Introduction:
Imagine watching an advertisement, whether on TV or even a Billboard, and spotting something unusual at first glance, or re-watching an advertisement with full consciousness where you identify a strange visual aid that has been added out of nowhere. It can have no meaning and connection, or it could have a hidden unexplainable meaning, since attention is rather selective in a human’s mind and focuses just on the present view (Posner and Boies,1971; Plude and Doussard-Roosevelt,1990 cited in Plude, Enns and Brodeur, 1994). Perhaps this is what “Subliminal Advertising” means, “a technique of exposing consumers to product pictures, brand names, or other marketing stimuli without the consumers having conscious awareness” (Trappey,1996). This indicates that companies practicing this visual trick can play around with people’s minds, sometimes with unappropriated context, which does not leave an ethical mark.
Part of the controversy of subliminal advertising concerns the misuse of the word.
Part of the controversy of subliminal advertising concerns the misuse of the word.
Part of the controversy of subliminal advertising concerns the misuse of the word.
This essay gives the historical background, some definitions from the literature to understand what and why ethical
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Vicary, who conducted a research on an experiment in a movie theater took place to subliminally guided the audience to ‘‘eat popcorn’’ and ‘‘drink Coca-Cola.’’, which then resulted in increasing sales of popcorn and Coca Cola and the news was broadly reported in media at that time. since the study was never officially reported yet the public outraged on the fact that such phenomenon manipulates consumers. Nevertheless, (Vokey and Read, 1985) argued that if “subliminal messages in rock music and other media (e.g., advertising) influence our behavior requires that there be messages of the requisite