Annie Silva

LIS 620

11/22/2010

Subliminal Perception and Persuasion

Scope

The purpose of this paper is to give introductory knowledge to perception and

persuasion without complete conscious awareness (subliminal, subconscious, or

semiconscious, depending on the definition used). The following biography is meant to

give information on the psychological processes involved as well as tactics used by

advertisers, politicians, and musicians to reach the subject on a level that isn’t entirely

conscious.

Introduction

Subliminal messaging is an interesting topic, and one that many people are both

interested in and afraid of at the same time. People love to see pictures and hear stories of

the use of subliminal messages, but don’t like the idea that something they can’t

consciously perceive may have an affect on behavior. While studies have shown that

conventional messages, either in music, advertising, or politics, have a greater chance of

persuasion, there is a science behind the unconscious perception and its affect on attitudes

and action.

75 percent of people have heard of subliminal persuasion, and 75 percent of those

believe it works (Hassin 92). Many people may know what subliminal messaging is and

have a vague knowledge of how it works, but the true definitions and evidence lie buried

within the fields of psychology, advertising, and political science, often unavailable to the

general public. What has been available to the general public, though, is the mass media

attention garnered by subliminal messaging stunts and the grandiose claims of the success

of subliminal messaging that are later retracted. These retractions are often not

publicized.

An Issue with Definitions

Many words are used to describe perception without awareness, including

subliminal, unconscious, subconscious, implicit, nonconscious and subceptive, and the

definitions of these terms vary from source to sources and from professional to

professional (Borstein et al 8). At the very base, subliminal means below the limen.

Limen is latin for threshold. So, most people gather that while subliminal messaging is

messaging that happens below a threshold, which threshold that is and where it lies in

human consciousness is debatable.

One definition of subliminal perception is that subliminal perception is perception

that passes through the objective threshold, meaning that one of the senses can pick up on

it, but it doesn’t pass through the subjective threshold, meaning that a person isn’t

consciously aware of it, and can’t vocally describe the subliminal phenomena. It is often

questioned whether the subjective threshold is stable and concrete, or if it is different for

different people in different situations. An absolute, fixed subjective threshold isn’t

possible, because the subjective threshold depends on individual differences, contextual

effects, and goals and needs. Subliminal perception refers to things that can’t be

consciously perceived, even if attention is paid to them (Hasin et al 80).

Another definition comes from Gerard J. Tellis and Jim Ambler in The Sage

handbook of Advertising when they quote page 1030 of the 1996 edition of the OCED,

which defines “subliminal” as “below the threshold of sensation or consciousness.” They

define that as something being displayed for less than 1/10th of a second. They then

define subconscious processing as advertising that can be seen or heard but that no active

attention is paid to it. They then go on to define semiconscious processing as processing

that takes place when advertising can be seen or heard but is processed with a low level

of attention

Other works continue to define these terms in slightly different ways. Therefore, it

is almost impossible to know what the terms really mean and what, therefore, is

technically subliminal. Lack of a clear, absolute definition may add to some of the hype

about subliminal messaging. For the purpose of this paper, anything that is intended to go

undetected by most viewers, meant to persuade viewers using subliminal or subconscious

methods, or things that one can only pick up on with direction, will be considered

“subliminal”. Basically, it will look at the things that are generally considered

“subliminal by the general public and cited as so in different resources.

There are three main types of subliminal stimuli- embeds, which are most often

used in animation and print advertisements where images are altered to insert words,

symbols and pictures. These do occur in animated films, but most likely as a joke or a

way to create attention, not to persuade someone to take particular action. The next is

backmasking, used in audio, where a message is recorded backwards or are present

forward but are inaudible. Finally, there is the use of precognitive stimuli, such as

unperceivable video images flashed upon a screen or through a TV (Walker 3).

Precognitive stimuli, or stimuli below the awareness threshold, is the more likely form

for subliminal messaging via the internet, as well as embeds used the traditional way in

advertisements.

