MARKETING LETTERS

A REVIEW WORK ON THE IMPACT OF SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES ON CONSUMER

BEHAVIOUR
--Manuscript Draft-Manuscript Number:

MARK-D-15-00128

Full Title:

A REVIEW WORK ON THE IMPACT OF SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES ON CONSUMER

BEHAVIOUR

Article Type:

Manuscript

Keywords:

Subliminal Ads, Subjugation, Emotions, Cognitions and Irrational Behaviour

Corresponding Author:

SHAKEEL AHMAD SOFI, M.Phil,MBA

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR
Srinagar, Kashmir- J&K, JAMMU AND KASHMIR INDIA

Corresponding Author Secondary

Information:
Corresponding Author's Institution:

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR

Corresponding Author's Secondary

Institution:
First Author:

SHAKEEL AHMAD SOFI, M.Phil,MBA

First Author Secondary Information:

Order of Authors:

SHAKEEL AHMAD SOFI, M.Phil,MBA

DR. FAYAZ AHMAD NIKA, P.hD

Order of Authors Secondary Information:

Funding Information:
Abstract:

The topic subliminal advertising has had long controversy ever since 1958 when
James vicary published a study based on the effects in add "Drink Coke, Eat Pop
Corn", wherein he had found increase in sales after movie at refreshment Box
(Russel, Rowe and Smouse, 1991). Subliminal basically means below threshold and
subliminal advertisements are directed at subconscious level where a consumer is not
able to evaluate consciously what is happening to him or her but its impact is seen
through indirect way as to examine what is impact on feelings, how cognitive aspect of
a consumer is affected, whether consumers of such ads are able to evaluate such type
of ads, how much thrilled and involved they feel towards characters depicted in
subliminal ads and many other aspects as well. This is a review paper which focuses
on review of literature related to subliminal ads that includes history of subliminal ads,
review of related literature, celebrity endorsement, cognition, affection and irrational
behaviour. This is all theoretical work where objective has been to highlight how
subliminal technique came into existence, what are various ways of using subliminal
techniques and how these ads effect the affective and cognitive states of a consumer.

Additional Information:
Question

Response

What is your manuscript's word count

(including references)?

5282

Powered by Editorial Manager and ProduXion Manager from Aries Systems Corporation

Title Page with ALL Author Contact Information

A REVIEW WORK ON THE IMPACT OF SUBLIMINAL

MESSAGES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

SHAKEEL AHMAD SOFI*; DR. FAYAZ AHMAD NIKA **

*RESEARCH SCHOLAR
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR
SONWAR SRINAGAR-190004
Email: shakeel.sofi@ymail.com
Mobile: +919018504197

**ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR
SONWAR SRINAGAR-190004
Email: n_nika2004@yahoo.co.in
Mobile:+9196321750

ABSTRACT:
The topic subliminal advertising has had long controversy ever since
1958 when James vicary published a study based on the effects in add
Drink Coke, Eat Pop Corn, wherein he had found increase in sales
after movie at refreshment Box (Russel, Rowe and Smouse, 1991).
Subliminal

basically

means

below

threshold

and

subliminal

advertisements are directed at subconscious level where a consumer is

not able to evaluate consciously what is happening to him or her but
its impact is seen through indirect way as to examine what is impact
on feelings, how cognitive aspect of a consumer is affected, whether
consumers of such ads are able to evaluate such type of ads, how
much thrilled and involved they feel towards characters depicted in
subliminal ads and many other aspects as well. This is a review paper
which focuses on review of literature related to subliminal ads that
includes history of subliminal ads, review of related literature,
celebrity endorsement, cognition, affection and irrational behaviour.
This is all theoretical work where objective has been to highlight how
subliminal technique came into existence, what are various ways of
using subliminal techniques and how these ads effect the affective and
cognitive states of a consumer.
KEYWORDS: Subliminal Ads, Subjugation, Emotions, Cognitions and Irrational
Behaviour

BLIND Manuscript without contact information

Click here to view linked References

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY OF SUBLIMINAL ADS

The birth of subliminal advertising dates back to 1957 when a

market researcher named James Vicary inserted the words "Eat
Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" into a movie. The words appeared
for a single frame, allegedly long enough for the subconscious to
pick up, but too short for the viewer to be aware of it. The
subliminal ads supposedly created an 18.1% increase in Coke sales
and a 57.8% increase in popcorn sales. Vicary's results turned out
to be a hoax

[1].

