Musical intelligence: explication, measurement, and implications for consumer behavior

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to develop and test a psychometrically valid scale for musical intelligence as an individuating variable. This scale can elicit individual differences on reactions to sonic branding stimuli such as audio logos, radio jingles and commercial music. Design/methodology/approach – A two-step confirmatory factor analysis followed by structural equation modeling was used to develop and test the scale. Data were collected across three studies consisting of 470 participants. The scale was developed and nomologically validated. Findings – Findings suggest that musical intelligence discriminates reactions to music as evidenced by the three component conceptualization of musical intelligence. Originality/value – This study offers an original, three-component conceptualization of musical intelligence, proposes a measurement scale and then presents evidence of construct validity. Finally, the paper discusses potential applications of the scale in personality research.