Silent Subliminal Messages
When we watch television, read the newspaper, or drive down the street, we are bombarded with messages. On a conscious level, most of these messages go in one ear and out the other. But what if on another level they had an effect? Even if they only worked on our subliminal thoughts?
In this article I am going to explore these silent messages that influence us daily. I am going to show you how they affect us more than we think. I am going to explain the science behind these messages and why they work so well. And I will share with you a controversial tactic that advertisers use to place their subliminal messages into our minds.
But before we jump right in, let's first understand what a silent subliminal message is and how it works.
An unconscious message is a thought, an idea, or even a feeling that you never knew existed until it was brought to your awareness. It's something that you didn't plan on hearing, but suddenly you hear it and follow all the facts in your mind (or connect dots you never connected before). The subliminal messages are those messages that remain hidden from awareness.
Subliminal messages often come in the form of a sound or a word. These are called auditory stimuli.
They can also be visual such as a picture or even an object. These are called visual stimuli.
For example, you may be watching a TV commercial for a new car and see the image of money flash on the screen for a split second. That is an example of visual subliminal messaging.
And some subliminal messages come in the form of an odor or an aroma. These are called olfactory stimuli.
If you were to see, hear, or smell the car you may subconsciously associate the car with money. This is an example of subliminal messaging.
When we hear a sound our conscious mind tries to process it into words and sounds that make sense so we can understand what it is we are hearing.
But sometimes, on a much deeper level, the brain catches a glimpse of a sound or word in its raw form before it becomes understandable. This is when we receive subliminal messages.
For example, when we hear an advertisement that says "Pepsi-Cola" our mind automatically hears and understands it as the word "Pepsi.
However, on another level, the brain hears and understands the word "Pepsi-Cola" in its raw form as "peppy." The subliminal message is that we should drink peppy.
And just because someone said it verbally doesn't mean it's not subliminal. For example, if you see a character on television say something like: "You will do anything for money," then your subconscious mind would hear and understand that to mean you will do anything for money.
Advertisers use subliminal messaging in several ways to enhance the effectiveness of their advertisements.
One way is to place an animation on the screen that is only visible when you move your eyes. You will not see it through a normal television or monitor even if you look directly at it. It's only visible when your eyes move (called eye-movement). This is called covert visual subliminal messaging.
Usually it's an animated object or even an object in the picture that moves quickly past your vision and it may not even be moving. It could just be a flash that appears fleetingly on the screen.
For example, you may see a picture of a car on television, but then when you look away you see it move off the screen. This is an example of covert visual subliminal messaging. Or perhaps you are looking at an image and suddenly part of it flashes briefly before disappearing (a flash). That is an example of covert auditory subliminal messaging.
Sometimes it's a silhouette, or just a tiny part of an object that appears on the screen before it disappears (called a partial flash).
Often they use words like "peppy" and "radar gun" and their meanings aren't immediately obvious. These words may not mean anything to you consciously, but your visual subliminal mind might catch the subliminal message.
And sometimes it's a sound—a word that sounds like something else. It could be the same as the visual noise or a different word altogether (like "popcorn").
Because we hear so many words and sounds all day long, our subliminal mind may not register them when they are first heard but ear-consciousness can sometimes pick up on them.
This is called covert auditory subliminal messaging.
Conclusion
Advertisers have been using these messages for years. They appear everywhere from television commercials, to billboards, to magazine ads, and even in the grocery store.
They are powerful communication tools that can be used to subconsciously influence us. In fact, you may want to pick up on a few messages yourself the next time you're at the market.