Subliminal messaging

Subliminal Messages 

"In the field of marketing ... the trend toward selling [has] reached something of a nadir with the unveiling ... of so-called subliminal projection. That is the technique designed to flash messages past our conscious guard" - Vance Packard

Subliminal messaging is the psychology of flashing words or imagery to people so they will be "programmed" to do/say/commanded what is intended. This idea has stemmed from a book by Vance Packard who wrote about how hidden persuaders such as media, corporate business and even politicians use these techniques to change the way we act as consumers. The Hidden Persuaders shows light on how advertising have utilized psychology and used it to manipulate the unaware. I found Packard's writing style to be a little dry and referencing stereotypes a little out dated but overall it was enlightening to understand the psychology behind why we conform and consume.

"At one of the largest advertising agencies in America psychologists on the staff are probing sample humans in an attempt to find how to identify, and beam messages to, people of high anxiety, body consciousness, hostility, passiveness and so on." - Vance Packard

Interestingly, market researcher James Vicary, conducted an experiment which interjected the words "Hungry? Eat popcorn" and "Drink Cocoa-cola" to install the idea of consuming merchandise in hope of spiking confectionary profit. Vicary was later proved that his research was faked and was disregarded. Though still today when we go to see a blockbuster, we are still bombarded with scenes of deliciously cold glasses of coke and overflowing bags of popcorn, showing that these techniques are still relevant and being used today.

Bibliography

The Hidden Persuaders - Vance Packard

https://study.com/academy/lesson/james-vicary-experiment-lesson-quiz.html