Have you ever wondered how subliminal messages work?

You may have heard stories of how advertising companies make use of briefly flashed split second messages in film and video commercials to make us buy their products. You probably know of people who insist that there is secret sexual imagery in print and video advertising and sub-audible messages in self-help audiotapes that can help us to be more motivated.

Most of us have heard that in years gone by barely audible messages were included in rock music that caused those listening to it to buy things they didn’t want before, stop smoking or even take their own lives!

How subliminal messages work or if they work at all is a contentious issue among many experts and laypeople.

Is it really possible that these hidden, split-second messages can influence our behavior and perhaps even control our minds? Is it possible that such messages are even more effective than the ‘in your face’ promotions that we are all very much aware of.

* The concept of influencing people subliminally refers to using hidden messages or masked stimuli to manipulate and influence viewers. These subliminal messages are designed to cause them to behave in ways in which they ‘normally’ wouldn’t.

* In recent years there has been much discussion and debate as to the truth of subliminal advertising and how subliminal messages work, much of it carried out and promoted by Wilson Bryan Key (1973, 1976, 1980, 1990), a former professor at the University of Western Ontario, and staunch believer in a major conspiracy amongst advertisers and product manufacturers to manipulate the consumer through subliminal methods.

* There is a rapidly growing $50-million per year market in subliminal self-help audio tapes and these appear to produce a multitude of testimonials to their effectiveness in promoting for example weight loss, breast enlargement, improvement in sexual function, self-esteem, and even improved bowling scores!

* The James Vicary “Eat Popcorn/Drink Coke” Study in the mid-1950’s caused the ordinary man to become familiar with the concept and after the results of the study were released, a survey revealed that 41% of respondents had heard of subliminal advertising and ‘knew’ how subliminal messages work. By the 1980’s over 80% professed to having some awareness of the term and about 70% of those believed it to be an effective tool for increasing sales.

* According to the study, in 1956, in a movie theatre in Fort Lee, New Jersey, James Vicary (a social psychologist and advertising expert) and his ‘Subliminal Projection Company’ carried out six weeks of study. The study involved thousands of unsuspecting movie-goers and involved testing a secret device. This device reportedly flashed the messages “Eat Popcorn” and “Drink Coke” for a third of a millisecond every five seconds as the movie played. James Vicary claims that after the messages were flashed there was an increase of 58% in popcorn sales and an 18% increase in sales of Coke.

* The results of the study were not well received. Many people saw the idea of hidden messages as occult or satanic. In 1962 Vicary apparently admitted to making the whole thing up! He had wanted to file a patent and had fabricated the study to back it up.

* Despite this fraudulent claim, many advertising, television, radio and film companies began making use of subliminal messages in the belief that it would bolster the effect of some scene or message. Even the FCC failed to place any restrictions on such advertising methods claiming that the use of subliminal advertising was under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Federal Trade Commission.

In fact many years later the FCC allowed the use of a hidden message in an announcement about a murder. It is however, reported that the briefly-flashed phrase “Give yourself up” was unsuccessful in convincing the murderer to turn himself in!

* The word subliminal is derived from the construct of a “limen of consciousness’, i.e. a threshold or line separating conscious from unconscious. This idea dates back to the literal beginning of psychology as an empirical science. Both perceptions and thoughts are said to differ from each other in strength, and inhibit or suppress one another in a dynamic relationship. These perceptions and thoughts are also said to compete with one another to gain in strength and thus rise above the “limen of consciousness” and be experienced consciously.

* Some believe that perception and cognition can and do often occur without our awareness, and don’t need us to try to or even be able to consciously control them. Some cite this theory as proof of how subliminal messages work.

* Take the example of riding a bicycle, catching a ball, or even reading a book. These things not only happen automatically (after some competence has been gained) and without our awareness of how exactly we do them but any attempt to gain conscious control of them usually results in the process coming to a grinding halt (for example you might fall of the bicycle). These processes may occur unconsciously i.e. without the internal chatter that normally goes along with what we refer to as “conscious” processes.

* Experimental psychologists define two different thresholds of awareness. The subjective threshold refers to that level of information or stimulus intensity at which the individual claims to be, well, ‘guessing’ or responding at a chance level-at which it just “feels” right. This threshold corresponds to a testimonial and events subliminal in this sense of being below the subjective threshold are events whose presence observers do not report.

* The second threshold – the objective threshold, is that lower level of information or stimuli at which the observer is no longer able even by guessing to discriminate between events, take for example the presence or absence of a signal, at a level above chance. These are events whose presence the observers can’t detect.

* Auditory self-help tapes claim to work by using music woven with subliminal messages that will influence you toward improved behavior and self-esteem. These messages are said to be reduced substantially in volume and then overlaid with a masking stimulus (i.e. the music) of much greater energy and intensity. The effectiveness of the hidden messages is attributed to the unconscious mind.

* Some believe that tapes like this only work because the listeners have been ‘told’ that they will and that even if the tapes contain no hidden messages at all – those who use them will testify an improvement of some kind or other. This is seen as a manifestation of belief in general being a very powerful tool for healing.

How subliminal messages work is a highly complex subject and as yet there hasn’t been any agreement on how exactly they work or if they do have the power to influence our behavior at all. Most experts do tend to agree that if you believe in anything it will have the power to affect you. A message that is hidden might not have any more power to influence you than do the thoughts and perceptions that originate in your own mind without any influence other than your own. So the next time somebody asks you how subliminal messages work – tell them you’ll answer them subliminally and prove whether it works with your own eyes and ears!