A Legal Note

The FCC doesn’t regulate subliminals. In 1974, and FCC policy declared that

using subliminal messages was “contrary to the public interest”. There is no enforcement

because it is nearly impossible to define a subliminal message, so they simply issue

written reprimands. Even if the FCC did regulate them, it only has authority over

broadcast stations, and couldn’t charge the body that produces ads or the body that finds

them (Walker 2). It also comes down to ethics. Can you place blame on someone for not

recognizing a subliminal and running an ad where one exists when the goal of subliminal

messaging is to go undetected?

Subliminals in Politics

Documented cases of subliminal messages in advertisements are few and far

between. While it has long been a practice of politicians to show, in their television and

print ads, a series of perceivable pictures meant to create negative associates with the

competition, there is only one well-documented, well-known case of subliminal

messaging in politics.

In September 2000 during the presidential race between G.W. Bush and Al Gore,

Bush was accused of using less than ethical campaign advertising tactics. During a

negative campaign ad the words democrats and bureaucrats appeared on the screen

reappearing in different pieces and segments over the face of Al Gore. Then, the word

RATS was superimposed over Al Gore’s Face for 1/30th of a second. While this doesn’t

technically constitute a subliminal message because it is consciously perceivable with

very close attention, many considered it “subliminal” because it presumably escaped the

conscious perception of most viewers (Hasin et al 88). While the Bush Camp denies any

attempt at wrongdoing, many claim that it was a direct attack against Al Gore and his

prescription drug policy, as well as an effort to persuade viewers.

The ad, funded by the RNC, cost $2,576,000 to air more than 4,400 times in

thirty-three different markets (These numbers jump much higher in private studies). It

was voluntarily pulled by the RNC after the ensuing controversy (Walker 1). It is

questionable whether this was an intentional marketing ploy; some argue that it was a

simple mistake, since words like bureaucrat and democrat also appear on the ad. Bush, of

course, denied any intentional wrongdoing (All while consistently mispronouncing the

word subliminal). The buzz faded quickly, and after a week of media attention, interest

faded. This shows the contrast in the subliminal craze from the mid 20th century

compared to recent attitudes. While it has been shown that these types of perception can

affect attitude, it hasn’t been shown that these types of advertisements directly affect

behavior, or that they are strong enough to reverse strong positive or negative opinions.

Subliminals in Advertising and Marketing

Advertising and marketing exist to sell. And in the cutthroat world of a free

market and competition, companies will often use less than ethical means to gain loyal

customers. Consumer psychology is a well-documented subject, one well known and

studied by those in the advertising field. In essence, nothing advertisers do, and nothing

their advertisements contain, are accidental. While some things that are perceived to be

subliminal are just a coincidence, these things tend to be mistakes by the advertising

company.

Vargas and Yoon, in their entry entitled “ Advertising Psychology” in the

Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology define advertising as “A paid, mass mediated

attempt to inform and persuade.” They define perception as the “recognition and

interpretation of sensory stimuli” and subliminal advertising as “an attempt to advertise

without the awareness of the message recipient.”

The use of subliminal messages in advertising has been a topic of debate since

James Vicary imbedded the messages “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Eat Popcorn” every five

seconds for 1/30th of a second in the movie picnic. He claimed that coke sales increased

by 58 percent and popcorn by 18 percent (Walker 2). He used a machine called a

tachistoscope to flash the words on the screen, and presented this information at a press

conference in New York City. This garnered attention from the general public,

professionals in the fields of psychology and marketing, and the mass media. His findings

were found to be grossly exaggerated when the New Jersey theater manager didn’t report

a jump in sales. Vicary, while often questioned, was a successful businessman and social

scientist, and went on to offer his services through his company The Subliminal

Projection Corporation (Bullock 8-10).

One of the reasons the Vicary situation caused such a stir and a “buzz” around the

subliminal is because his original claim was big news and reached many, but his

retraction only reached those within the academic sphere (Hasin et al 92). The belief in

the subliminal by the mass population is also due in part because of larger than life, yet

unsubstantiated claims, and examples are often cited in mass media outlets, while the

scientific research dispelling the myths and limitations of subliminal messaging are often

only mentioned in the scientific community, and the general public doesn’t always have

access to the journals which publish findings of the subject based in fact.