But more recent experiments have shown that

subliminal messages actually can affect behavior in small ways.

William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, prominently spoke out
against subliminals when the movie adaptation of his book came
under fire for allegedly including subliminal messaging. He said
there are no subliminal images. If you can see it, it's not subliminal.
"So do advertisers consciously choose to include subliminal
messages in their ads? Can they harness subliminal power to
associate their products with sex and power? If so, does it actually
affect consumer's buying decision?

[2]

There were problems in 1950s within the United States as the

World War II had just ended and there were difficulties with the
supply side of the production as factories would go on producing
with having only a lesser demand. Unfortunately, there were not

enough consumers who could have purchased in large amounts

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

from the manufacturers because of the destruction that had struck

people after World War II. Not only this, there were economic
problems within the State because of long economic slowdown and
also the conflict that followed had serious ramifications on the
public psyche. This scenario had left consumer in prudent state as
every consumer had become very conservative. Almost all the
consumers tried to consume what used to be with them, and they
tried to avoid purchasing unnecessary things. Most of the things
manufactured were of high quality with less replacement rate. From
the consumers point of view, this looked like an ideal situation but
the market was approaching near stagnation as the lack of demand
posed a serious threat to the post-war recovery. It had become a
challenge for manufacturers and other people to respond to these
crises. People started investing money to get through this though
period of no consumption and some of the research experts created
a new field of investigation, known as "motivational research" [3].
Advertising agencies recruited psychologists and sociologists from
different parts of the world, who were given access to sophisticated
laboratories, they had the job to come with a technique so that
people would be influenced to purchase things on aggressive buying
pattern. As the study in motivational research gained momentum,
advertising agencies invested enormous amount in trillion dollars a
year

on

projects

associated

with

MR

and

advertising.

The

advertising researchers employed psychological methods that had

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

previously been used to diagnose what can make people to buy

things without conscious evaluation, when they dont buy on need
basis. In other words, they were trying what can be done to induce
people to an aggressive, unplanned, irrational buying behaviour.
After thorough analysis and interpretation, they came up with the
theory that consumers can be pursued to purchase products
without their conscious evaluation and in most of the cases they
will not be aware of the things they would be buying. In one depth
probing," approach they searched out peoples' hidden desires about
different

categories

of

products[4].

Experts

from

Marketing

Research, asked number of questions, they also utilized the

technique of word association tests along with sentence completion
tests. Projective techniques

were also used.

They

employed

psychodramas as well, where subjects under experimentation were

required to physically "act out" their inner desires against the
projected product. To explore and get feedback from group of people
at the same time focus group interviews were

conducted. Group

meetings were arranged on continuous basis by experts in the field

of advertising and key findings, which motivational researchers
gained with the passage of time, helped them to improve the
persuasive appeal of advertising. Apart from psychological tests,
advertising agencies invented electronic device which could measure
an individuals' unconscious physical reactions against advertised

brands and packages. This device could even detect minute

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

amounts of sweat on the skin, tiny changes in the heart and pulse
rates, and minute muscular contractions that divulged the subjects
unconscious emotional states. In some supermarkets, sophisticated
hidden cameras were used to monitor the eye movements of
shoppers. The dilation of the shoppers pupils revealed how
interested they were in each of the products. The number of times
they blinked per minute revealed their degree of tension. Many of
the shoppers were found to be in mild hypnotic trance. [5]
Valance Packard, one of the famous Motivational Research Analyst,
through his book Hidden Persuaders, revealed that most of these
techniques were being used by all persuaders including advertising
agencies, shoppers, politicians etc. Though this book of Valance is
simple to understand but it contains highly important material for
an individual interested in knowing the truth of subliminal
advertising and this could have been the reason that it had quickly
gained the number one spot on the list best books sold and this
book proved to be highly precious for scholars involved in depth
probing as it contains scientific literature on the subject. During the
same time when this book got published one more famous expert in
the field of motivational research known by the James Vicary
headed a press conference in New York City, where he announced
serious facts about the experiment that he had conducted in theatre

