What Does subliminal message Mean
The first step that we are going to take before establishing the meaning of the term subliminal message is to know the etymological origin of the two words that give it its shape:
• Message emanates from the Provençal “messatge”, which, in turn, comes from the old Latin verb "Mittere", which can be translated as "command."
• Subliminal, for its part, has its origin in Latin and comes to mean "what is below consciousness." It is a word made up of the following parts: the prefix "sub-", which is synonymous with "below"; the noun “limis”, which is equivalent to “limit”; and the suffix “-al”, which is used to indicate that something is “relative to”.
The message is the object of communication . It is the content composed of signs, symbols or signals that convey information . The communicative process, therefore, contemplates the participation of a sender who, through a medium or channel, transmits a message to one or more receivers.
Subliminal , for its part, is an adjective that is used in psychology to name what is below the threshold of consciousness . When the term is applied to a stimulus , it is referring to the fact that it, due to its brevity or weakness, is not consciously perceived, although it influences behavior .
The concept of a subliminal message , therefore, refers to a message that has been designed to be transmitted below the normal limits of perception . This message reaches the receiver, but he does not receive it consciously . It can be a sound or an image that the receiver perceives unconsciously and that, despite this absence of a conscious process, can modify their behavior.
Within the field of music it has been discovered that there are also subliminal messages. Specifically, scholars have discovered that these have been achieved using a technique called backmasking, which has its origin in the 1960s. This, which consists of recording in reverse, has hidden messages with a different purpose.
In the world of cinema it is also considered that there are many subliminal messages. This is an example of animation films that come out of the Disney factory or Pixar and that are aimed, fundamentally, at a children's audience.
Thus, for example, in the films of the last production company, “A113” usually appears. This combination of letters and numbers becomes the identification of the classroom in which the current leaders of Pixar studied and learned everything they know about animation.
There is a consensus among psychologists about the existence and capacity of subliminal messages to generate effects on the receivers. Experts argue, however, that its consequences on people's behavior are neither long-lasting nor powerful.
Subliminal messages are frequent in advertising , whether in advertisements of companies that want to increase their sales or in advertisements of governments that want to influence the population in a subtle way.