We often hear about how Subliminal Messages are used in Advertising and Politics. But are they really effective? How can subliminal messages influence people's minds? Let's look at a few examples. Al Gore's healthcare ad, which attacked the healthcare policies of President George W. Bush, was the result of a subliminal advertising campaign. The Bush campaign's response to this ad was to pull it from mainstream television.
The use of subliminal messaging techniques is not new. Researchers have studied it for many years. The Monroe Institute developed subliminal messaging techniques that have been used in real world situations. For example, subliminal messages have been used to help train military personnel to identify foreign aircraft and ships. However, the effectiveness of these methods depends on the user's belief. If you believe that subliminal messages are effective, you'll be more likely to use them.
Another example of subliminal marketing is the TV show "Chuck". In one episode, the main character receives e-mails with thousands of flashing pictures. The result is that he can flash his mind on specific things. The other episode uses subliminal encoding in advertising. The main character, Chuck, discovers that he is now able to make his mind flash when he thinks about certain things.
The Amazon logo contains subliminal messaging. The smile-like line at the bottom of the logo is a subtle way of communicating that the brand sells everything. Similarly, Toyota's "everything" slogan communicates a subliminal message. It is hard to avoid a smile when you're in the store. You're almost guaranteed to feel good when you walk into the store or open the door to an ice cream shop.
Research has shown that the presentation of a pair of pseudowords or translations alters participants' decisions. This happens in the context of a delayed decision, when a person is unaware that a certain message was being subliminally presented. The results of these experiments suggest that the effects of subliminal messages on a delayed decision are profound, even if the individual doesn't fully understand the subliminal message.