Is Subliminal Persuasion a Myth?
Subliminal persuasion is technique that is used to make an individual acknowledge something without the need of making an outward suggestion, or without making the individual realize the attempt to influence him or her. So is subliminal persuasion a myth? Yes it is, according to Simons & Jones (2011) who observes that many social psychologists conclude that subliminal persuasion is a myth. Various studies demonstrate that subliminal tapes have no therapeutic value. The study that supposedly gave birth to subliminal persuasion was the Vicary Study, but this study has never been described in professional literature, and it has not been replicated successfully. Therefore, since scientific studies and the existing body of knowledge indicate that subliminal messages do not have an effect on the behavior of people; it can be considered as a myth which made an appearance at one point in time and it can only be explained by its historical context.
However, there are those who hold that subliminal persuasion is not a myth. Many quote Vicary’s study whereby a system that flashed two messages for 1/300th of a second each time during a movie was set up at a local movie theater. The two messages were “Hungry? Eat Popcorn” and “Thirsty? Drink Coca-Cola”. The results of the study showed that Coca-Cola sales increased by 18.1% while popcorn purchases jumped by 57.8% (Radford, 1988). This is an indication that subliminal messages can have effect on people when they are used below the level of human consciousness, which is the subconscious. According to Radford (1988) human beings do not have to be aware of an event that causes their feelings or mood in order for them to be affected by it. This is because they have evolved to respond unconsciously and quickly to stimuli. Therefore, they are capable of reacting to an emotional happening even without being fully aware.
References
Radford, G.P. (1988, May 16) Toward a Structuralist Analysis of Subliminal Persuasion. Retrieved from http://www.theprofessors.net/barthes.html
Simons, H.W. & Jones, J.G. (2011) Persuasion in Society. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=rDLtiCjQrYIC&pg=PA352&lpg=PA352&dq=why+ subliminal+persuasion+is+a+myth&source=bl&ots=6rv6DD1W- H&sig=kds3yt1FjOlKwmxMqh_oYF6i6ww&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BNKkUceUBMLX0QW g64CICg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=why%20subliminal%20persuasion%20is%20a%2 0myth&f=false