for New Jersey Movie having employed a device known as

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

Tachistoscope. A Tachistoscope is a machine that is able to flash

words or images on a screen for very a short duration of time.
Vicary flashed the words "Hungry? Eat Popcorn" and "Drink CocaCola" every five seconds throughout the movie Picnic. Over 45,000
movie-goers unknowingly participated. Vicary revealed that this
technique of flashing words had increased popcorn sales

[6].

He

openly announced to offer these services of his company The

Subliminal

Projection

Corporation

to

others

including

merchandisers and advertisers working in any part of the world. He

gave full assurance to all his customers that he can create
subliminal advertisements for any kind of products through a
variety of mediums. Vicary had the idea that subliminal advertising
can be beneficial to the society at large. Just after this episode
many organizations decided to use Subliminal Advertising to induce
consumers to buy their products. But the controversy about
subliminal advertising started just with its beginning as people
around the world were furious about the facts that they were being
under bombardment of subliminal manipulation. Vicary had the
impression that his ideas will be accepted worldwide but most of the
people were angry and launched protests against this technique of
subliminal persuasion through angry editorials to raise their voices.
Large number of organizations including religious organizations
declared that the subliminal technique was threat to personal

liberty which would brainwash youth and lead to political

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

subjugation. Online magazines like The New Yorker claimed that

the mind of youth were broken and entered". Newsday, referred to
the Tachistoscope as the most alarming invention since the atomic
bomb. A letter from a prominent businessman published in the Los
Angeles Times suggested that Vicary was as evil as Nazi war
criminals and should be shot dead [7].
Public Opinion Quarterly, published that almost one third of the
consumers reported that they would stop watching any programmee
on TV if it continued with subliminal messages. With the passage of
time and with increased anger, advertising industry had to think
about

reversing

its

decision

about

subliminal

manipulation.

Different media organizations like TV and Radio stations all over the
World did give assurance to their respondents that they wont be
using any such technique of subliminal persuasion in future. A
number of bills at national and international level were introduced
so as to declare this technique of persuasion as illegal. But the
results were contradicting all the time as not a single bill was not
given easy passage.
In 1957, the supreme body of communications know as The
Federal Communications Commission announced that no media,
be it Radio or TV, was using subliminal techniques, so there was
nothing to worry about and hence no reason to ban such ads. But

contrary
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

to

this,

advertisers

started

giving

more

time

and

investment to study in depth and come up with better persuasion

technique, so it was all the reverse what people actually wanted.
An article in 1958 in the Christian Science Monitor entitled, "Ad
Firms Ponder Success of Invisible Commercials," exposed "a major
firm" that had circulated a confidential memorandum to its clients
disclosing that "there was enough at stake" to continue its
subliminal research[8].
As a result large number of competing agencies used same strategy
and for some time the topic of subliminal persuasion completely lost
its place in news world and people were encouraged not to discuss
this issue any more. General public who were threatened by the
controversy of subliminal advertising accepted the ridiculous idea
that agencies involved in the creation of subliminal technique now
had lost interest in it.
Ernest

Dichter,

the

self-proclaimed

"father

of

motivational

research," wrote in the handbook of Consumer Motivations, we

attempt to escape fear-producing stimuli. By producing fear we can
alter people's behaviour. When caught in fear, we regress step by
step to ever more infantile and animalistic drives."[9] This can be
better understood by the advertisement Try our Hard Pack that
unconsciously promotes fear of sexual failure which then forces the
respondent to engage in irrational behaviour.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

