Subliminal Videos – Don't Be Taken in by the Advertising Hype – subliminal video
Since the 1950s Subliminal Messaging has raised its head time and again as a method of getting people to change their habits, and today with the advent of desktop video production, it appears every man and his dog is producing a subliminal video product. The big question though, is do they actually work or are they just so much hot air?
Let’s begin at the beginning (always a good place to start) in 1956 where the whole idea of subliminal messaging began with the famous ‘cinema experiment’, where a market researcher by the name of James Vicary claims to have influenced cinema-goers buying habits through the use of subliminal messages he had put into the movie reels.
Now, if you have read any articles on subliminal videos or CDs they will often quote this experiment as it seems to point to the effectiveness of the subliminal message. Unfortunately using this example is a bit pointless, as in 1962 Vicary came forward and admitted that he had made the whole thing up…he had not only falsified the results, the whole experiment had never taken place!
Oops…so all the subliminal video manufacturers who use this in their adverts are either ignorant, naive or deliberately misleading. Not a good start for all the claims.
Ok, so the big experiment on visual subliminals that everyone clings to was a bit of a sham, what about other experiments? Well over the years there have been a whole host of scientific experiments to see whether Subliminal Messaging actually works, and to be honest the results have been less than supportive of the whole concept.
The ‘cinema experiment’ has been tried several times, and each time has been shown to fail, and in fact there has only been one or two successful experiments, and even the results of these is questionable as no initial base line was measured.
Ahh…but audio tapes, they must work…right?
Actually the evidence for subliminal audio tapes is even less than for video, in fact one specific experiment involved participants listening to personal development subliminal audio for a month, and at the end of it their progress was reviewed. At the end of the experiment there was no difference in the individuals attitudes or behaviors.
The ‘covert’ subliminal, where the audio is inserted into another audio track, or reversed is just lost on the mind. The belief that the subconscious tries to filter out and understand the words is just wrong, and there is absolutely no evidence of this at all.
It appears that the results for Audio mirror those for Video. There is no evidence that subliminal messages in any form actually work, and yet the sales people want to convince you otherwise.
What about positive results?
It’s not all doom and gloom for subliminal messaging, there have been a few small examples of positive results, but there are some clear guidelines of how to be successful with subliminal messages.
The meaning in the message is important and should just be a single word. Sentences, phrases and complex statements are lost, and a repeating word or image is the most effective.
Perhaps the biggest influence on an individual is not the subliminal message itself, but their attitude. Subliminal messages that target a persons current state are much more effective than general ‘good vibe’ messages. For example, someone who is slightly thirsty will be more influenced by a subliminal message for a drink than someone who isn’t thirsty.
So, if you are already mentally prepared for success then subliminal video and audio messages will work, which seems a bit pointless really, if they only work once you already have the mental attitude that they are trying to suggest.
So what does it all mean?
There is no real evidence that these things work, but that shouldn’t put you off buying them if you really think they will help. At the end of the day your mental attitude will count far more to the results of these videos or audios than their content.
If you do want to go down this route then spend your money wisely and pick something that you will feel comfortable with, or better still spend your money on things that have been proven to work, like Hypnosis, or Psychotherapy.
The right mental attitude and positive action will get you to your goals far better than subliminal videos that offer you the world with no effort. And don’t believe all of the advertising hype you read, there are still a great many people out there selling snake-oil to the unwary.
Lee S. Avery – Lee S. Avery is a professional Clinical Hypnotist with close to 20 years experience in the field of behavioral therapies. Originally trained as an engineer, …
