Final paper_

Subaudible Messaging

Yolene Tupai

James Campbell High School

Subaudible messaging

Recently repopularized by gen z on youtube, subliminal audio, subliminals for short, are a type of subliminal messaging that uses audio to get a message to your subconscious. Subliminal messaging has been around since the 1940s, mainly used in advertising. Although associated with a bad name, subliminal messaging can do just as much good. How can we use subliminal audios to benefit people's lives? Studies have shown that they can improve mental health in elderly patients (Greenwood, 2014) and improve physical health in cancer patients (Stetka, 2014). Recently, subliminal audios have been used to change habits, mindsets, and even physical appearances. Various videos on social media are praising the subliminals, some even going as far as to gate keep them. I plan to test the effectiveness of subliminal audios on influencing choice. Can I use subliminals to manipulate people into choosing what I want them to choose?

Statement of the Problem

We’ve all had those times where you’re just waiting for motivation to hit you so you can be productive. With subliminals, you won’t have to wait. Subliminal messaging can be an easy, fun way to trick yourself into ending addictions, feeling happier, being productive, etc. the possibilities with subliminal messaging in audio can be endless. It can be customizable and much more pleasant than having to force yourself into doing something.

Literature Review

Subliminal messaging has been around since the 1940s. It was first popularly used to advertise popcorn and soda consumption during a movie. The study was later found to be false and the idea of subliminal messaging was thought to be a hoax (Schwarz, 1996). However, recently through the years, more studies have come out proving the effectiveness of subliminal messaging. They’ve even found their way onto social media and into the hands of the newer generations. A study in 2014 showed that after exposing elderly people to subliminals encouraging positive age stereotypes, the mental health of those elderly people increased (Greenwood, 2014). A study in 2014 tested cancer patients and if subliminals could alter their DNA. The data showed that the cancer patients had an increase in telomerase activity. Telomerase is an enzyme that protects your DNA from damage and unwanted fusion (Stetka, 2014). Similar to my experiment, there was a study in 2017 on the effect of subliminal messaging and choice making. Participants listened to an audio and were told to choose a number. The data showed success in priming participants to choose the desired number (Karam, 2017). There is various testimony of subliminal audio on youtube changing physical appearances and behaviors of people. In this study, I want to test whether it is a placebo or not. If subliminals prove effective, how can we use them to benefit our daily lives? 

Introduction

The word subliminal means below the level of consciousness. To understand the way subliminal messaging works, you have to understand how our brains and their processes work. 

Consciousness

The human brain is a complicated structure. Your brain absorbs and perceives things into two main places: Your consciousness and your subconsciousness. Your consciousness is where you do most of your thinking. Your subconscious is where most of the things you do without thinking about happen. From physical things like nail growth, heart rate, digestion, to your beliefs, habits, and dreams (Mills, 2020). Since your subconscious manages these deep rooted and automated habits, manipulating them with subliminal audios could be a way to achieve desired results easily.

Subliminal messaging

Subliminal messaging has three main types: Subvisual - images flashed quickly enough to be seen but not processed fully, Subaudible - quiet messages hidden under a louder audio, and backmasking - reversed messages hidden under an audio. 

Subliminal perception

Subliminal messages are not easily perceived by your consciousness. Your subconscious however, has an unlimited processing space and can pick up on those primers easily. Since the consciousness can't block the messaging out, it goes into your subconscious unfiltered. Repetitive subliminal messages are more effective in this sense because it is constantly embedding itself into your brain. Despite this, studies have shown that subliminal messaging does not have long lasting effects (Ruch, 2016). 

Hypothesis

Based on my research and personal experience, I believe that the subliminals will be effective in influencing choice. In other words, if I play a subliminal audio to a group of students telling them to choose a desired outcome, then they will choose that desired outcome. 

Null Hypothesis

Subliminal audio will not influence or affect people’s choices. 

Methods

Materials. Classroom of about 22 students (16-18 yr olds), audio editing software, subliminal audio, plain audio, headphones, and post-listening questionnaire. 

