Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Subliminal Messages: Exposed Part Six

"Feelings are often slow," he said. "In a frightening situation, you run first, feel afraid later."

To tease apart emotional reaction and subjective feeling, Winkielman and colleagues devised two different experiments.

In both studies, subjects were first asked to rate how thirsty and hungry they were. Next, they were subliminally exposed to a series of photographs of happy, angry or neutral faces -- masked each time by a neutral face. Consciously, the subjects were aware only of seeing the second, neutral image, which they were then asked to classify as male or female. Immediately afterwards, they were asked (in varying order) to interact with the beverage and rate their moods.

Happy and angry expressions were selected as primes, Winkielman said, because it is easy to extract a simple positive and negative interpretation from them: Grins and glowers are flashed at us in approval and reproach since Day 1 and are essentially equivalent to "stop" and "go" signs.

The researchers chose drinking in part because ingesting an unknown substance can have obvious biological consequences and is therefore not a trivial act -- even if, as in this case, the drink is made of nothing more than water, sugar and lemon-lime Kool-Aid.

In the first experiment, 39 undergraduates freely helped themselves and drank as much as they wanted. Unknown to them, the amounts poured and consumed were recorded using an electronic scale. Thirsty participants poured and drank more than twice the amount of the beverage after happy primes than after angry primes.

In the second experiment, 29 undergraduates tasted a small, predetermined sample and were then asked to evaluate it after one sip. Those at the high level of thirst reported willingness to pay 38 cents (U.S.) after happy primes and only 10 cents after angry ones. They also expressed desire for an additional half cup instead of one to two sips.

Learn more of the most important findings.

What Are Some of the Most Important Findings?

***5*** It's all about the predisposing factors being acted upon subconsciously...The Subjects Motivation.

In both studies, thirst proved a necessary precondition for influence. Moderately thirsty participants were only moderately affected. And those not thirsty, not at all. Thirst also correlated positively with ratings of the beverage's deliciousness and thirst-quenching abilities.

"Motivation matters," Winkielman said. "Your motivational state -- your level of need -- prepares you to process relevant information and gives value to the stimulus. Otherwise, the emotional message falls on deaf ears."

***6*** Better act fast or it won't matter.

Can Advertisers Benefit From This?

To businesspeople or politicians tempted to apply these findings to advertising, Winkielman says: It won't work. The effects of subliminal expressions were too short-lived. By the time people arrived at the store or polling booth, all influence would have worn off.

The studies were supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Results were published earlier this year in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, with coauthors Kent C. Berridge of the University of Michigan and Julia L. Wilbarger of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Kevin Hogan is the author of The Science of Influence, Psychology of Persuasion, Covert Hypnosis and Selling Your Self to Others. http://www.kevinhogan.com/ has 392 articles about influence and persuasion...enjoy.
Stop off for more information: Subliminal Achievemen

Monday, September 18, 2006

Subliminal Messages Part 5

L. Ron Hubbard wasn't that on target with "engrams," but one thing is for sure...Pamela Anderson can excite a cell that wasn't turned on by Jennifer or John Lennon.

And that's crucial in understanding subliminal persuasion. (When I first read about this in popular form last week, I was VERY skeptical. The research bares it out though and my skepticism has been quelled.) I'll go into the research about all of this later in the summer, it's beyond "pretty incredible."

The brain acts on external and internal impulses.

And that's where visually stimulated subliminal persuasion begins. Without someone's awareness, you can cause them to want to drink, for example, via subliminal perception. Carefully look at this example.

Out-of-lab scenarios should start popping into your mind shortly.
What did the researchers learn? Continue the article to find out.

What Does New Research Show?

***1*** People alter their consumption behavior based on subliminal exposure to faces.

In studies led by Piotr Winkielman, associate professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego, people altered their consumption behaviors after exposure to subliminal facial expressions.

***2*** Subliminal perception of smiles and frowns have profound effects on behavior.

Hidden smiles persuaded thirsty subjects to pour more and drink more of an unidentified beverage than did neutral expressions. Frowns had the opposite effect.

***3*** Subliminal perception of happy faces cause people to be willing to spend more money...a lot more money.

Study participants who were unconsciously "primed" with happy faces also reported being willing to pay up to triple the price for the mystery drink. And they reported wanting another half cup instead of just a sip or two more.