OBJECTIVES:
This paper wholly focuses on review of literature in the area of
consumer behaviour and components of consumer behaviour. This
paper focuses on how subliminal technique evolved and it
highlights how an external stimulus like Subliminal ads can effect
consumer behaviour whether positively or with no effect at all. Since
there are number of factors that influence consumer decision
making and determine consumer behaviour but this review paper
focuses only on some of the components of consumer with greater
importance on external stimuli and responses generated by
consumer after being exposed to subliminal ads. In this short
study, the main objective has been to highlight various issues
related to subliminal ads and how this external stimuli effects
component of a consumer like how such ads have been able to
effect cognition and affection of an individual. Several studies
conducted in this field have highlighted how external stimuli can
lead to irrational behaviour with difference in cognition and
affection and this factor has been given due importance in this
review paper. Advertising agencies use different techniques to
persuade consumers like use of celebrities, use of half sexual
actions in ads and metaphor as well which also has been discussed
in this paper. Some of the core objectives of this paper are enlisted
below:

1. To highlight the history of subliminal ads.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

2. To present review of literature related to subliminal ads.

3. To discuss how subliminal ads can affect cognition and affection
both

being

important

components

of

consumer

decision

making.
4. To discusses how subliminal ads can lead to irrational
behaviour with difference in cognition and affection.
5. To briefly discuss how celebrities can be effective in determining
consumer behaviour.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITEREATURE

There has been continuous research regarding subliminal messages
in biological, psychological and other social science fields including
management as well. As we mentioned in history of subliminal
advertising, James Vicary, a prominent expert in motivational
research, claimed to have invented a new technique which could
force consumers into irrational buying

[10].

As he came out with the

Coca Cola study, subliminal messages caught attention of business

world and it got highlighted to the extent that Federal funding was
pumped into subliminal research related projects

[11].

The whole

world including academicians, viewed subliminal persuasion as a

medium that in indirect way created antisocial behaviour such as
early sex stimulation in children, change in value system of an
individual,

cultural

change,

suicidal

acts

and

drug

use[12].

According to Urban (1992), the process of visual subliminal

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

persuasion is undeniable, however there is difference of opinion on

the effectiveness of auditory subliminal persuasion. The visual
stimulus can be in terms of sexual messages, half sexual actions,
metaphor and celebrity endorsement either through graphics or
videos, where as auditory includes audios such as back ground
voice, music etc. However, there are research studies that have
shown no signs of subliminal messages and apart from it some
scholars have drawn the conclusion that these persuasive messages
do

not

change

behaviours

attitude,

behaviour,

motivation,

or

complex

[13].

There are, however, many studies on the subject of subliminal

messages and their positive effects. Large number of studies have
indicated that the visual subliminal messages can affect the viewers
affective dimension to some extent

[14].

Some of the past studies

have also shown significant results about feelings, these studies

explored that the feelings in response to an ad are important in
determining the effectiveness of an ad

[15].

In the area of judgment,

fewer studies have revealed that judgements can be influenced by

subliminal messages and there are only some research publications
that show behaviour can be affected by subliminal messages

[16].

In

one study, Fleur and Petranoff (1959) tried to induce television

viewers to either buy certain food products or watch a news show

directly after a 2-hour feature movie. They could examine the

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

impact of the subliminal messages in isolation and in combination

with the help of persuasive techniques such as regular TV
advertisements for the food items and the news shows. The findings
revealed that subliminal advertising for products like food items,
either singly or with other methods of advertising, failed to bring
any measurable impact on the sales of the shown items. Here in
this

case

subliminal

messages

through

advertising

had

no

significant effect in seducing consumers to watch the news show

after the featured movie either. But contrary to it, the audience size
declined slightly to some extent
(1999),

revealed

findings

[17].

A research work by Kalra

suggesting

that

visual

subliminal

messages may be effective through their indirect impact on attitude

toward a celebrity/action/product [18]. Such findings are relevant to
the organizations and advertising agencies because the consumers
feelings about an advertisements itself (which includes messages,
metaphor, celebrity endorsement and product as well) are effective
in influencing his or her behaviour. In one more study (Jamie Lynne
Wilfong ,2002), subjects were exposed to sexually suggestive
subliminal messages embedded in print advertisements in order to
examine the effect of subliminal messages on three types of feelings
that might be evoked by the ad-upbeat feelings, negative feelings,
and warm feelings. This study showed different results with no
significant effect of the subliminal messages on upbeat feelings but

there was a significant effect about subliminal message by gender

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

interaction, as the degree of upbeat feelings in men in the message

embed condition was significantly higher than the level evoked in
women. There was also a significant main effect of the subliminal
embeds on negative feelings. The gender by embed interaction was
not significant. For warm feelings, neither embeds nor gender had
any effect

[19].

