What is Subliminal Messaging and how Useful it is

Imagine a situation where you are in a movie theater, waiting for the movie to start. The previews start showing up, and suddenly, you feel very hungry. You rush down to the concession stands in order to buy some refreshments like popcorn, sandwiches, etc. And then run back to your seat so that you don’t miss the show. After the movie has ended, someone comes down to you with the clipboard, where it is written, whether you have noticed the words eat popcorn on the screen while the preview was going on. Maybe you didn’t see them, or you don’t remember seeing them; however, you remember that while the previews were going on, you suddenly felt very hungry. This is what subliminal advertising is all about. It affects your subconscious mind, which in turn, triggers different kinds of reactions through your conscious mind. The process of using subliminal messaging for advertising and marketing campaigns has proven to be very useful over the last couple of decades. However, the concept is a very old one, and was first introduced in 1817, and was used at a massive scale during the Second World War.

What subliminal messaging is all about? 

The concept of subliminal messaging is nothing but hidden images or words, which are not consciously perceived by the human brain, however, they can influence one’s behaviors or attitudes. This concept of subliminal messaging has been controversial for many years. Although, the concept of using different types of subliminal influences through audio recording to help people lose weight or to quit smoking seems to be quite effective, however, the idea has not been globally accepted. Now, the question is, do subliminal messaging work? Is the process of subliminal advertising a valid and proper technique for persuasion, which is capable of changing human attitudes?

What do experts have to say about it? 

As mentioned, the concept of subliminal messaging has triggered controversy, which has existed for many years now. According to some experts, this is a very subtle and smart way of influencing human behavior and even changing them. However, there is another school of thought, that has throughout claimed that there is no proper evidence that subliminal messaging can induce such changes in human behavior. However, according to different research that has been carried out over the last couple of years, it has been substantiated that subliminal messaging, when used in advertisement campaigns, can certainly trigger different types of changes in human behavior and attitudes. Therefore, as far as the question of its effectiveness is concerned, subliminal messaging has been quite effective in achieving different kinds of marketing goals.

What are the primary objectives of subliminal messaging? 

The entire concept of subliminal messaging is based on hitting your subconscious mind. It might be a very small clip that might exist for less than a second, related to a soft drink, or any other brand, which your conscious mind might not get hold of. However, your subconscious mind has already registered it and would trigger you to use that particular brand or soft drink. The analogy that was presented earlier, gives a clear indication that though things might not be very clear or highlighted to you, yet, the fact that your subconscious mind has read it, would invariably trigger a reaction, which would entice you to react in a certain manner.

As mentioned, the concept of using subliminal messages goes back to more than 100 years. However, it has not yet been established that it is a full-proof mechanism, which is invariably going to yield the desired results. However, despite all this skepticism and debate related to it, subliminal messaging is being used all over the world, and according to many, it does help to achieve companies marketing goals.