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29Subliminal messages in music? Is there an effect of subliminal messages in music on choice behavior? Hauke Egermann, Reinhard Kopiez Hanover University of Music and Drama, Institute for Research in Music Education, Germany Christoph Reuter Institute for Applied Musicology and Psychology, Cologne, Germany The present study examines the effects of subliminal text messages in music on choice behavior. Subliminal messages are assumed to function as auditory primers. The results of two experiments will be presented: In Experiment 1, the authors tried to manipulate choice behavior of adult students (N = 66; age: 19-30 years) using subliminally presented words in two pop music pieces. In two blinded, non-directed listening tasks, subjects had (a) to choose one word out of ten from a list of words (condition wordlist), and (b) to indicate which drink they would like by putting a plastic chip into a box standing in front of four labeled bottles of water (condition choice of drink). Musical examples without subliminal messages were used as a control condition. No significant differences were found between experimental and control conditions. In Experiment 2, children (N = 82; age: 7-11 years) served as subjects. Regardless of the task and age group, no effects of subliminal messages on choice behavior could be observed. The paper concludes with a general discussion about the lack of theories that could explain any observed effects of subliminal manipulation. Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis Vol. 4, No. 2 Copyright 2006 by Reysen Group. 1539-8714 www.jasnh.com Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis. JASNH, 2006, Vol. 4, No. 230 31Subliminal messages in music? The influence of music on consumer behavior has been investigated in the last two decades (e.g., Milliman, 1982, 1986; North, 1996; North, Hargreaves & McKendrick, 2000). Studies have revealed that musical tempo and customers‘ music preferences are the best predictors for strength of influence. Slow music and appreciation for the respective musical style can, for example, affect the length of stay of supermarket shoppers or restaurant patrons. However, there are only a few studies on the effect of music on choice behavior. Groenland & Schoormans (1994) found that music can affect product evaluation and product choice in a two-fold way: First, music can create a short-lasting association between product and affective stimulus by mood induction; second, affective conditioning can create a longer-lasting connection between a product and an affective stimulus (e.g., music). In a field experiment, North et al. (1997; North, Hargreaves & McKendrick) showed that stereotypical folk music with strong national associations, such as German “Bierkeller” music or French accordion music, can activate related knowledge between the product (e.g., wine) and the respective country. The use of French music led to French wines outselling German ones, whereas playing German music led to the opposite effect on sales of French wine. Customers were unaware of these effects. This finding sheds an interesting light on the role of consciousness in advertisement, a topic which is currently under discussion in consumer research. Dijksterhuis et al. (2005) has argued that consumer choice is much more based on unconscious processes than previously assumed and is, for example, affected by environmental features. Following this approach, Chartrand (2005) has proposed building a more comprehensive model of nonconscious processes in consumer behavior. Our study is a contribution to the current discussion of the role of nonconscious perception. In everyday life, it is a widespread belief that worded messages can be embedded and hidden in music with the intention of manipulating the listener’s behavior. Many have claimed that subliminal techniques are used for advertising and propaganda purposes. For example, in the movie Josie and the Pussycats (Elfont & Kaplan, 2001), the breathtaking success of the band is based on subliminal advertising messages weaved into the songs by the band‘s producer. In the past, many studies on subliminal manipulation or perception have been undertaken (for a review see Merikle, 1988; Merikle, 2000; Ott, 1998; Theus, 1994). There is an ongoing interest in the field of subliminal stimulation, and a search for the term “subliminal” in the psychological database PsycINFO results in more than 600 hits. Subliminal perception is characterized by perception without awareness. This characteristic is also emphasized in the definition of “subliminal message” by Merikle (2000, p. 497) who defined it as „any situation in which unnoticed stimuli are perceived.