***4*** The entire process is covert at the emotional level. People have no idea their feelings have CHANGED.

Remarkably, the test subjects, whose actions had been influenced by these emotional cues, were not aware of their feelings having changed.

"This is the first demonstration that you can influence consequential, real-world behavior without affecting conscious feeling. We can change what you do, without changing how you feel," Winkielman said.

Winkielman, coeditor of the forthcoming book Emotion and Consciousness, believes the findings, presented at the American Psychological Society annual convention in Los Angeles, May 26-29, support the existence of unconscious or "unfelt" emotion.

"Emotional states operating outside conscious awareness can drive behavior. The subjective experience of a feeling is not always necessary to the process," said Winkielman.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Subliminal Messages, Exposed. Part Four

Covert Subliminal Persuasion:

Seven Facts that Will Change the Way You Influence Forever
(adapted from The Science of Influence Library: 37-48)

Can People Be Influenced Subliminally?

The girl sees the word "sex" on the TV screen and of course she hypnotically becomes unyielding in her quest to dominate you. (Or guy, if the case is appropriate.) We all dreamed of it when we were younger (it wasn't just me, was it?)...and the images didn't fade much with time.

In the last 15 years, subliminal perception and influence has been put back on the front burner, albeit very quietly.


The first discovery to share with you is that audio subliminal recordings simply don't work.

Priming in Persuasion...and Subliminal Influence

Priming is a way we can covertly influence, as we've discussed in The Science of Influence CD Library in numerous contexts. Priming is all about activating conscious and unconscious associations with intention.

Some quick examples of every day priming:

• Someone says, "Mr. MacDonald was a nice old man," and the listener has a 'thought' to go to McDonalds and get a hamburger.
• Someone asks you what TV show you want to watch tonight. They are playing "Who are You" on the CD player in the background, and they say, CSI. "Who are You" is the theme song for CSI.
• You hear a commercial for The Apprentice, or 24, or the upcoming special about Elvis on TV. You think, "I wonder what Kevin Hogan will write about in Coffee this week."

Want to know why auditory subliminals don't work? Continue the article below.

Why Don't Auditory Sublminals Work?

Why didn't the subliminals work?

Simple. The brain couldn't get the message from outside in the world to the inside of the brain, as there was no vibration for the ear and then auditory cortex to work their magic. It was a shame, too, after all the recordings we bought for better grades and self-esteem in college. (or was that just me again?) Like sleeping on a book and praying for the information to be pumped in by osmosis...well you get the picture...

There's still people who produce "subliminal CDs", but I can assure you that the zealotry of the producers of such materials is utterly and totally unwarranted. They don't work and it's been shown in every single scientific study ever done about it.

What about video?

An entirely different and very enticing story!

The visual cortex WILL respond to stimuli which are not in conscious awareness and which are NOT able to be seen with conscious attention and effort. The visual cortex will take this information that isn't or can't be seen and share it with other parts of the brain CAUSING actions to be taken on the stimulus.

Scary cool.

What Does New Research Show?

Research out this week shows that if you show a picture of Pamela Anderson to someone, there are literally single cells (neurons) in the brain that "know" that is Pamela Anderson. These neurons react to Pamela (and who wouldn't?) in a "knowing way." In other words it's DIFFERENT neurons that react when pictures of The Beatles are shown and different from those of Jennifer Aniston and so on.

Now don't get the idea that "memory" is single cell....

Covert Hypnosis

Subliminal Messages Part Three

Factor Three: Know the Priming Factor Before Attempting to Influence
FASCINATING: Priming SADNESS enhanced the persuasiveness of an ad for a CD with Mood Restoring music when people expected to interact with someone.

A neutral stimulus (an oval) showed no change in whether people would buy the CD or not.

Now, the only way you come up with these kind of results is by understanding the process of nonconscious "thought," and fortunately, essentially, no one does.

Let's do something simple for using subliminals in a supraliminal environment. (Fancy way of saying the subliminal image is actually visible in consciousness and possibly even observed but not likely to be DEEMED as important in influencing behavior.)

Factor Four: Don't Dilute the Message

If there is too much noise in your office...too many competing messages...then no environmental prime is going to be that big of an influence (if at all) on someone's behavior or decision making.

