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experience” (Griffiths & Parke, 2005, p. 5). As
Dretzka (2004) observed:
again, because of the dialog and swaggering,
aggressive tone of the host. The machine is in
charge and you, the player, are not; the game is
quick-paced, there is a sense that you will be rushed
along and should try to keep up and prove that
you do, in fact, know jack. You feel this pressure
because the voice of the host rushes you to sign
in, taunting you impatiently at every step. (p. 8)
Seemingly overnight, casinos actually began
sounding different. Instead of clanging bells,
mechanical clicks and clacks, and jackpot alarms,
the soundtrack was more of an electronic gurgle
and hum, with bursts of 'This is Jeopardy!',
Wheel of Fortune!' and snippets of rock songs. A
generation of Americans raised in front of their
television sets ate it up.
It is possible that a similar process is at work
with slot machines—that is to say, the taunting
will increase the speed with which the player
plays, antagonizing the player to the point where
the player loses focus on what truly matters (that
is, the loss of their money).
In reference to sonic branding, Jackson (2003)
suggests that the voice heard links to the perceived
personality (including perceived behavior and per-
ceived appearance) of the speaker and, therefore,
of the brand (p. 135), and it is equally likely that a
similar effect is seen in the perceived personality
of the machine. It has been said that 38% of the
effect we have on other people can be attributed
to our voice, with only 7% to the actual words
we've spoken (the rest being body language)
(Westermann, 2008, p. 153). In a study into voice
and brand, UK Telecom provider Orange identi-
fied a series of attributes that define the sound of
a voice: rhythm (emphasis is placed on what is
said); pitch (high versus low), melody (rhythm
and pitch together; pace (speed), tone (overall
musical quality); intonation (what is said relating
to how it is said), energy; clarity; muscular ten-
sion; resonance pause, breath; commitment, and
volume (Westermann, 2008, p. 153). Each of these
attributes work together to impact our perceptions
of what is being said. Particularly notable is the
impact that the voice (and what it says) can have
on our perceptions of what we are seeing and/or
experiencing. Several studies have shown how the
voice influences our perception of video sports
performances. In a study of sports commentary,
Bryant, Brown, Comisky, & Zillmann, (1982)
discovered that our enjoyment of watching sports
Moreover, familiarity and repetition of musical
themes has been shown to have a positive influence
on our liking of the music (see Bradley, 1971).
Verbal reinforcement with known characters
(as well as, to a lesser degree, unknown charac-
ters) also takes place, as seen above, with familiar
characters telling people that they are “cool” or “a
genius”. Parke and Griffiths (2006) note that verbal
reinforcement that increases play is designed to
raise self-esteem, give hints and guidance, and
even provide friendship or company (p. 171). An
unexplored area of research is the relationship
between verbal reinforcement and the anthropo-
morphizing of slot machines. Describes Langer
(1975), with regard to such anthropomorphism:
“
Gamblers imbue artifacts such as dice, roulette
wheels, and slot machines with character, calling
out bets as though these random (or uncontrollable)
generators have a memory or can be influenced”
(see also Gaboury & Ladouceur, 1989; Toneatto,
Blitz-Miller, Calderwood, Dragonetti, & Tsanos,
1997). It is very likely that sound plays a con-
siderable role in the anthropomorphizing of slot
machines—particularly in those cases where the
machines “talk” to the player, but also in the mere
fact that they are sonically responsive to our input.
In reference to the game show computer game
You Don't Know Jack
, Millicent Cooley (1998)
notes that the player:
Will be aggressively challenged to prove that you
know jack (anything at all), and you know this,
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