Martin Lindstrom, in his article titled “How Subliminal Advertising Works” cites

several marketing techniques that companies use to unconsciously affect buyer choices.

For example, its been noticed that when it comes to things like remote controls, mp3

players and cell phones, the heavier of the choices is often favored, even if the options are

comparable in dimensions. Weightiness gives the impression of sturdiness and

substantiality, while the light products are often thought of as cheaply made, prone to

breakage, and generally not of as good of quality of their heavier counterparts. Therefore,

companies sometimes weigh down their products with random pieces of aluminum to

pull off the preferred heavy effect.

Martin also comments that fast-paced music makes shoppers go faster and buy

less, but music with a tempo slower than a human heartbeat makes shoppers slow down

and therefore buy more. Stores implement this as a key marketing scheme.

Customers also have sometimes-unconscious opinions about where a product

comes from. Given the option of two identical looking and smelling perfumes, except

that one is made in Dallas and the other in Paris, most consumers would chose and

purchase the one made in a place more known for it’s expense, it’s fashion and it’s

perfumes.

More recently, companies are encrypting images into advertisements in order to

reach a certain population while trying not to alienate the general public. For example,

companies who want to reach the gay community and show they welcome consumers

who identify themselves as LGBTQA will often use symbols in their advertisements that

may only be meaningful to that specific community. Examples of this include Subaru

using the Equal Rights Campaign equals symbol on the bumper of a car in a billboard,

Coors Light featuring pink triangles in their commercials, Miller Light using a rainbow

colored glass in their advertisements, and Visa using a rainbow colored credit card

(Kanner 179).

Wilson Bryan Key, often known for studying and “outing” advertisers who use

subliminal messages created a stir when exposing Camel cigarettes and Gibley Gin and

their use of sexual references in a subliminal context. In many print advertisements and

animated films, subliminal images of a sexual nature have been embedded; going with

the theory that sex sells. While many of the print advertisements are sexual in nature

anyway, many of the embedded images contain phallic symbols and words that wouldn’t

be accepted by the general public if they were easily perceived. These print ads often

contain ambiguously sexual phrases and often occur in ads for alcohol, tobacco, trucks,

and on the covers of popular magazines.

The Use of Subliminals in Self-Help

Many companies have capitalized on the subliminal message craze as a way to

sell self-help audiotapes. These tapes included subliminal messages that were meant to

help users lose weight, gain self-esteem, fight depression, and improve memory. In 1991

a study was done by Greenwald, Spangenberg, Pratkanis and Eskenazi where the labels

were switched on some of the tapes. After the participants used the tapes for one month,

all that was found was the placebo effect. Even on the tapes with switched labels, the

participants reported the labeled results because that’s what they wanted to see. There

were other tests being done on the legitimacy of self-help tapes, and they all came to the

same conclusion.

When it comes to self-help, subliminal visual stimuli may be more effective than

auditory stimuli because of the difference in the capacity for processing visual versus

auditory stimuli. Recently, devices have been developed to send visual subliminal stimuli

through a television while watching any programming available on TV. These products

promise to help a person lose weight, gain confidence, or reduce stress all while watching

a football game or a favorite sit-com.

One such product, made by a company called Motivision, displays whole

sentences as the subliminal stimuli, and research shows that it is most effective with only

a single word. The human brain can pick up on just bits and pieces of the sentence. Husin

et al. gives the example of the sentence “do not eat much.” The brain can easily pick up

on “eat” and “eat much”, resulting in unwanted effects, and can just as easily pick up the

meaningless “do not”. In order for the intended subliminal stimuli to have even a chance

at effectiveness, the participant must perceive unconsciously the entire sentence (98).

Subliminal Messages in Music

Putting backwards messages in songs is often known as backmasking or

backwards masking, as well as backwording. This can be done two ways: by recording

separate tracks and then putting them in reverse on the final copy, or by arranging and

slurring speech in forward so they make a meaningful phrase in reverse as well. While

there have been recent examples of backwording, such as Marilyn Manson, the most

controversial and most often cited examples come from rock music in the mid-late 20th

century, when the subliminal messaging buzz was at it’s peak.