Imagine you sell car insurance and people come to your office to consider buying. Here are two exaggerated extremes. Which do you think is going to CAUSE more people to purchase car insurance.
Factor Five: Wire into the Non-conscious Mind
A) A photograph of a family, smiling in their car as they drive down the road. Everyone happy and making lots of eye contact, enjoying the ride.
B) A photograph of a car mangled with people standing by the scene crying, tearful, in agony.

The answer is B.

The horror of B will FAR outsell that of the pain of A. Remember the person is in the office to consider buying insurance. Seeing a happy family is nice. It's pleasant. It's comforting and causes good feelings inside. But the prime of the accident and what that "means" to the nonconscious mind of the fence sitting individual is overwhelming and CAUSES a purchase decision.

Think about homeowner's insurance. Hurricane coverage doesn't come with homeowner's insurance. It's a separate policy. But the way you SELL homeowners insurance is to show the remnants of a hurricane and all the surroundings THEN show the agent giving a check to the family. Nothing sells like that picture because it wires into the drivers and motivators of who we are as people.

Factor Six: Placement Matters

The location of the photo of the car accident with mourners matters as well. If it's on the desk...that's manipulative and you just killed the sale. People do not OVERTLY wish to be manipulated. (The antithesis is an entirely different article.) If it's on the side wall and visible but not standing out when the people walk in, then it does it's job.

(Technically that would be a supraliminal "image" right? Not subliminal....)

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Subliminal Messages, The Truth Part Two

Subliminal Messages, The Truth
Part Two
Copyright Kevin Hogan
Exciting Developments in the Field of Subliminal Persuasion

Now, let me tell you straight away that I think the idea of being at a website and having subliminal cues there is nothing short of exciting. The idea of having subliminal messages on the restaurant table or at the bar simply fascinates. Using subliminals to get the girl to say "yes," or the client to say "yes"....it's all exciting...and you should be able to know how to do it.

If I invest 200-300 hours into subliminal research, I'm going to write four articles about that work....and then I'm going to create a program of perhaps 5-10 CD's and let you own what I know.

You could do all the same research at approximately 20-40 times the cost... but you COULD do it. There are no secrets in HOW to discover what works, there are plenty of secrets in knowing what works.

My place is to save you the 9,999 attempts at creating a light bulb before finding the one way that works. What would Edison have paid for that?

Exactly.

The subliminal pull occurs when several things are already in place.

Factor One: Person Being Persuaded Must Be Motivated

The person to be persuaded needs to be present. (I swear to you there are people that will tell you that you can influence Bill in Tucson with your mind power because of Quantum blah blah....)

KEYPOINT: The person has to have some motivation. (Remember we talked about the "thirst" study where people who were not thirsty were not motivated to drink or buy *anything* when subliminally "persuaded."

Only those that were already thirsty reacted to very specific subliminal messages. Almost all sumbliminal messages fail because people don't know how to create them so they are effective.)
A recent study showed that people who knew they were going to be interacting with someone else responded to an ad for a CD that would put them in a good mood.

Those people who were not going to be getting together with someone were not motivated in any way by the subliminal messages to purchase the CD.

In other words, the conscious awareness that they were going to be getting together with someone was a prerequisite to buying a CD that would restore their mood.

Understand that. If you don't want to go to church Sunday or have an aversion to going to church or want to watch the football game or whatever, my subliminal messages for you to go to church are going to fail, period.

Factor Two: Subliminals Wire into Motivation and Desires

KEYPOINT: If the girl is on the fence and your subliminal hits the right button, she'll happily come off the fence. But if she is repelled, all the subliminals in the world won't cause motivation. As a rule: Subliminals WIRE INTO MOTIVATION and DESIRES, OR, they direct the individual to do or think ONE specific thing.

Return to the "interaction study" for a moment. What do you think motivated people to buy the CD when exposed to the advertisement???

• A message that said,..."feel better and buy the cd"
• "appear happier to the next person you meet"
• "this cd will make you feel good!"
• "feel good!"
• "feel better!"

