Subliminal influence using tachistoscopic images refers to flashing the message for such a short time that it falls below the conscious perception threshold of individuals.  The theory is that even though the conscious mind does not perceive the tachistoscopic message, it is perceived by the subconscious mind which is then strongly influenced by the message.

Most of the eventual controversy over subliminal advertising arose from tachistoscopic delivery of subliminal messages.  A researcher, James Vicary, claimed that he had dramatically increased the sales of Coke and popcorn at a local movie theater simply by tachistoscopically flashing the words "DRINK COKE" and "EAT POPCORN" during the screening of a movie (ironically, the movie that was being screened was "The Picnic"!)  This resulted in a huge furor as people were terrified over the potential of such a technique to manipulate the populace who would then zombie-like obey the dictates of a malevolent authority.  Of course, the experiment later proved to be a hoax that Vicary had perpetuated to revive his flagging consulting business.  But it got the ball rolling and got the public's interest in subliminal effects.

Do you think this is a great site?  If so, it may be because of the crude tachistoscopic message on the banner heading this page, telling you that this is a great site. The banner at the head of this page actually is an animated GIF image consisting of two images:

, and

 Of all the various subliminal effects, tachistoscopic messages has the strongest research support.  That is not saying much, though.  In carefully controlled laboratory conditions, tachistoscopic messages have been shown to result in small affective responses.  The work of Zajonc on the "mere exposure effect" suggests that subjects preferred (tended to like more) images they had been tachistoscopically exposed to (even though they may not have consciously perceived the images) over those they had not been exposed to.  Repeatedly, researchers have shown that it is much easier to influence people with supraliminal messages than subliminal messages.

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© 2001 Rajiv Vaidyanathan