Creation of the subliminal. To create a subliminal is very simple. I played around with several audio and video editing apps before settling with Capcut for iphone. I found a royalty free 5 minute lofi audio on youtube. I was careful to make sure the audio had no words so as to not interfere with the subliminal message. I recorded the subliminal message and layered it under the audio. I lowered the audio of the subliminal from 100 to 4 to create faint whispering. I wanted to ensure that the audio was somewhat heard but not understood. After that, I copy and pasted the subliminal message audio repetitively until it reached the end of my base audio. I listened to the audio 3 times to ensure that the message was not clear and barely audible. 

Experiment 1. For my first experiment, I conducted two trials (so far). In my first trial, I had a sampling size of around 24 students (16-18 years old). I split them into two groups and tested them one by one in the corner of the class. Group 1 listened to the audio with the subliminal messaging underneath, telling them to choose number 3. Group 2 was my control group, they listened to the audio without any subliminal messaging. After listening to the 5 min audio, they filled out a short questionnaire filled with simple multiple choice questions (ex: Pick a color, Choose a month, etc) and one follow up question asking about why they chose a specific number (1, 2, or 3) in case of bias. The only question being tested was the question asking the participants to choose a number: 1, 2, 3. After looking at the responses, there was no difference between the selections of the two groups. After reading the responses from the post-listening questionnaire, I realized my error was that there was a heavy bias between the numbers 1, 2, and 3. For my second trial, I changed the numbers in the tested question to 3 digit numbers that I randomly typed out: 523, 137, 278. Because the numbers were different, I had to edit the subliminal and change the message to “I choose 523” instead of “I chose number 3’’. I also went from testing everyone one at a time to testing the class at once for the sake of time. The students were told ahead of time to bring earphones of some kind. Those who had could participate in the experiment and in the end, I had a sampling size of 22 students (16-18 years old). I split the class evenly in half into two groups. They were not aware of which group they were going into. The two audios were sent out to the students via google classroom. After they listened to the 5 minute audio, they scanned a QR code for the survey. The survey was the exact same as the one in trial 1, minus the question regarding the numbers. The results for the survey were very promising: 523 - 54.5%; 173 - 18.2%; 278 - 27.3%.   Over half of the participants chose the desired number. The control group had a more even spread: 523 - 27.3%; 173 - 36.4%; 278 - 36.4%.

For my third trial, I conducted everything the same as the two previous experiments but with a bigger sample size, new numbers, and a new group added. I chose the numbers 178, 427, and 938 after randomly typing them. The number that I wanted them to choose was 427. To see if the earphones had any effect, I added a third group that listened to the audio out loud. I tested 78 students total, 26 per group. The results were the same as the previous experiments, proving my hypothesis once more. The control group had an even spread for the most part: 178 - 42.3%; 427 - 42.3%; 938 - 15.4%. The results for the earphone group yielded similar results to the last trial: 178 - 19.2%; 427 - 61.5%, 938 - 19.2%.  The results for the group listening to the subliminal out loud still proved my hypothesis correct just not as strongly as the earphones group. 178 - 26.9%; 427 - 50%; 938 - 23.1%. 

Conclusion

With the subliminal group having higher results than the control group for both trials, my hypothesis is correct. I would however like to have a more concrete conclusion by retrying this experiment with a bigger sampling group. If I were to do this experiment again I would do it with a bigger sampling group, maybe 100 per group. I would also like to have prepared the earphones for them ahead of time. This would've made it easier to make sure more people were participating in the experiment. Due to funding issues, I had to rely on the amount of people who already had some sort of earbud device with them at school which made my sampling numbers small. I would have also liked to continue this experiment and take it a step further by testing more biased choices like colors, food, and drinks. Would a subliminal trying to make someone choose a certain food work? Could a subliminal make people do certain actions? Maybe a subliminal is strong enough to make someone say something. I would also like to test different age groups to see if different age groups absorb the subliminal better than others, test if lyrics affect the effectiveness of a subliminal, test other types of subliminals to see which is most effective, and I would also love to test the duration of the effects of a subliminal. There are so many possibilities of things to test with subliminal messaging and I hope to continue this research one day.