Subliminal messages can cause effects on a humans emotion or behavior but most effectively when done so unconsciously. The most extensive study of therapeutic effects from audiotapes was conducted to see if the self-esteem audiotapes would raise self-esteem. 237 volunteers were provided with tapes of three manufacturers and completed posttests after one month of use (Greenwald, Spangenberg, Pratkanis, & Eskenazi, 1991).
Subconscious stimulus by single words is well known to be modestly effective in changing human behavior or emotions. This is evident by a pictorial advertisement that portrays four different types of rum. The phrase “U Buy” was embedded somewhere, backwards in the picture. A study (Keys, 1973)[14] was done to test the effectiveness of the alcohol ad. Before the study, participants were able to try to identify any hidden message in the ad, none found any. In the end, the study showed 80% of the subjects unconsciously perceived the backward message, meaning they showed a preference for that particular rum. Although every subliminal message may not affect everyone, it is obvious it does affect the behavior or emotion of...