Subliminal messages and the principles of subliminal response were first discussed in the book The New Psychology by EW Scripture. Later, in 1900, an American professor of psychology, Knight Dunlap, preformed an experiment in which the effects and influence of subliminal messages were observed. In World War Two, a device known as the tachistoscope was used to project pictures in extremely brief bursts to train soldiers to identify enemy planes. Today, this device is used to help cure reading disorders and to test vision.
The basic precept of subliminal messages is that by stimulating the sub conscious or the part of the brain not active in consciousness but still containing memories and having an effect on a person’s decision making abilities; with images or slogans, etc, the brain will act according to the stimuli provided. That is to say, the subliminal message reaches out to the sub conscious and then knowingly or unknowingly, the brain acts according to that message. This stimulus could be audio or visual in nature. The sub conscious is usually associated with storing memories, a repository so to speak. Though not an actual part of the brain, it is still considered to be a function of it; a term for convenience’s sake.
Generally, subliminal messages or subliminal advertising sounds vague and unheard of but the debate over them reached fever pitch around the time of the above mentioned experiment. Subliminal messages, according to Mr Vicary, were apparently very effective. In the example mentioned above, sales of the items used in the tachistoscope pictures went up considerably. American psychologist Harry Levi Hollingworth believed that subliminal messages had implications to advertising. At the time of this experiment, journalist Vance Packard published his seminal book, The Hidden Persuaders, about the inner workings of advertising. The book discussed various techniques employed by advertisers to influence and even manipulate consumers into buying certain products. The book also discussed subliminal methods. With all this in mind, the American public feared that their decision to buy particular brands was not their own, but was subliminally planted. The devil was in the details and much controversy was generated. In 1958 and ’59, the American congress floored bills against it but after some time, the immediacy died out. Again in ’74, the American Federal Communications Commission banned the use of subliminal messages on television and radio.
Every decade or so, subliminal messages had recurrent interest. The public and researchers wanted to know whether or not it was actually being used. As quoted below:
How do we know that subliminal tactics effectively work and that advertisers use them? As Key (Wilson Bryan Key) notes, advertisers spend a considerable amount of money on communications that contain subliminal messages. Why would they spend such vast sums if subliminal persuasion is ineffective? The fact that these subliminal messages cannot be readily identified or seen and that the advertisers deny their use further demonstrates the craftiness of the advertiser and at the same time highlights the persuasive power of subliminal messages.
The debate about the effectiveness of subliminal advertising continues to this day but no conclusions per se have been reached. Many studies have been carried out on this topic. The initial findings of Mr Vicary were later rubbished because they could not be reproduced. Similar experiments undertaken later on proved nothing and were contrary to the beliefs of ‘subliminal’ supporters. In 2007 at the International Brand Marketing Conference (MARKA 2007), as a part of the “Hypnosis, subconscious triggers and branding” presentation, 1,400 delegates watched the opening credits of the film Picnic (the film used in the original experiment) and were exposed to 30 subliminal cuts over a 90 second period. When asked to choose one of two brands, 81 per cent picked the brand suggested by the subliminal cuts .This example was emblematic of this discussion. It proved that subliminal messages work, but critics of subliminal marketing claim that actual concrete evidence to prove the effectiveness of ‘subliminal’ has not been substantiated in the manner that the original experiment showed. It was seen that subliminal messages do work, but their effectiveness depends on a certain pre-ordained condition. That is, a person might be influenced into buying a certain brand of cola if that person is feeling thirsty. Otherwise the impact of the subliminal message will go to waste or in other words the subliminal advertising used for the promotion of a certain product will go waste.
The writer is a business administration professional and has done extensive research on subliminal marketing. He can reached at [email protected]