“ For example, such stimuli might be inaudible to the conscious mind but audible to the subconscious or deeper mind, or they may be images transmitted so briefly that they are perceived only subconsciously. Following Cheesman & Merikle (1985), we can distinguish between a “subjective” subliminal perception, which is characterized by subliminal stimulus presentation with answers above chance level, and “objective” subliminal perception, which is characterized by answers at chance level. Our study focuses on subjective subliminal perception, also described sometimes as “subception” (Lazarus & McCleary, 1951). By looking at review studies related to the topic of subliminal stimulation, it becomes evident that there is a great interest in this subject. Scholars working on psychoanalytic theory are especially interested in this topic. For example, Balay & Shevrin (1988) reviewed studies by Silverman (e.g. 1975) who tried in numerous experiments to test his subliminal Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis. JASNH, 2006, Vol. 4, No. 230 31Subliminal messages in music? psychodynamic activation (SPA) method. This method claims to activate subconscious conflicts using subliminal stimulation. However, Balay & Shevrin noted that Silverman’s results suffered from methodological weakness. The review study by Fudin & Benjamin (1991) suggested that despite insufficient testing, auditory SPA seems to have several methodological advantages over visual SPA. After analyzing the effects of subliminal drive-related stimuli on behavior, Bornstein (1990) concluded that SPA has stronger effects than superliminal stimuli. In another study, Bornstein (1989) discussed the use of subliminal stimuli as a propaganda tool and concluded that exposure to subliminal stimuli can produce temporarily stable changes in attitudes and behavior. To summarize, numerous studies have claimed to provide evidence for an effect of subliminal perception and stimulation on behavior. However, a critical review of a selected number of studies on the effects of subliminal acoustical messages (SAM) and subliminal self-help tapes (SHT) raises the question as to whether or not there could be an effect that is beyond a placebo effect (see Table 1). As research on subliminal manipulation started with visual stimuli, we will first discuss some studies from this field which are relevant to our study. Visual subliminal stimulation One of the most prominent studies related to visual subliminal stimulation might be the one undertaken by the consumer researcher James Vicary in 1957 (Moore, 1997; Schneider, 2004; Theus, 1994). At the same time, the book The hidden persuaders by Packard (1960) uncovered the highly specialized techniques of motivational manipulation in the advertising industry. This information supported the claims of Vicary’s findings: This information supported the claims of Vicary’s findings who had argued that he could raise sales of Coca-Cola and popcorn in a cinema through subliminal visual advertising (to be specific: the sales of popcorn by 58 % and the sales of Coca-Cola by 18 % over a period of six weeks). Vicary had allegedly tested this technique by altering movies so that messages urging viewers to “Eat popcorn!” and to “Drink Coke!” were displayed at regular intervals throughout the movie. Table 1. Survey of the results of selected studies on effects of subliminal acoustical messages (SAM) and subliminal self-help tapes (SHT). ���������� �������� �� ������ �� ������ ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� �������� ������������������������������������������� ����� ����� ��������� ������ ������� ���� ��������� �� ��� �� ���������� �� �������� �� ������ ������ � ������� ���� ��������� �� ��� �� ������������ �� ��������� �� ���� ���� ������ �� ��� ������������������������ �� ���� �� ����� ��������� �� ����� ���������� ������ ������� �� ���� ���� ������ �� ��� ��������� ������������ �� ������� � ������� ���� ������ �� ��� ��������� �� ������� �� ���� �� ����� ��������� �� ����� ���������� ������ ����� � �������� ���� ������ �� ��� ������������������������ �� ���� �� ����� ��������� �� ���� �� ����� �� ���� ���� ��������� �� ��� �� ����� ���������� �� ������ � ������� ���� ����������� �� ������������ ��� ������� ������ ������� ����� � ������������ ���� ������ �� ��� ����������������� �� ��������� ���� ��������� �� ��� �� ������� �������� �� ������ ���� �������������� �� ������������ ������� ��� �� ������ �� ���� ���� ����������� �� ��� ����� ������� ��������� �� ������ � ��������� ���� ������ �� ��� ����������������� ������� ������ Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis. JASNH, 2006, Vol. 4, No. 232 33Subliminal messages in music? These messages were presented so quickly (between 1/2000 and 1/3000 of a second) that no one was aware of them. Vicary became very popular with his study, and many people believe still today that his technique of advertising works. However, attempts to replicate his results were unsuccessful (Vokey, 2002). Finally, in 