The first well-known case is on the Beatles’ 1968 White Album, which came out

at the height of the subliminal messaging craze. In the song, “Revolution Number Nine”

a voice is heard repeating the phrase “number nine, number nine…” In revere this sounds

like “turn me on, deadm’n…” Some people feel that this is purely coincidental; others

believe that it was meant to play on the spoof that Paul McCartney had died. There is

another example on the same album between the songs “I’m So Tired” and “Blackbird,

where it sounds like “ Paul is a deadm’n—miss him, miss him. When listened to forward,

one cannot make out what the person says.

Much of the mid-20th century subliminal messages in music revolve around

Aleister Crowley, a master magician and master of occult arts. He published his theory

of being able to learn to think backward by reading, walking and listening to albums in

reverse in 1929. His photo is on the Blizzards of Oz Album by Ozzy Osborne. Crowely

had a lover named Laylah. Eric clapton has a recording entitled L.A.Y.L.A, and the cover

art bears a resemblance to Crowley’s Laylah. Clapton belonged to the British rock band

the Yardbirds in the 1960’s with Jimmy Page. Jimmy Page then became a member of Led

Zeppelin, and in 1970, moved into Crowley’s former house in the UK, where the band

spent a lot of time writing music. It is unclear weather these bands used subliminal

messages because they were devout followers of Crowley or because they were simply

exercising their artistic freedom. It may also have been done as a publicity stunt to raise

popularity and album sales.

“Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin is one of the most requested rock songs of

all time and one of the most used examples of backmasking. When played in reverse, it

is possible to make out the phrases “So here’s to my sweet Satan”, and “Whose power is

Satan.” None of these phrases are easily identified in recordings of live performances,

making the argument that they were intentionally calculated and practiced for the

recording studio.

Reverend Joel Landis came out and said that the band was trying to plant evil and

satanic messages within the minds of the people, while others argue that the band was

trying to show that the world is full of opposites, that a stairway to heaven could just as

easily be a stairway to hell.

“Eldorado”, by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is another commonly cited

example and often criticized harshly to be satanic. Many say that the following phrases

can be heard when the song is played backwards:

For you're the nasty one

Serve me yet

D'ya serve me?

Goodbye, Christ is dead—many after

Everyone who has mark will live

The Styx, Black Oak Arkansas, Queen, and the British band Klaatu are all said to

have used subliminal messages in their work as well (Walker 1-11).

The heavy metal band Judas Priest found itself at the heart of an unsuccessful lawsuit

with claims that the phrase “do it” backmasked in their song “Better by You Better Than

Me” encouraged the suicide of two teens in from Nevada in 1985.

While there is evidence that subliminal messages occur in popular music, there

isn’t sufficient evidence that it alters a person’s beliefs or causes them to take action that

they normally wouldn’t. Muc bh of the music in which backmasing occurs, or other

music by the same bands, more blatantly discuss “satanic” and “evil” within the forward

playing music. If these bands were trying to campaign for Satanism and evil deeds, the

forward music with easily understandable lyrics would be more influential. A study done

recently by Hauke Egermann, Reinhard Kopiez and Christoph Reuter showed that

subliminal messages in music do not have an effect on choice behavior.

Conclusion

One of the problems, it seems, with research and the subliminal is that many

experiments of the same nature all garner the same negative results, but it has been hard

to replicate experiments where subliminal messaging is shown to have some sort of

concrete influence. Another problem with conducting scientific studies of the affects of

subliminals is that it is hard to replicate the situations that one might be in when exposed

to subliminal stimuli. Things such as social situations, background noise, peer influence,

and the physical state of the participants all vary greatly in “real world” situations and are

hard to replicate within a lab setting.

Many advertising companies and politicians shy away from using blatantly

subliminal messages because of a lack of public license. Generally, consumers don’t like

being tricked. It’s different with self-help; the users are generally hoping that the

subliminal messages are there and are able to have an affect. The most likely reason for

subliminals in music and films is for artistic satisfaction and to garner attention.

