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Extent of influence
Research:Researchers suggests that subliminal messages are only influential in certain conditions. In an experiment performed at Iowa University, researcher Laura Smarandescu measured the effectiveness of subliminal messages by either flashing a participant with the word Powerade or Drawepoe. When exposed to the word Powerade, 52% of thirsty participants chose Powerade and 17% of non-thirsty participants chose Powerade (Smarandescu et al.). However, when there was a delay of 15 minutes between the subliminal prime and the choice of drink, only 25% of people chose Powerade (Smarandescu et al.). This data suggests that in 15 minutes, the effectiveness of subliminal messages can be significantly reduced. Analysis: In this condition, the subliminal prime word Powerade was only influential when participants were thirsty and when the time to choose a drink was immediately presented after the subliminal prime. These limitations hinder the effectiveness of subliminal messages. People must have a desire for the product in order to be influenced by subliminal messages. People also forget about subliminal messages very quickly, so it’s effectiveness in advertising will be drastically reduced. While consumers are watching advertisements there’s an overflow of information. They are not only receiving information from subliminal messages, but they are also receiving information from other advertisements and their surrounding. Because of this information overload, it would be difficult to retain most information from an advertisement. It’s unlikely that people are being controlled by subliminal advertisements. Research (Laboratory Setting):
In certain conditions, subliminal messages may have a lasting effect. In an experiment performed by Simon Ruch and other psychologists, researchers discovered that “subliminal verbal and nonverbal item pairs influenced participants’ conscious, deliberate decisions almost half an hour following subliminal stimulation” (Ruch et al.). This experiment involved pairing images and sounds after being exposed to subliminal messages for about 20 minutes. The subliminal messages would categorize the images and sounds. After the encoding process and a period of 25 minutes, participants would pair the images and sounds to different categories. Participants' pairings matched the category of the subliminal messages over 50% of the time (Ruch et al.). Unlike the experiment performed by Smarandescu, Ruch's data suggests that subliminal messages can have a lasting effect on behavior. Although Ruch’s data does reveal that subliminal messages can have a lasting influence, it does not consider how subliminal messages are presented in a consumer’s environment. Research (Movie Theater Setting):
In an experiment performed by Phil Tinline, a producer, subliminal messages were flashed in a movie theater to make people drink Lipton. One group of participants were flashed with subliminal messages telling them to drink Lipton while the other group was not exposed to subliminal messages. The results were underwhelming with the “Test group (all participants): 46% chose Lipton, 54% chose water. Control group (all participants) 37% Lipton, 63% water” (Tinline). This data suggests that subliminal messages aren't very effective at influencing behavior. Unlike Ruch and Smarandescu, Tinline is not a researcher, and he claimed that he could’ve made errors such as not picking a large sample size, or perhaps by having the subliminal messages flash too quickly. However, if we consider the settings of each experiment, both Ruch and Smarandescu performed their experiments in laboratory settings, but Tinline performed his experiment in a movie theater. Tinline definitely chose a setting that most people who view advertisements are familiar with. As a result his data may be a more accurate portrayal of the effects of subliminal messages on consumers. |
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Images from(Top to bottom):
http://www.us.powerade.com/
http://www.shzongyue.com/laboratory.html
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cinema-dying-movie-theaters-ensure-survival/
http://www.us.powerade.com/
http://www.shzongyue.com/laboratory.html
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cinema-dying-movie-theaters-ensure-survival/