteristics.