1962, Vicary conceded that he had faked his results; for him it was only a marketing trick. He never really found an effect of subliminal advertising. Neverthelss, other researchers claim to have observed similar effects. For example, Theus (1994) reported on a study that claimed to produce the sensation of thirst through subliminal presentation of the word “Coke.” Another study claimed to invoke the feeling of hunger through subliminal presentation of the word “beef.” Although Vicary’s results were officially declared untrue, Wilson Key, the author of the 1973 book Subliminal seduction, still “popularized the myth of subliminal advertising” (Moore, 1997, p. 6). Key wrote a total of 4 books related to the alleged subliminal manipulation of consumers (Vokey, 2002). Current research in the field of subliminal visual perception has provided empirical evidence of visual subliminal priming effects. Priming is defined as the process of activating a mental representation and its connections to memory in relation to a perceived stimulus. Through this activation, the connections will be more quickly accessible than they would be if they were not primed by the stimulus. For example, in the study by Naccache, Blandin & Dehaene (2002), subjects were required to decide whether a visually presented digit between the range of 1 and 9 is greater or smaller than the target number 5. Before the digits appeared, there was another digit which was presented subliminally. As a result, the decision speed was increased when the subliminally presented digit was congruent to the target stimuli by being greater or smaller than the digit 5. The authors concluded that subliminal priming can activate a particular connection in the memory and make responses faster. However, the priming effect disappears if the length of time between priming and target stimulus is greater than 100 ms. Another very recent priming study was carried out by Friedman et al. (2005), in which males who were subliminally primed with words related to alcohol rated women as more attractive than when they were primed with words not related to alcohol. Priming words were presented for a few milliseconds on the screen before the attractiveness of a woman had to be evaluated in a subsequent picture. Words related to alcohol were, for example, “wine” or “beer,” whereas words such as “coffee” or “milk” were not related to alcohol. Still, the priming effect could be observed only in subjects who preferred alcohol to stimulate their libido. Keeping these results in mind, it is obvious that in the visual modality, the existence of subliminal perception is very likely (Theus, 1994). However, these effects have only been observed under laboratory conditions and their external validity remains to be confirmed. Additionally, the reported studies only used very short examples; extended subliminal messages that might influence behavior could not be applied (Ott, 1998; Vokey, 2002). None of the presented studies concluded that a subliminal message could lead to a manipulation of choice behavior as claimed by Vicary. Auditory subliminal stimulation The present study focuses on auditory subliminal messages. There are five ways to embed worded messages in music: First, the target words or messages are placed in the music below the auditory threshold and are, thus, masked by the music; second, it is possible to use words with an inverted time-structure (so-called backward masked messages) and mix them Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis. JASNH, 2006, Vol. 4, No. 232 33Subliminal messages in music? above the perceptual threshold (Walker, 1987); third, backward-masked messages can also be used subliminally; fourth, highpass-filtered worded messages (containing frequencies above 15 kHz) can be used (so-called “silent-subliminals”); finally, time-shrunk subliminal messages (played back twice as fast as recorded) can be hidden in the music. Although there is no profound research with experimental evidence in the field of backward masking (Ott, 1998), the topic has often been of great public interest. For example, in 1990 the heavy metal band Judas Priest had to face trial for mixing backward- masked subliminal commands to commit suicide into their music (Moore, 1997; Schiller, 1990). The families of two fans who shot themselves accused the band of being responsible for those horrendous incidents. Although the court found the band not guilty, the topic of subliminal manipulation by backward messages has remained an issue nevertheless, despite Vokey & Read’s (1985) convincing empirical evidence against any effects of stimulation by retrograde messages (for similar findings see also Begg, Needham & Bokkbinder, 1993; for similar findings see also Swart & Morgan, 1992). Their results showed that subjects were unable to understand the semantic content of the messages in either a