Subliminal Messaging: What Can Advertisers Really Do?
Thelma Oates
University of Central Florida
Subliminal Messaging: What Can Advertisers Really Do? In 1957, James Vicary started the ultimate controversy of subliminal messaging in advertising. He claimed that he increased the sale of soda and popcorn within a movie theater using subliminal messages. This bold claim was never replicated and years later he even admitted that it was a hoax, (Verwijmeren, Karremans, Bernritter, Stroebe, and Wigboldus, 2013). However, it is still a commonly held belief that advertisers can make consumers buy products with the use of subliminal messaging, whether the consumer wants the product or not. While subliminal messaging within advertising is commonly believed to hold power and manipulate consumers, subliminal messaging is a very limited tool that is only effective within very specific situations. …show more content…
For example, Vicary’s use of subliminal messaging was by flashing the message “Eat Popcorn” and “Drink Cola” within other distractors. The general fear of subliminal messaging would be that it can control consumer actions. This fear is so prevalent that Great Britain, Australia, and the United States all banned the use of subliminal messaging within advertising, (Karremans, Stroebe, and Claus, 2006). The commonly held belief that subliminal messaging can manipulate consumers has been invalidated by empirical research indicating that subliminal messages only have desired effects within certain situations where consumer and advertising goals
Thelma Oates
University of Central Florida
Subliminal Messaging: What Can Advertisers Really Do? In 1957, James Vicary started the ultimate controversy of subliminal messaging in advertising. He claimed that he increased the sale of soda and popcorn within a movie theater using subliminal messages. This bold claim was never replicated and years later he even admitted that it was a hoax, (Verwijmeren, Karremans, Bernritter, Stroebe, and Wigboldus, 2013). However, it is still a commonly held belief that advertisers can make consumers buy products with the use of subliminal messaging, whether the consumer wants the product or not. While subliminal messaging within advertising is commonly believed to hold power and manipulate consumers, subliminal messaging is a very limited tool that is only effective within very specific situations. …show more content…
For example, Vicary’s use of subliminal messaging was by flashing the message “Eat Popcorn” and “Drink Cola” within other distractors. The general fear of subliminal messaging would be that it can control consumer actions. This fear is so prevalent that Great Britain, Australia, and the United States all banned the use of subliminal messaging within advertising, (Karremans, Stroebe, and Claus, 2006). The commonly held belief that subliminal messaging can manipulate consumers has been invalidated by empirical research indicating that subliminal messages only have desired effects within certain situations where consumer and advertising goals