The public and academicians viewed the subliminal message as a

channel that may have indirectly caused antisocial behaviours,
such as suicidal acts and drug use (Taylor, Retrieve December 5,
2007, from http://www.innertalk.com/downloads/subtech.html).
In May 1978, police investigators in a Midwestern city attempted to
arrest a murderer by interspersing subliminal messages among
frames of TV news film describing the murder (New York Times,
1990). In the music industry, rock and roll has often been blamed
as a force for adolescents antisocial behaviour. These cases were
very sensational that subliminal messages in music or TV
commercials were becoming widely known and controversial
simultaneously

[20].

2.3 Celebrities
Nowadays celebrities are used in advertising everywhere. Bret lie,
Akshay Kumar, Amitab Bachan, Sachin Tendulkar, Michael Jordan,

David Beckham endorse various brands like David Beckham for

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

Gillette, Michael Jordan for Nike, Pepsi by Britney Spears etc. These
celebrities have the role of promoters, who induce consumers to
purchase products, services and ideas without their evaluation
rather buying is mostly based on the fact that the celebrity has
used and recommended it (Kambitsis et al., 2002) [21]. The impact of
endorsement and no endorsement is shown by the fact that
celebrity endorsers are able to generate more positive responses
towards the product, messages and advertisements itself and such
actions of endorsement result in higher purchase intentions than
a non-celebrity endorser. The celebrity endorsement can be
favourable and unfavourable and can have positive image or
negative image as well. One example of successful campaign that
w a s h i g h l y e f f e c t i v e was the campaign with Jamie Oliver as
an endorser for the grocery distribution group J. Sainsbury. The
successful format of The naked chef TV- show provided the
perfect platform on which to model advertisement scenarios within
a context relevant for Sainsburys desire (Byrne, 2003)
ot h er

h an d,

[22].

On the

th e campaign that had negative impact on

respondents was that of Hertz used O.J Simpsons mass appeal

in ads. The company was stuck with Simpson being charged with
double homicide, and he was later acquitted on national TV
(Levenson, 2005) [23].
The companies that adopt celebrity endorsements have strong

associations with models who act as celebrity endorsers over a long

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

period of time (Hsu and McDonald, 2002). In present scenario the

trend is that most of the models who endorse brands are actors,
athletes and other celebrities. Most of the studies conducted in
the subject of celebrity endorsement have revealed

that

this

method of inducing consumers can have greater impact on

consumer behaviour if the characteristics of the model correlate
with the attributes of the brand being advertised (Hsu and
McDonald, 2002) [24]. One more study related to attractiveness (Till
and Busler, 1998) of endorsers has revealed that attractive models
used as celebrity are able to influence consumers to larger extent
than that of unattractive models. Celebrity advertising strategy has
been around for long time now and this form of advertising is used
strategically to persuade consumers and almost 20 % of the
advertising

agencies

celebrity endorsement
According

to

Pringle

endorse

their

products

through

[25].

(2004),

Celebrity

endorsement

helps

advertising agencies and companies to achieve long term goals

through brand building campaigns. He further said, that an
important aspect in this kind of campaigning is the intension
endorser is having when promoting the brand. He pointed out that
large number of celebrities seem to be doing it for one purpose that
is monetary concern. He further argued that the endorsers should
have greater concern for their integrity and credibility in association

with the product they are endorsing.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

A number of studies have been conducted on the customers

response against celebrity endorsement campaigning and results
have

revealed

that

endorsements

help

make

advertising

campaigns attractive believable and induce customers towards

buying on irregular/irrational basis.

