Subliminal Messaging

14 Pages 3544 Words

The Advertising Persuasion: A Brief Overview of the
Practices and Effects of Subliminal Messaging and Beyond

Introduction

The controversy that is subliminal messaging has continually been analyzed and studied for decades. The vastness of perspectives that can be found from experts around the globe is astonishing. The variety of so-called subliminal messages reaches from very subjective ad-reading analysis, to hidden text and images, to supposed satanic messages in rock music and layers of auditory messages in clothing and department stores and sold across the globe in ‘self-help’ tapes. The fact that these messages are present is undisputed, however their effectiveness is what is in question, and has been since it was first studied, scientifically or not. Can we, as consumers, be so easily manipulated by the select few? If so, how and to what extent are we manipulated? It is preposterous to believe that our thoughts are being controlled, but can our consumer habits be directed by the persuasive advertising community?



Subliminal Messaging

Definition
Since the concept first originated, the definition of subliminal perception has been altered and/or rejected countless times. One must first not only define the term ‘subliminal’ but also accept it’s existence. Generally, subliminal refers to the ‘subconscious’ or below some threshold called the limen of consciousness (therefore subliminal stimulus would be that without a person’s awareness). Although most modern psychologists recognize that perceptual and cognitive processes happen frequently without our awareness (or ability to control them); but, these theories do not support “a mind-entity separate from consciousness such that perceptions, ideas, beliefs and desires can slip or exert influence from on to the other” referred to, quite habitually, as the unconscious. For the purpose of this paper, subliminal perception will be defined as...