Another issue is that while it is evident in some cases that subliminal messages

exist, people are so interested in the subject they start to see subliminal messages that

aren’t there, at least not intentionally. And because it generally creates negative attitudes,

especially in advertising, most entities won’t admit to their use. So, it is very much

possible that much what some people see as subliminal messaging is in fact just

coincidental.

Subliminal messaging is a topic that many people are interested in and feel

strongly about, but because of issues with definitions and restrictions in the effectiveness

of research, it is also a topic that is hard to understand. While there are subliminal

messages that seem to be harmless, in existence for entertainment, humor, or to create

attention, the issue comes down to weather subliminal messaging can change attitudes

and behavior without the knowledge of the subject.

Library of Congress Classifications

BF 309-499 Psychology—Conciousness, Cognition

Gives resources on the levels of consciousness to help understand the topic from a

psychological perspective.

BF 608-635 Psychology—Will. Violation. Choice. Control.

Resources found here are helpful when understanding persuasion.

HF5801-6182 Social Sciences—Advertising

Resources are available here about advertising, advertising psychology and

subliminal advertising.

HF 5410-5417.5 Social Sciences—Marketing. Distribution of products.

Includes works on the psychology of consumers and the tactics behind markets,

including subliminal ones.

JK 1717-2217 Political Science—Political rights. Practical politics.

Information on the use of subliminal messages in politics.

ML 3800-3923 Music—Philosophical and societal aspects of music. Physics and

Acoustics of music. Psychological aspects of music.

This is where information on subliminal messages in music would be located.

Dewey Classification

150- Psychology

320- Political Science

380- Commerce, Communications, Transport

Subject Headings (a condensed list of the most useful)

Psychology - Clinical Psychology

Psychology - Cognitive Psychology

Psychology - General

Subliminal perception

Preconscious processing

Subliminal Stimulus

Awareness threshold

Recognition Threshold

Neuromarketing

Backwording

Backmasking

Subliminal

Subliminal advertising

Subliminal music

Subliminal messages

Advertising Psychology

Publishers

While conducting research, there weren’t any overlapping publishers who

routinely publish on this topic. Many of the university presses from schools with a well-

known psychology department publish books and articles. The “big name” academic

publishers such as Sage also publish books on psychology, advertising, and politics.

Journals

American Behavioral Scientist

American Journal of Psychology

American Psychologist

Applied Behavioral Science Review

Consumption, Markets, and Culture

Advertising Age

Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis 

Popular Political Psychology music and society 

Political Psychology 

Public Integrity 

The entries in this bibliography are organized by general topic and then are listed from

the general to the more specific.

PSYCHOLOGY

The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology. London: Penguin, 2009. s.v. "subliminal,"

http://www.credoreference.com/entry/penguinpsyc/subliminal (accessed November

14, 2010).

Definition of Subliminal- “Lit., below the LIMEN , below the

absolute THRESHOLD  (1, 2). Note that the term, particularly in the phrase subliminal

perception, is used in two distinct ways, often without distinguishing which meaning is

intended. For example, some call a stimulus subliminal if it is so weak that it cannot be

detected at all: others use the term to describe stimuli that can be detected but are too

weak for the perceiver to be able to determine their identity. Needless to say these two

meanings are very different and refer to very different stimulus intensities. See

also SUBLIMINAL *PERCEPTION , SUBCEPTION  and THRESHOLD (esp. 1 and 2)

for further discussion of usage.” Limen is Latin for threshold.

The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology. London: Penguin, 2009. s.v. "perception,

subliminal." 

Definition given on subliminal perception: “A curious phrase

since subliminal means below the threshold for perception. The term actually refers not

to PERCEPTION  in the usual sense of that term (meaning 1), but to the effect of a below-

threshold stimulus upon an individual's behavior. There has been considerable scientific

debate over the reliability and/or validity of the effects of subliminal stimuli, and

extensive discussion of the ethical issues raised by even the possibility that such effects

might be real and thus be used by unscrupulous advertisers or politicians. There are

reliable effects here (see PERCEPTUAL DEFENCE , PERCEPTUAL

VIGILANCE , SUBCEPTION) , but they are small and there is no evidence that they can

be used to modify attitudes or emotions.” This source gives basic and brief definitive and

descriptive entries.

