Psyc 306

Topics Covered

· Automatic Processing

· A History of “Subliminal” Persuasion

· Popular Misconceptions: Is the Message Really Subliminal?

· Priming as Subliminal Influence

· Product Placement in Persuasion

Automatic Processing

· Automatic processing allows us to perform certain tasks without awareness or intention.

· Downside: mindlessness; vulnerability to influence.

· Explicit messages are more effective than implicit; yet people often worry more about the latter!

Where do “Subliminal” Influences Come From?

History of “Subliminal Messages”

· Packard (1957): “The Hidden Persuaders.”

· Vicary (1957) claimed subliminal ads for soda and popcorn raised movie concession sales.

· Revealed to be a hoax.

· Nowadays only promoted very dubiously:

· “Speed reading”;

· “Sleep learning”;

· “Backmasking” (e.g., Vokey & Read, 1985).

“Subliminal” vs. Subtle

“Subliminal” vs. Pareidolia

More Pareidolia

“Subliminal” vs. Unverifiable Interpretation

“Subliminal” vs. the Mischievous Employee

“Subliminal” vs. Sexuality

“Subliminal” vs. Sexuality

“Subliminal” vs. Sexuality

“Subliminal” vs. Sexuality

“Subliminal” vs. Sexuality

· Color may influence perception and attitudes unconsciously (e.g., Pazda et al., 2014).

Priming as Subliminal Influence

· We can briefly and mildly influence people subliminally through priming:

· Cognitions (e.g., Bargh, 2002)

· Attitudes (Karremans et al., 2006)

· Behavior (Strahan et al., 2002)

· Even so, subliminal priming is only effective in high-control lab studies.

Product Placement

· Gratuitously inserting a sponsor’s brand into a mass media communication message.

· Grew to popularity in 1980s.