What your favourite music really says about you
- Classical music fans are 255x more likely to be interested in small business loans
- Dance fans are 24x more likely to care about having good teeth
- Jazz fans 49x more likely to be into fast food
- Rock fans 7x more likely to be into yoga
London –20 November 2013 – after Glastonbury tickets sold out in record time and the looming X Factor finals, new data from Exponential Interactive reveals the most popular interests and activities among different types of music fan.
Exponential, a global provider of digital advertising intelligence, analysed the anonymous online behaviour of almost 6.4 million Britons to compare the strongest – or most ‘over-indexing’ – interests among eight types of music fan across travel, sports, shopping, dining, cars and financial products (see chart).
Music fans’ high interest in loans
Classical music and pop fans tend to be more entrepreneurial, being 255 times and 7.5 times more likely, respectively, to be interested in small business loans – the most over-indexing financial product among these fans – than the average person online.
Loans are particularly popular among music fans in general. Alternative/punk fans are 15x more likely and rock fans 7.9x more likely to be looking for student loans while dance fans are 7.5x more likely to be interested in pay-day loans.
E.g. Rock fans are almost 8x more likely than the average internet user to be interested in student loans
Are rap fans most environmentally-friendly and smartest dressed?
Electric cars are the most-over indexing cars of interest to rap/hip-hop fans, who are 8.6x more likely to be interested in them than the average person online. In contrast, alternative/punk fans are most likely to be interested, perhaps aspirationally, in gas-guzzling Maserati’s (5.9x more likely than average).
Expensive manufacturers also feature among the most over-indexing cars of interest for classical fans (3.2x for Bentleys) and jazz fans (5.4x for Mercedes E350).
Dance music fans seem into appearances. Convertibles (6.6x) are their most over-indexing car of interest which complements their focus on yoga and toothpaste. They are 24x more likely to be interested in good teeth – their most-over indexing shopping product – than the average person. For rap/hip-hop fans, suits are the most over-indexing (38x) shopping product while for both folk (64x) and pop (24x) fans its back to school items.
From Brazil and the Bahamas to Belfast
Classical music fans over-indexing interest in football is complemented by Brazil, host of the 2014 World Cup, being their most popular holiday destination (43x higher interest than average). Rap/hip-hop fans have similarly glamorous holidays in mind (13x for the Bahamas). In contrast, folk fans destination of choice is closer to home, being 6.9x more likely to be interested in Belfast. Alternative/punk fans are 34x more likely to be interested in trips to gambling cities such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Jazz ‘culture vultures’ penchant for fast food
Surprisingly, for a group often associated with culture, the most over-indexing dining experience among jazz fans is fast food – they are 49x more likely to be interested in this than the average person online. Alternative/punk fans (15x more into Middle Eastern dining) and classical fans (38x more into ice cream) also serve up surprises. While, less surprisingly, vegetarian is the dish of choice for folk music fans (6.8x more likely than average).
“This throws up interesting reinforcements and challenges to music fan stereotypes. However, whichever way you see it, these type of insights provides businesses with useful trends for increasing custom,” says Niki Stoker, Exponential’s European Strategic Relations Director.
“Research has shown people’s behaviour – such as staying longer in restaurants or spending more in shops – can be influenced by the music they hear. Just as fast food outlets play jazz, for example, retailers stocking back-to-school products should be playing more pop and folk to tap into the interests of their shoppers. Car manufacturers should be using dance music or events to help promote their convertible models while Brazilian tour operators would do well to target classical music enthusiasts.”