Hassin, Ran R., James S. Uleman. John A. Bargh, eds. 2005. The New Unconscious.

Dijksterhuis, Ap, Henk Aarts, and Pamela K. Smith. “The Power of the Subliminal:

On Subliminal Persuasion and Other Potential Applications.” Oxford University

Press.

In chapter four of The New Unconscious, titled “The Power of the Subliminal: On

Subliminal Persuasion and Other Potential Applications,” It gives background

information on the topic, defines issues and give examples. It is one of few works that

include a section on the use of subliminal messaging as a form of self-help. The chapter

concludes with “Three Good Reasons For Investigating Subliminal Phenomena” and an

extensive biography.

Zelazo, Philip David, Morris Moscovitch, and Evan Thompson, eds. 2007. The

Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness. New York: Cambridge University Press.

This reference resource, published by Cambridge, is a compilation of articles

written by professionals in varying professional fields all on the subject of consciousness.

It is indexed by author and by subject.

Bernstein, Douglas A, and Peggy W. Walsh. 2006. Essentials of Psychology. 4th ed.

Cegage Learning.

Often used as a Psychology textbook, Essentials of Psychology offers

introductory information and synopses of related studies from a psychological

perspective. It’s organized with headings in the form of questions that try and mimic the

thought process of the user. Information about subliminal messages is in chapter 4,

which is about consciousness. It starts on page 139 and continues to 142. This source is

useful because of the clear, basic information given and because the studies and examples

mentioned make good search terms that lead to other information on the subject.

Bornstein, Robert F. and Thane S. Pittman, eds. 1992. Perception without

Awareness: Cognitive, Clinical and Social Perspectives. New York: Guilford Press.

This source contains valuable bibliographic references to other pertinent

information. It is a compilation made of three chapters all contributed by researchers,

professionals and scholars in their field. The chapters are titled “The Cognitive

Perspective”, The Clinical Perspective”, and “The Social Perspective”. While many

sources attempt to argue that subliminal perception doesn’t exist, this one attempts to

give evidence that it does. While it does validate the phenomenon of subliminal

perception, it doesn’t directly support the idea of subliminal persuasion often mentioned

in other subliminal messaging text.

Handleman, Sapir. 2009. Thought Manipulation: the Use and Abuse of Psychological

Trickery. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger.

Handleman gives an overview of thought manipulation tactics and how it works

(or doesn’t) psychologically. He includes a section on the freedom of choice and ethics of

manipulation. He focuses on manipulation in advertising, politics, leadership and therapy.

The text offers a broad overview of the topic to help someone interested in the subject

gain some background knowledge on the subject. It is also one of the few academic texts

that talk about thought manipulation and subliminal messages in the therapeutic field.

ADVERTISING

Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology, 2004.

s.v. "Advertising Psychology," 

A brief entry describing the psychology of advertising and the intended affects of

advertising. A broad overview useful for anyone new to the subject or looking for basic

information. This may help when reading further into the subject in other texts.

Saegert, Joel.. "Advertising, Subliminal." Encyclopedia of Communication and

Information. Ed. Jorge Reina Schement. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference

USA, 2002. 8-10. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 14 Nov. 2010.

A very brief and basic description of subliminal advertising. It gives a brief

history of the subject. Instead of focusing on the psychology of the viewer like the

Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology entry, it gives an overview of the absence of

evidence, the absence of a systematic framework, and an absence of public license. It

focuses on the shortcomings of subliminal advertising.

Tellis, Gerard J. and Tim Ambler, eds. 2007. The Sage Handbook of Advertising.

Los Angeles: SAGE publications.

This text is included because of the definitions and distinctions made on page 97.

It makes the distinction between subliminal, or that which is below the awareness

threshold, and the subconscious, which is capable of being perceived but not actual

attention is paid to it. The subconscious is often mislabeled for subliminal in still

advertisements in print.

Sheehan, Kim Bartel. 2004. Controversies in Contemporary Advertising. California:

Sage Publications.