See, all those affirmation goofballs will tell you that is the kind of stuff that will work. It doesn't. The people who bought the CD were exposed to a subliminal SAD face!

http://www.kevinhogan.com

Friday, September 15, 2006

Subliminal Messages: The Truth Revealed Part 1

Your Subliminal Edge
by Kevin Hogan

Factors that Cause Successful Subliminal Persuasion


I've found a number of factors in creating effective subliminal messages. There are probably more.

In this article I want you to find out some of these factors and discover how you can use them at the office, the club, the bar and with anyone you choose.

Part of my mission on this orb has been about giving my friends the edge in life. The edge over the competition, against the scamsters, the edge on achievement of goals and desires.

People buy the "Instant__________" because they are greedier than they are smart.

• Instant Billionaire
• Instant Influence
• Instant Weight Loss
• Instant Fame
• Instant Pick a Desire

And, there is a *lot* of money to be made in the "quick buck business."

I can confirm to you that I was asked to co-venture a promotion where you would spend $10,000 (I would get paid 1/2) and the claim was that you would be able to simply "imagine" and "think" about something and it would manifest. No kidding.

And in fact, I am regularly asked to put someone's junk product in Coffee with Kevin for you to look at....and try to kindly refuse. Let someone else do it.

I'm having Coffee with you...I don't have a list...I have readers of Coffee. It's a crucial philosophical difference and approach to business and life.

Now, if I tell you that something which is claimed to be spectacular... is true..., there is a reason to consider the proposition. You've trusted me for 5 or 6 years or however long you've been with me on Monday morning. And you know that if it's in "Coffee with Kevin Hogan," it's worth considering. You've been "primed" to know that what we talk about is worthy, trustable and typically falls in the realm of usefulness, value and fun.

So, many would consider that $10,000 is worth exchanging for Kevin Hogan telling them that they would get something for nothing, virtually instantly, like unexpected piles of money in the mailbox. (And I am not kidding, that is precisely what this "opportunity" that I let you miss was about.)

How and why was this amazing program going to work?
• Because you imagine it.
• Because it's the nature of the universe.
• Because it's understanding the nature of the universe and utilizing that.
• Because you did affirmations for it.
And that is total garbage and though I rarely name names, don't ever fall for it.

Let me ask you this.

Do we all have a greedy side?

We Are All Wired for Greed

Look, we ALL have a greedy side. It's nothing to feel bad about. We are biologically hooked up that way long before birth. We all have our pride, lust, envy, avarice, vanity, and whatever the rest of the fun things were that when you O.D. on them, they become sins.
(Because, in excess they can cause self destruction.) Everyone has these traits. Mother Teresa did. Gandhi did. Everyone.

KEY POINT: We all have desires that drive us beyond rational thinking and decision making.

You can buy a CD that claims it's filled with subliminal messages that will do XYZ for you, and it is garbage. Pure garbage. I always keep my fingers crossed that those selling such things at least believe that they are performing a service...because when I see people burning dollar bills it pains me...because you only have so many and every purchase in life IS AN INVESTMENT.

So, when we are talking about subliminal persuasion, you can know that it is more than "real." It is profoundly and amazingly powerful. Without hesitation, it is that which is most exciting to me in the field of influence and covert hypnosis, and it is that which makes me the most nervous.

The Negative Side of Subliminal Persuasion

The two negatives are simple.

First, you can misuse every form of influence. We saw the results of influence for random killing in London on the tube a couple of weeks ago. Persuasion is powerful. It is VERY easy to cause people to kill complete strangers (and loved ones) for absolutely no reason other than a belief. Someone once said to me, "hypnosis can't be used to make someone do something they normally wouldn't do." Just about ANYONE can cause anyone else to do something they normally wouldn't do. There's nothing unusual about it.

Secondly, I become concerned because when we're talking about subliminal persuasion, 10 people will come out of the woodwork, make a subliminal DVD and put it on the market, make a few thousand bucks and it will do absolutely nothing for the unwitting customer.
There are so many conditions that have to be met for subliminal persuasion to be effective and that probability that the huckster has studied it and tested it approach nil.

And they will attempt to sell us this DVD which was made based upon what was written here or something I released...but buyer beware...they don't have the whole story....

They are already cropping up...and I mention no names.

I want to share with you today, factors that cause success or failure in Subliminal Persuasion.

Kevin Hogan
www.kevinhogan.com