Furthermore

as

per

Pringle (2004), the attractiveness of public towards prominent

stars and role models will increase with full strength as they play an
important role as entertainers in their society, which would further
add to the usage of endorsers in advertisements[26].This undefined
relationship of celebrity endorsement is used for creating
consumer pull which most of the time leads to irrational
buying. However, some research studies on the subject have
reported

decreasing

returns

with

usage

of

celebrities

in

advertisements and this may be because of the costs that they incur
to engage celebrity for advertising. Also some endorsers endorse
several brands and for personal benefits they at times switch and
endorse competing brands and this does create negative image and
downbeat impact on sale of the product. But overall figures have
shown a favourable relationship between celebrity endorsement
and anticipated results, which is encouraging for the marketers as
it enhances the scope of celebrity endorsement in Advertising
Industry. In a study based on large number of samples, it was

reported
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

by

the

researcher

that

this

technique

persuades

consumers to go for irrational buying which leads to profitable

strategy for the business [27].

2.4 Cognition, Affection and Irrational Buying

Past research has addressed affective and cognitive processes as
psychological occurrences that happen during consumer decisionmaking. Investigation in the affective and cognitive processes and
components, that occur during the course of consumer decisionmaking, is essential as these are among those processes that play
positive role in inducing consumer towards irrational buying. From
1950s, experts from around the world in the field of Economics,
Psychology and consumer behaviour have been trying to explore
and define the conceptual framework of irrational buying along with
its importance to consumer behaviour (Burroughs, et al, 1996)

[28].

Several research studies have been conducted which have classified

items as irrational versus non-irrational products. It was revealed
by Bellenger (1978), that consumer irrational buying behaviour was
widely spread both across the population dimensions and across
categories of products as well

[29].

Statistical reports on irrational

buying during 1970s were stunning as almost 50 % of supermarket

products (Kollat & Willet, 1967), 51 % of pharmaceuticals, and 61 %
of healthcare and beauty aid items were bought on an unplanned
and irregular basis. (POPAI/DuPont Studies, 1978), besides it,62 %

of discount store buying (Prasad, 1975) and 27-62 % of all

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

departmental store buying were declared as irrational

purchase

categories. From those departmental store items bought on

irrational basis, 39.6% were from apparel goods which included
mens sport and casual clothes, mens apparel and furnishings,
womens/girls

clothing,

womens

sportswear,

and

womens

dresses[30]. It was found by Williams and Dardis (1972) that

46 %

of womens outerwear and 32 % of mens wear, out of total

purchases,

were

made

on

an

unplanned

basis

throughout

department store, specialty stores, and discount stores. Only some

product lines were treated as not being affected by the dissonance
between cognition and affection (Rook & Hoch, 1985).However, the
figures could be on higher side because of the bombardment of
external stimuli such as subliminal ads and also because of the
pace with which consumers live today and other factors such as
time constraints, family structure, availability of 24-hour ECommerce.
Latest developments in consumer behaviour and consumer decision
making have considered consumer behaviour either the result of
reasoned actions or as a repository of emotional reactions. Hoch
and Lowenstein (1991), defined irrational buying as a struggle
between these two components of consumer behaviour i.e. affect or
emotions and cognition or thoughts. Irrationality is mainly because
of emotional forces while as the cognitive component supports

willpower of an individual. Previous studies have examined these

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

components in isolation but to understand complete decision

making process, neither of the two alone can be sufficient (Hoch &
Lowenstein, 1991)
important

[31].

dimensions

Affective and cognitive responses are

of

irrational

buying.

An

irresistible

inclination to purchase fights with the internal willpower to delay

instant pleasure. When a consumer has lesser amount of selfcontrol than that of buying inclination, irrational buying emerges
(Youn, 2000). The conflict between the affective dimensions (i.e.
emotional desires to purchase) and the cognitive dimensions (that
includes strong internal control not to purchase) is similar to a
balance beam that can shift at any moment and only a slight shift is
required so as to create the change.

Affection (Emotional desire)

and Cognition (cognitive willpower) fight against each other and

produce an uneven irrationality/self-control balance beam effect. If
an individuals emotional inclination are on higher side than the
cognitive dimensions of self control then result will be irrationality if
all other contributing factors remain constant (Youn, 2000) [32].