Taking a look at controversies and myths in modern advertising, Sheehan

discusses subliminal advertising in chapter 5, entitled “Beyond Subliminal.” The

discussion is in the same chapter as product placement in movies, TV, and other media.

This shows the connection between subliminal advertising aimed at the subconscious and

product placement as a source of advertising. While the name brand product seems

coincidental in media that isn’t a direct advertising or marketing ploy, it still affects the

way people perceive brands and may change buying patterns. This can be considered the

next step up from subliminal advertising. Sheehan also cites examples of subliminal

Advertising and works deny its validity.

Alwitt, Linda F. and Andrew A. Mitchell, eds. 1985. Psychological Processes and

Advertising Effects: Theory, Research and Applications.

A compilation of contributions of many professionals of psychology and

advertising and marketing. Psychological Processes and Advertising Effects gives an

overview of marketing strategies and how the consumer reacts to them. It’s a valuable

text for anyone who wishes to understand how advertising works to change or form

habits of a consumer and the psychological processes that take place. Each section has a

bibliography and the text is indexed by subject and author. This book brings together

professionals on both sides of the process to shed light on the advertising process from

start to finish from a psychological standpoint.

Sutherland, Max and Alice K. Sylvester. 2009. Advertising and the Mind of the

Consumer: What Works, What Doesn’t and Why. 3rd Ed.. Allen and Unwin.

Describing advertising techniques and how they influence people and their

purchasing decisions, this book gives a good overview and a basic understanding of how

advertising affects buyer psychology. In Chapter three, titled “Subliminal Advertising:

The Biggest Myth of All”, the authors make the distinction between subtlety in

advertising and subliminal advertising. The book goes on to give examples of and the

story behind subliminal advertising and debunks some of the myths. This book provides a

basic understanding of advertising and how it affects people, while specifically looking in

depth at subliminal advertising. Because the authors use simple language, define terms

clearly, and strategically use illustrations and tables to help show key points, this source

is easily accessible to people interested in the topic of subliminal advertising, but don’t

have an advertising or marketing background.

Lindstrom, Martin. 2009. “How Subliminal Advertising Works.” Parade online.

http://www.parade.com/news/2009/01/how-subliminal-advertising-works.html.

Accessed 10/18/2010

This recent article makes the note that subliminal advertising is considered a

deceptive business practice by the FTC, something not mentioned elsewhere. It also goes

on to describe how subliminal advertising still happens and gives real-life examples

outside of the realm of research studies. It “outs” some of the marketing techniques used

to play off of subconscious opinions and beliefs.

Lawrence, Samuel R. 2010. Freud on Madison Avenue: Motivation Research and

Subliminal Advertising in America. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvanian

Press.

A complete, in depth history of advertising, persuasion, and subliminal

advertising. It starts in 1930 Vienna and continues into the early 2000s. Lawrence is a

skeptic, and argues that even if subliminal messages in advertising were successful, the

results and success would have already been surpassed by new tactics developed with the

use of new technology, and would now be considered outdated. He argues that new

methods render greater results than subliminal advertising ever would have. It has an

extensive biography and “connects the dots” of the history of subliminal advertising,

while many other sources only mention the major players.

Kanner, Bernice. 2004. Pocketbook Power: How to Reach the Hearts and Minds of

Today’s Most Coveted Consumers—women. New York: McGraw-Hill.

This book, which looks at advertising techniques geared towards women, talks

about subliminal advertising in hidden images and looks specifically at subliminal

messages geared toward the gay community. Companies use certain symbols to advertise

to the LGBTQIA community and to communicate friendliness. These symbols are often

unnoticeable to those who aren’t a part of the targeted community.

McGrane, Bernard. 1992. The Ad and the ID: Sex, Death, and Subliminal

Advertising. Produced and directed by Harold Boihem. Berkely, California:

University of California Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning.

This video, used for education purposes, looks at sex and death images embedded

in seemingly unrelated advertising images. It looks at the effects this has on consumers

and also takes a look at subliminal messages in advertising in general. It doesn’t argue

for or against the results of subliminal advertising, instead focusing on how it is used.

Bullock, August. 2004. The Secret Sales Pitch: an Overview of Subliminal Advertising.

