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For example, if the target is thirsty then a subliminal stimulus for a drink is likely to influence the target to purchase that drink if it is readily available. The context that the stimulus is presented in affects their effectiveness. Most actions can be triggered subliminally only if the person is already prepared to perform a specific action.
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However, consensus of subliminal messaging remains unsubstantiated by other research. Research on action priming has shown that subliminal stimuli can only trigger actions a receiver of the message plans to perform anyway. Audio stimuli may be played below audible volumes or masked by other stimuli.Īpplications of subliminal stimuli are often based on the persuasiveness of a message. Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an individual can process them, or flashed and then masked to interrupt processing. A 2012 review of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies showed that subliminal stimuli activate specific regions of the brain despite participants' unawareness. Subliminal stimuli ( / s ʌ b ˈ l ɪ m ɪ n əl/ sub- literally "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception, in contrast to supraliminal stimuli (above threshold). Sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception
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