The word, ’subliminal’ means something that is below the threshold of conscious perception. A subliminal message is embedded in another medium and is intended to be subconsciously perceived by the brain. Subliminal techniques are commonly applied to advertising to convey hidden messages to the masses. Subliminal advertising aims at presenting messages in disguise of normal depictions. The techniques of subliminal advertising inject subliminal signals at the rate that a human eye is unable to detect but the subconscious or the deeper mind senses them. Subliminal signals can influence subsequent thoughts and actions of their receiver. Interestingly, the receiver of these signals is unaware of having seen anything, while the person’s actions show an influence of the signals received. This happens because subliminal signals are the subconsciously perceived ones and the conscious self within an individual is unaware of the perception.

     To a certain extent, the subliminal advertising techniques are based on illusions. The presence of shadows, visual and light effects and the use of depths in the depiction of pictures affects the perception of the dimensions of the image. Owing to the optical mechanism of a human eye, the image falling on the retina is affected by the amount and direction of light present in the picture seen. Light effects can influence the human judgment and comprehension of the image. The presence of such visual effects in a picture, influences the way in which the human eye perceives it. The application of subliminal techniques to the visual media is also seen in products where brand names are embedded in images. Advertisers use techniques wherein an image or a piece of text is flashed in several ways, several times. It may be flashed in fractions of seconds making it apparently invisible. But these images are sensed at a subconscious level. Research has shown subliminal exposure to have a deeper impact on individuals. Some studies have shown that subliminally presented visual have had a greater influence on the target audiences.

     Subliminal advertising is also applied to the audio medium. Back masking is an audio technique in which sounds are recorded backwards on a track. To the human ear, they are sensed as being unintelligible sounds while the subconscious mind comprehends the messages. The messages are said to be subliminally heard and can induce the listeners to the actions they intend to convey. (more…)

Subliminal