CONCLUSION
After reviewing the studies conducted in the field of consumer
behavior, external stimuli, components of consumer behavior like
cognition, affection and irrational behavior, it can be concluded that
consumers after being exposed to external stimuli report different

behavior
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

with

some

showing

positive

impact

on

behavioral

components. And this difference has been the major factor in

determing the irrational behavior but at the same time some studies
have reported no impact on any of the components. So the
controversy of subliminal ads still exists which has left the greater
scope for future research in this field. One needs to come up with
an instrument that could detect the level of feelings, cognition of a
consumer after being exposed to subliminal ads though same can
be achieved through indirect methods. But for direct observation
one could use a device known as Techtiscope which directly
measures the level of affection and cognition when an individual is
exposed to external stimuli, it also measures the eye blink rate and
heart beating of a consumer while watching ads. The other method
of indirect observation would consist of Questionnaire asking
respondents to respond how they feel about ads and this response
could

measure

various dimensions like affection, cognition,

irrational behavior, purchase intensions, purchase privacy etc. Here

in indirect observation one could use videos or case study on
subliminal ads and then ask respondents to provide feedback on
different elements like actions in ads, messages in ads etc. Different
scales have been developed by various scientists in the field of
consumer behavior that would be highly beneficial in getting
rational response from consumers.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

Suggestions
After review of the literature in the field of subliminal advertising
and external stimuli, some grave issues related to consumer
behaviour and irrational buying that seducers have been trying to
induce in consumers have left serious ramifications on different
stake holders. Everyone needs take cognizance so as to safe guard
themselves and others from this dreadful weapon of subliminal
advertising. Some of the recommendations that were felt imperative
have been highlighted below:
1.

The degree of nudity in TV advertisements needs to be limited to

the extent as much as possible. Nudity largely affects the degree of
affection and influences the anti social behaviour among youth.

2.

The guidelines formulated by ASCI (Advertising Standard Council of

India) needed to be followed not only for the legal purposes but for
societal concerns as well. The regulations of the council should
become operationalized and all advertising agencies should be
forced to adhere to the formulated guidelines.

3.

The all important ASCI codes including fairness in advertising,

advertising

with

conscience,

honesty

and

responsibility

in

advertising and more importantly the decency in advertising should

form the base line for advertisers.
4. There should not be indiscriminate use of advertising in situations
or of the promotion of products which are regarded as hazardous or

harmful to society or to individuals, particularly minors, to a degree

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

or of a type which is unacceptable to society at large.

5.

No advertising agency should be permitted to advertise products,

messages in such a way that tends to incite people to crime or to
promote disorder and violence or intolerance.

6.

Advertisement should contain nothing indecent, vulgar, especially

in depiction of women, or nothing repulsive which is likely, in the
light of generally prevailing standards of decency and propriety, to
cause grave or widespread offence.

7.

The Metaphor strategy in advertisements should be restricted as it

puts youth in a vicious state wherein they find themselves involved
in irrational and anti-social behaviour.

8.

Parents ought to be highly vigilant about different activities that

their children carry throughout the day. They should enquire
spending and particularly type of purchase pattern within their
children.

9.

The religious scholars from different communities need to rope in

and counsel the youth about the reality of life and help understand
youth, that life is just not about watching nude pictures or
leveraging through masturbation and drugs.

10. The use of internet should be limited as well and it again needs
vigilance of parents and other elder family members at home. This
is because internet over the years has brought unrecognized
changes in the behaviour of youth.

11.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

Parents must make sure what their wards are watching on

television and their rate of watching TV should be limited.

12.

The educated youth spends major portion of his/her life in the

educational institutes. So universities, colleges should come up
with different programmes highlighting the consequences of
subliminal advertising. These educational institutes can also start
programs to imbibe values among youth where in they can find
ways to control their affection and generate higher cognition.
Spiritual classes can be a better option.

13.

The advertising agencies have social and moral obligation towards

youth who they want to corrupt through subliminal exposure.
Therefore, they must recognize the need to safe guard the youth
who are considered to be future heroes of the nation.

14.

