title: The Effect of Background Music in Shark Documentaries on Viewers' Perceptions of Sharks.
abstract: Despite the ongoing need for shark conservation and management, prevailing negative sentiments marginalize these animals and legitimize permissive exploitation. These negative attitudes arise from an instinctive, yet exaggerated fear, which is validated and reinforced by disproportionate and sensationalistic news coverage of shark 'attacks' and by highlighting shark-on-human violence in popular movies and documentaries. In this study, we investigate another subtler, yet powerful factor that contributes to this fear: the ominous background music that often accompanies shark footage in documentaries. Using three experiments, we show that participants rated sharks more negatively and less positively after viewing a 60-second video clip of swimming sharks set to ominous background music, compared to participants who watched the same video clip set to uplifting background music, or silence. This finding was not an artifact of soundtrack alone because attitudes toward sharks did not differ among participants assigned to audio-only control treatments. This is the first study to demonstrate empirically that the connotative attributes of background music accompanying shark footage affect viewers' attitudes toward sharks. Given that nature documentaries are often regarded as objective and authoritative sources of information, it is critical that documentary filmmakers and viewers are aware of how the soundtrack can affect the interpretation of the educational content.
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Nosal
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States of America.|Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Keenan
authors.affiliation: Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Philip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Hastings
authors.affiliation: Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ayelet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gneezy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001290:Attitude; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D010465:Perception; D012754:Sharks / Q000502:physiology*; D013550:Swimming; D055815:Young Adult