Subliminal advertising and its ethical dimensions in the social media age

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the research on subliminal advertising. Advertising industry experts always look for methods through which to develop effective advertising strategies and to persuade consumers' choices. This chapter shows that in comparison to the research conducted before the 1990s, and with the recent help of new techniques, there has been a growing body of subliminal influence research that has demonstrated that subliminal priming has an influence on a consumer's choices and behaviors. In this chapter whether subliminal advertising can play a critical role in attracting the customer to the product or service is examined. Whether our decisions can be affected by subliminal messages is also investigated. In addition, one of the purposes of this chapter is to explore whether subliminal messaging might raise ethical issues, and whether these issues can lead to moral corruption in society. What is missing is the lack of research on the ethical dimension of subliminal advertising. © 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.