The advertising agencies need to reinstate the strategies with

reference to subliminal ads. They ought to focus on adding the
value to the consumer likings and not to distort youth through
such exposure.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

REFRENCES
1. Erin J. Strahan , et al(2002). Subliminal priming and persuasion:
Striking

while the iron is hot: Journal of Experimental Social

Psychology.
2. Charles , et al (2013). How to Make Money from Subliminal
Advertising and

Motivation Research. International Journal of

Communication.
3. Valance Pakard (2007). The hidden persuaders: Ig Publishing.
4. Dylan Love (2011). The Shocking Drink And Incredible History Of
COKE Subliminal Advertising.
5. Subliminal Advertising and its impact.http://markettorrent.com/
community/viewtopic.php?t=5247.
6. Terence
Aspects

Shimp(2010).

Advertising

of

Marketing

Integrated

Promotion

and

Other

Communications.

South

western Cengage Learning.

7. Markettorrent.com/Subliminal advertising .
8. Markettorrent.com/Subliminal Advertising ).
9. Attorney August(2005):

The Secret Sales Pitch :An Overview

of Subliminal Advertising.
10. Packard,(1957) : The hidden persuaders: Ig Publishing.
11. Russel, et al.(1991). Subliminal Self-Help Tapes and Academic
Achievement-An

Evaluation:

Journal

of

counseling

and

Development.
12. Kayoko Takahashi,( 2007). The Effect of Subliminal Messages and

Suggestions on Memory: Isolating the Placebo Effect" (2007): The

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

Graduate School at DigiNole Commons.

13. Urban, M. J. (1992). Auditory subliminal stimulation: A reexamination: Perceptual and Motor Skills.
14. Trappey,(1996). A meta-analysis of consumer choice and subliminal
advertising:Wiley Online Library.
15. Michel Tuan Phama et al(2013). The

inuence of ad-evoked

feelings on brand evaluations :Empirical generalizations from

consumer responses to more than 1000 TV commercials .Intern.
Journal of Research in Marketing.
16. Jamie Lynne Wilfong (2002). The Effects of Subliminal Messages in
print Advertisements: The Graduate School at DigiNole Commons.
17. Fleur, Melvin L. and Robert M. Petranoff. (1959). "A Televised Test
of Subliminal Persuasion." University of Chicago Press.
18. Aylesworth, et al (1999). Effect of archetypal embeds on feelings:
An indirect route to affecting attitudes?: Journal of Advertising.
19. Jamie Lynne Wilfong (2002). The Effects of Subliminal Messages in
print Advertisements: The Graduate School at DigiNole Commons
20. Block, et al (2002), "Can You Sell Subliminal

Messages to

Consumers?":Journal of Advertising.
21. Kambitsis et al., (2002), Sports Advertising in Print Media: The
case of 2000 Olympic Games, Corporate Communications: An
International Journal.

22. Byrne et al., 2003) . "The naked truth of celebrity endorsement",

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65

British Food Journal.

23. Levenson,( 2005). When celebrity endorsement attack // Fortune.
24. Hsu and McDonald,( 2002). An Examination on Multiple Celebrity
Endorsers

in

Advertising,:

Journal

of

Product

&

Brand

Management.
25. Till and Busler,( 1998).

Matching products with endorser:

Attractiveness versus expertise:Journal of Consumer Marketing.

26. Pringle (2004). Celebrity sells: John Wiley and sons Ltd.
27. Agrawal and Kamakura, (1995).The Economic Worth of Celebrity
Endorsers: An event study Analysis: Journal of Marketing.
28. Burroughs, et al.(1996). Product Symbolism, self Meaning and
Holistic Matching: The Role of Information Processing in Impulsive
Buying: Advances in Consumer Research.
29. Bellenger et al., (1978). Impulse Buying Varies by Product.
Journal of Advertising Research
30. (Kollat & Willet, 1967). Consumer Impulse Purchasing Behavior.
Journal of Marketing Research.
31. Hoch & Lowenstein, (1991). "Time-inconsistent Preferences and
Consumer Self-Control,": Journal of Consumer Research.
32. Youn, et al. (2000). Impulse buying: its relation to personality traits
and cues : Advances in Consumer Research.