Information on Subliminal Messages
Subliminal messages have sparked curiosity since the 1950s, when advertising creators admitted to inserting hidden messages into films and TV shows. The Federal Communications Commission frowns on subliminal ads but leaves television stations to monitor advertising content themselves. Some researchers say studies confirm the power of subliminal techniques, while others refer to similar experiments that seem to dismiss the practice. In the meantime, consumers continue searching for hidden powers of persuasion in mass media.
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Definition
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Subliminal messages are flashed at audience members so quickly that they are not aware of them. Instead, subliminal cues register in the subconscious. Psychologists contend that veiled messages influence a person only if he has reason to react, such as already being thirsty or hungry, according to "Helping Psychology: The Power of Subliminal Messages." Researchers believe people respond more to negative subliminal messages regarding dangerous situations than positive or neutral ones, possibly due to self-preservation instincts.
History
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Market researcher James Vicary announced in 1957 that popcorn and Coke sales soared after his agency inserted "eat popcorn" and "Coca-Cola" into a film shown in a New Jersey theater. He claimed audience members had no idea they were seeing those advertisements. Americans were fearful of mass manipulation during the 1950s because of the brainwashing some U.S. prisoners of war had undergone in Communist Korea. Vicary's admission in 1962 that his comments were a hoax did not squelch widespread fears about public brainwashing.
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Ad Industry
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Many in the advertising business deny that they use subliminal ads. They compare the public fascination with buried meanings to the subjective game of finding shapes in the clouds. The allure of subliminal messages may be consumers' way of justifying overconsumption, says "Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF): Sex, Crackers And Subliminal Ads." Advertising professor James Twitchell told AEF, "It's one of our most popular interpretations of advertising: 'They are injecting us with an unnatural desire.'"
Nonbelievers
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"The Wall Street Journal" described experiments that were undertaken in the 1950s to replicate Vicary's claims. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. inserted "telephone now" into a TV show. Follow-up surveys of 500 viewers showed only half said they felt an urge to do something afterward. Most said they wanted a snack or a drink. One person said she felt compelled to use a phone. In San Francisco, an advertiser's name was embedded into a film shown to 150 viewers. Only 14 people named the correct sponsor afterward.
Believers
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The Medical News Today website reports that Hebrew University of Jerusalem led an experiment demonstrating that people are swayed through subliminal messages. Three hundred participants were questioned about the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Half were shown a subliminal image of the Israeli flag, while half were not. The group shown the flag leaned toward moderate political views afterward. Another study during Israel's elections reaffirmed that conservative and liberal voters gravitated toward moderate candidates after seeing subliminal images of the flag.
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References
- Photo Credit tv set illustration image by Antalia from Fotolia.com