conscious or subconscious way after listening to worded messages presented retrograde. In trying to affect subjects‘ spelling of homophones, the authors could find no effects of subliminal stimulation on behavior. The authors further noted that „the apparent presence of backward messages in popular music is a function more of active construction on the part of the perceiver than of the existence of the messages themselves“ (Vokey & Read, 1985, p. 1231). The important role of expectation-guided perception of suggested backward messages could also be demonstrated in the study by Thorne & Himelstein (1984). Despite these negative results, there is an ongoing discussion about identifiable backward messages in rock music (for an overview see Walker, 1985). To summarize, effects of backward masked messages within music seem to be much more unlikely compared to subliminal (forward) masking only. Thus, in our study we decided to use subliminal messages only without backward masking or any other transformation. Another interesting phenomenon of subliminal auditory messages is the use of subliminal self-help tapes that claim, for example, to strengthen self-esteem, memory or motivation. Rogers & Smith (1993) have amassed a market volume of about $50 million for self-help audio tapes in the United States. In a telephone survey, 45 % of those who participated believed that subliminal advertising would affect whether or not they would buy the product being advertised. There are only a few studies that have claimed positive effects of subliminal messages: Chakalis & Lowe (1992) found an improvement of the experimental group in a face-name-occupation memory test; Merikle & Daneman (1996) reviewed 44 studies on memory for events during anesthesia and found some evidence for unconscious cognition in their meta-analysis. Specific information was remembered following surgery, as long as testing was not delayed more than 36 hrs. However, the majority of studies on the evaluation of self-help subliminal tapes as used, for example, for weight reduction, increase of academic achievement, or increase of self esteem, found only non-specific placebo effects of subliminal messages (e.g., Greenwald, Spangenberg, Pratkanis & Eskenazi, 1991; e.g., Merikle, 1988; Moore, 1995; Russell, Rowe & Smouse, 1991; Staum & Brotons, 1992). In a more recent study, Ott (1998) reviewed numerous studies dealing with subliminal auditory messages and concluded that the ability to control behavior through subconscious manipulation is very questionable. Finally, the question remains as to how words in music can influence people if they cannot actually hear them. Two answers can be given to this question: First, from a Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis. JASNH, 2006, Vol. 4, No. 234 35Subliminal messages in music? modern psychological perspective there is evidence that the mere belief in the existence of subliminal messages is sufficient to induce effects. Frequently, we can observe that subjects’ behavior is influenced by their presumptions about subliminal messages and not by the information masked by the music (for experimental support see Greenwald et al., 1991; Merikle & Skanes, 1992; Pratkanis, 1992). Second, stimuli below the listening threshold can result in physiological reactions (e.g., change of heart rate, galvanic skin response, etc.). Even in the case of unconscious perception, information processing on a physiological level cannot be excluded. Experimental support can be found in the studies by Borgeat and co- workers (Borgeat, 1989; Borgeat & Goulet, 1983). Physiological reactions also depend on the content of messages: Compared to neutral target words, in the case of target words with sexual connotations, physiological reactions failed to appear (Borgeat, Elie, Chaloult & Chabot, 1985; Kotzé & Möller, 1990). Even messages perceived during anesthesia can have an effect on postoperative smoking behavior (Hughes, Sanders, Dunne, Tarpey & Vickers, 1994) or on memory for messages used in a postoperative sentence completion task (Merikle & Daneman, 1996). To summarize, we cannot rule out that subliminal messages can be perceived unconsciously and cause physiological reactions as indicators of subliminal information processing. The influence of age Up until now, it has remained questionable as to whether there could be an influence of age on sensitivity to subliminal stimulation. In 1963 Barber & Calverley (1963) found that children between the ages of 6 and 12 were more susceptible to hypnotic-like suggestions than were adults. A review of studies on suggestibility of children reveals that children seem to be more susceptible to suggestive questions in an interview situation (e.g., Bjorklund, Cassel, Bjorklund & Brown, 2000). The assumption of a greater suggestibility in children is also supported by consumer research: Oates, Blad