Subliminal Message

Myths and Facts Behind Subconscious Control &

Manipulation

DefinitionDefinition

• Collins Dictionary: (Subliminal Message) “A message passed to the human mind without the mind being consciously aware of it, as, for example, in advertising.”

• Merriam-Webster Dictionary: (Subliminal) 1. inadequate to produce a sensation or a perception 2. existing or functioning below the threshold of consciousness

• American Psychologist: (Subliminal Stimuli) “Any sensory stimuli below an individual’s threshold for conscious perception.”

ExamplesExamples

Subliminal Messages ResearchSubliminal Messages Research

• James Vicary from Subliminal Projection Co.,Inc. success story when conducted research by using “Picnic” movie at New Jersey Theater in 1957. (hoax)

• Havard University research in 1999 leaded by Prof. Jeffrey Hausdorff.

• “The Effects of N Auditory Subliminal Perception Message Upon the Production of Images and Dreams” – Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease” by V. A. Kasser on 1986.

• Science or Science Fiction?: Investigating the Possibility (and Plausibility) of Subliminal Persuasion” by Nick Epley, Department of Psychology, Cornell University in 2005.

Published Ideas about Subliminal MessagePublished Ideas about Subliminal Message

• “The Hidden Persuaders” (book) published on 1957, written by Vance Packard

• “Subliminal Seduction” (book) published on 1974, written by Wilson Bryan

• “Buyology – Truth and Lies About Why We Buy” (book) published on 2008, written by Martin Lindstrom

• “Programming the Nation?” (documentary video) published on 2011, produced by Jeff Warrick

Subliminal Message MilestonesSubliminal Message Milestones

• 1897: An article about subliminal messages published by The New Psychology.

• 1957: James Vicary, a market researcher, cause a stir when he reported that he was able to increase popcorn sales at a New Jersey movie theatre through subliminal message. This led the modern practice of subliminal advertising.

• 1957: The 1st broadcast experiment about subliminal message by TV Station (WTMO), and had no increasing incoming mail.

• 1958: WWTV Station used a subliminal message “Watch Frank Edwards” (a news analyst featured on the station), and has no statically significant effect.

• 1962: James Vicary admitted that we was lying about the research!

Subliminal Message MilestonesSubliminal Message Milestones

• 1973: Christmas advertising campaign for the game H?sker D?? Included the subliminal message “Get It” and got complaints so that investigated by FCC (Federal Communications Commission).

• 1978: Kansas television station (KAKE-TV) in Wichita obtained permission to run subliminal message “Now call the chief” in a report about the BTK killings. No increased volume of tips was reported.

• 1990s: Many subliminal advertising ‘detected’, most of them were porn perceptions.

• 2000: George W. Bush’s presidential campaign included a television and that featured words and parts of words scrolling across the screen.

Subliminal StimuliSubliminal Stimuli

• Visual Stimuli

– Images

– Simple Geometric Stimuli

• Auditory Stimuli

– Auditory Masking

– Back Masking

• Emotion Eliciting Stimuli

– Faces

– Hidden Texts

Wolman’s Descriptive Values of Subliminal StimuliWolman’s Descriptive Values of Subliminal Stimuli

• Below the level of registration

• Above the level of registration but below the level of detection

• Above the level of detection but below the level of stimulus discrimination

• Above the level of detection and discrimination but below the level of identification

• Below the level of identification only because of a defensive reaction

Registration

Detection

Discrimination

Identification

Psychoanalytic Theoretical Models Psychoanalytic Theoretical Models of of

Subliminal PerceptionsSubliminal Perceptions

• “Day-Residue” Model Material "selected" for dreams precisely because of its manifest lack of psychic significance.

• View of Preconscious Thinking Such thinking tends to be spread out over a wider network of associations than is the case in conscious thought.

• Conception of Unconscious Motivation Conflict and Defense Subliminal input raises the activation level of existing unconscious motives.

HypnoNLPHypnoNLP vsvs Subliminal MessageSubliminal Message

• Surface Structure & Deep Structure - Neuro-Linguistic Programming

• Nested Loops - Neuro-Linguistic Programming

• Misdirection Method - Hypnosis

• Hidden Texts / Symbol (?)

• Reserve Texts / Voices (?)

• Sexual Approaches

• Emotional Trigger - Anchor & Analog Marking - Hypnosis & Neuro-Linguistic Programming

HypnoAdvertiseHypnoAdvertise ViewsViews

• Repeat Messages

• Integrated Advertise Messages

• Mother Tongue Principle

• Inception Myths

• WoW Effects

• Unique Symbols

• Unfinished Story

• Appreciate the Creative Mind