San Jose, California: Norwich Publishers.

While a lot of sources about subliminal messaging look at it from a perspective of

it’s shortcomings and myths, this book gives unbiased examples and even gives how-to

advice. It claims that in order to work on the subconscious level subliminal messages

must provoke strong emotions, unlike some of the failed experiments of the past. It has a

lot of graphics and examples of subliminal images in advertising and print. It focuses on

embedded images and argues that they are not “accidental” like companies sometimes

claim. Offers a brief history of the subject and extensive biography.

MUSIC

Egermann, Hauke, Reinhard Kopiez, and Christoph Reuter. 2006. "Is there an

effect of subliminal messages in music on choice behavior?" Journal of Articles in

Support of the Null Hypothesis 4, no. 2: 29-45. Academic Search Premier,

EBSCOhost (accessed November 14, 2010).

This article describes a research study in which text messages are subliminally

added to pop music. The participants listen to the music and then are asked to choose a

word fro ma list of 10 and choose which type of drink they would like. The control

listened to the same music without subliminal text added. There was no meaningful

difference between choices of the participants and the control group. The study was then

conducted on children and the results were the same. While there are myths and even

some proof of subliminal messages being added to music, this study aims to disprove the

ability of imbedded text to persuade.

Walker, Michael (Author). 1985. "Backward messages in commercially available

recordings." Popular music and society 10, no. 1: 2. RILM Abstracts of Music

Literature, EBSCOhost (accessed November 14, 2010)

This article discusses the ways subliminal messages are embedded backwards into

rock music, including in songs by the Beatles and Led Zeplin. It gives the history behind

these songs and the connections between them. It explains the examples phonetically and

how the auditory process perceives them. It argues that these messages most likely exist

for fun, for the “buzz”, or for artistic purposes because research has failed to show that

these messages have any persuasion power. It also makes the point that music often talks

about the subjects of the backwards messages blatantly in their forward lyrics.

POLITICS

Nimmo, Dan and James E. Combs. 1980. Subliminal Politics: Myths and Mythmakers

in America. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Nimmo and Combs looks at the assumptions and beliefs that lie in our

subconscious about politics and political myths. It also looks at the major players in

political myths and how (or if) they are successful in creating believes in our

subconscious using those myths. They emphasize two points: that myths aren’t always

false, they can be true, false or somewhere in the middle, but the common denominator is

that they are believed. The next major point is who the mythmakers are, and that all

people involved in politics are mythmakers to a certain extent. While the book isn’t about

subliminal messages in it’s entirety, it has useful passages and also gives a good

understanding of why politicians may use subliminal messaging as a means to either

create a buzz or really try and subliminally change perceptions.

Weinberger, Joel, and Drew Westen. 2008. "RATS, We Should Have Used Clinton:

Subliminal Priming in Political Campaigns." Political Psychology 29, no. 5: 631-

651. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost(accessed November 11, 2010).

Weinberger and Westen give a brief overview of the history of the study of

subliminal messaging and include summaries of major studies. They focus on the use of

subliminal messaging in the political sphere. The title is allusion to the use of the word

“rats” subliminally in a GOP advertisement. This article is included mainly because it

discusses the use of subliminal messaging and perception over the internet and because of

its extensive bibliography.

Stewart, Patrick A. 2008. "Subliminals in the 2000 Presidential Election." Public

Integrity 10, no. 3: 215-231. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed

November 14, 2010).

This article looks at the 2000 presidential election campaign, where the Bush

camp used the word “rats” in a negative commercial about Gore and his prescription drug

plan. It looks at other political ad and studies the research of the ad that has been done,

including information about it’s success and audience. It also goes into the motives and

goals of the creators of the ad.

OTHER

2008 “Real Subliminal”. The Official Subliminal Messaging Blog. Wordpress.

http://www.subliminal-messaging.com/

This blog’s main intention is to make money by selling subliminal self-help tools.

It is good research behind the subliminal “craze” and to see what there is on the market in

this category. Under the “Fun and Games” link there are a lot of examples of subliminal

messages in advertising, movies, music, etc.