Gender differences in the meanings consumers infer from music and other aesthetic stimuli

Music can convey two meanings: one referential that consists of descriptive associations, and another embodied that is purely hedonic. We reasoned that consumer characteristics such as one's gender and Need for Cognition (NFC) can affect which meaning(s) of ad background music people use when forming product perceptions. Yet, are such meanings and their use unique to music, or could they extend to other forms of aesthetics? Two studies explore these issues, revealing parallel outcomes when background materials contain either music or graphic art designs: high (low) NFC males are sensitive to only referential (embodied) meaning, whereas females use both meanings.