Subliminal Messages. Between the Devil and the Media

Abstract

We describe our entanglement in the controversial public issue of subliminal messages in advertising and popular music in order to provide a report of our research unencumbered by the misrepresentations in the various media reports of this work. A distinction is drawn between the alleged presence of these messages in the media concerned and the impact they are purported to have upon the listener or viewer. Our research is concerned primarily with the latter: Is there any evidence to warrant assertions that such messages affect our behavior? Across a wide variety of tasks, we were unable to find any evidence to support such a claim. Secondarily, we present evidence to suggest that the apparent presence of backward messages in popular music is a function more of active construction on the part of the perceiver than of the existence of the messages themselves. Finally, we describe our experiences with the public media's handling of these issues. © 1985 American Psychological Association.