Investigating How Music Affects Persuasion, Engagement, and Emotion in Data Videos

TL;DR

This study investigates how different types of music influence persuasion, engagement, and emotional response in data videos, revealing that default music enhances persuasion but music does not necessarily increase engagement or emotional intensity.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the effects of music in data videos, highlighting the differential impact of default versus custom music on viewer perception.

Findings

Default music increased persuasiveness of data videos.

Custom music had mixed effects and did not consistently enhance engagement.

Participants reported more intense emotions without music.

Abstract

Data videos have become a prominent vessel for communicating data to broad audiences, and a common object of study in information visualization. Many of these videos include music, yet the impact of music on how people experience data videos remains largely unexplored. We conducted a preregistered study into the effect of music across three dimensions: persuasion, engagement, and emotion. We showed online participants an existing data video (1) without any music, (2) with its generic default music, and (3) with custom music designed by a professional composer. We found that the default music helped make the data video more persuasive. However, the effects of custom music were more mixed, and we did not find that music increased engagement. In addition, and contrary to our expectations, our participants reported more intense emotions without music. Our study contributes new insights into the intersection of music and data visualization and is a first step toward guiding designers in creating impactful data-driven narratives.