Online Banners, websites and sound

After my quick "Sound in Media" survey it is clear that people find sound on online banners annoying.
Not that I am surprised - but maybe I am surprised that it was that clear.

On a 7 point scale 84,2 % rated sound on banners 1 (annoying). None (I repeat NONE) rated sound on online banners as being nice or some lesser degree of nice (5-7).

Further, when I asked how respondents liked sound on websites only 1 respondent answered yes to the statement "I would like sound on online banners that begins automatically when I enter a page". Entire 97,9 % answered no to that statement.
However, when the statement was changed to "I would like sound on online banners that only begin with mouse-over or click" 17,9% answered yes.

Automatically vs. controlled sounds
When I asked the same questions on sound as background on websites (automatically vs. controlled start) showed the same tendency as in online banners; that the respondents want to control when the music begins on websites.
93,7% do not want background music on websites if it starts automatically, however, if it controlled when it starts (e.g. through a player) the percentage drops to 17,9 %.

One thing is that people do not want it, when they are asked for their opinions, another thing is what works when it comes to getting users' attention. This survey is made to show tendencies in user preferences, not to conclude where to use sound or not.
When that is said, companies that use sound branding (e.g. through sound logos or other specially made music that express the corporate identity), should definitely consider where they use the corporate music.

The hypothesis
The hypothesis behind this survey is that "sound is not always a good thing in media" and further, that the media itself can create negative associations. This survey explores the first hypothesis and it shows tendencies that people are e.g. getting annoyed if online banners play music.

The idea behind sound branding is to create positive associations to a brand through the (strategically) use of sounds and music. In long term, using the wrong channels could create negative associations to the sound brand.