The uses of subliminal messages in political propaganda

Subject Areas : sociology

Ali Riasaty ¹ , Iraj Saee Arasi ² , Mohammad Jafar Bahrehdar ³

1 - PhD Student in Political Sociology, Department of Sociology, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran,
2 - Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Abhar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran (Corresponding Author) Email:[e-mail]
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Arsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran

Received: 2021-10-31 Accepted : 2022-03-12 Published : 2022-11-22

Keywords: propaganda, subliminal, subliminal message, subliminal induction,

Abstract :

Two emerging features and concealment of subliminal perception, suggests that essential to investigate the areas in which subliminal messages are used or can be used in the textual or semiotic contents. This research relies on a combination of qualitative content analysis, with the analysis of visual subliminal messages, and for this aim, purposeful sampling of Time magazines, Rolling Stone and political advertising clips was performed. The approach used in this study provides a comprehensive understanding of how political propaganda draws on subliminal messages? Furthermore, we found that the induction of such messages is exploited by embedding in the background, changing the resolution, size and color of images by pursuing goals such as election campaigns, assassination of personalities, changes in public opinion and the like..

References:

1. Alaei Hossein, 2012, (The role of the UN Security Council in the collapse of Gaddafi regime), - Strategy Quarterly / Year 21 / Issue 36 / summer / pp. 113-139

2.       Alterman Eric- (Even the support of Bob the Builder wouldn't save John McCain's erratic and undignified campaign) - The Guardian - Retrieved 16 Oct 2008 from:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/16/obama-mccain-debate-reaction

3.       Ayubi Hojat, The political consequences of the French electoral system, World Socio-Political Studies Volume 2 Number 2 Year 1

4.       Bahrami Bahador & Lavie Nilli, 2007, (Attentional Load Modulates Responses of Human Primary Visual Cortex to Invisible Stimuli), Current Biology 17, 509–513, March 20, 2007, pp 509-513

5.       Berke Richard L. , 2000, (Democrats See, and Smell, Rats in G.O.P. Ad) - New York Times- Retrieved 2000/09/12 from:

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/12/us/the-2000-campaign-the-ad-campaign-democrats-see-and-smell-rats-in-gop-ad.html

6.       Borger Julian -2000 – (Dirty rats leave Gore a subliminal message) - The Guardian- Retrieved 13 Sep 2000 from:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/sep/13/uselections2000.usa

7.       Block Martin P. & Bergh Bruce O. Vanden - 1985- (Can You Sell Subliminal Messages to Consumers?) - Journal of Advertising -Volume 14 - Issue 3

8.       Bush George W. –Presidential Profile – Wikipedia - last edited on 15 June 2019-Retrieved from:

9.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush

10. Chavira Devin - 2014-( The Iran-Contra Affair As seen through American, Middle Eastern, and Soviet news sources) - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal-2014, p:3-16


11. Dori Parsa, 2015, The effect of visual sub-threshold perceptions on recognizing facial emotional expressions among students with and without learning disabilities), Journal of Learning Disabilities, Volume 5, Number 1 / 47-68

12.   Democrats Smell a Rat in GOP Ad - ABC News, Retrieved SEPT. 12, 2000 from:https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=122936&page=1

13.   Ditsh Kristen - 2012- (The Influence of Logo Design and Branding on Political Campaigns) - Thesis, Indiana University Bloomington May 2012, pp: 27-33

14.   Egan John, 2000, RATS ad: Subliminal conspiracy? - BBC News- Retrieved, 13 September, 2000 , from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/americas/2000/us_elections/election_news/923335.stm  

15. Egemen Mehmet S., 2015, (Graffiti, Hegemony, Empty Signifier: Curious Case of DirenGezi), thesis institute of social sciences of istanbul bilgi university, May 2015, pp: 36-43


16. Fox Affiliate Reports 'President Obama Is Dead' Instead of Osama- 2011- Hollywood reporter-  Retrieved, 5/2/2011, from:https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-affiliate-reports-president-obama-184096


17. François Mitterrand- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia- last edited on 3 June 2019, Retrieved from:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mitterrand


18. Ghasemi Hamid et al., 2017, Content Analysis of Communication Messages, Tehran, Andisheh Ara Publishing, pp. 19-14


19. Gaddafi on cover-Time - Retrieved, dec 10981, from:https://time.com/vault/year/1981/


20. Gaddafi on cover-Time - Retrieved, April 21, 1986, from:https://time.com/vault/year/1986/


21. Hassin Ran R. & other- 2007- (Subliminal exposure to national flags affects political- thought and behavior)- PNAS _ December 11, 2007 _ vol. 104 _ no. 50


22. Hannula Katri-2011 – (ZOOROPA! MY ZOOROPA! U2’s Critique of Europe in the 1990s), Master’s thesis, University of Jyväskylä Department of Languages English, p: 21


23. Henke Katharina- 1994- (SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION OF WORDS AND FACES) - International Journal of Neuroscience- Volume 75, 1994 - Issue 3-4


24. Hatami Ahmad, Study of sub-threshold advertising production techniques in television image, TV group master's thesis, winter 95 pages: 64-41


25. Heidarzadeh Kambiz & others. 2011, Intangible brand advertising and its effect on consumer choice, Journal of Marketing Management, 12.


26. Hidden sexual themes in Walt Disney Entertainment productions), Fars News, taken on 9/15/2012: https://bit.ly/31MbQDb


27. Kahrobai Fatemeh, 1397, (Study of the stages of photo criticism from the perspective of Terry Burt), the second national symposium of World Graphic Day


28. Kim Jong-un-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia- 2021, retrieved from:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-un


29. Kunda Ziva-1999- (Social Cognition: Making Sense of People) - MIT Press- London-1999 P: 279


30. Le Quotidien,1988, May,13, page 32


31. Lavie Nilli -2007- (Distractor effects during processing of words under load) - Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 2007, 14 (6), pp: 1153-1157


32. Merikle, P.M., 2000, (Subliminal perception. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology, New York, Oxford University Press, vol. 7, 497–499


33. Montaldo Jean - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia- last edited on October 21, 2018- Retrieved from:https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Montaldo


34. Muammar Gaddafi- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia- last edited on 16 June 2019, Retrieved from:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_Gaddafi

35.   Naderi Nahid, (Photo Sound and Photo Interpretation, New Methodology in Organizational Culture), Organizational Culture Management Volume 16, Number 4, winter 1397- Pages 973-1000

36.   Rogers, Martha, 1987, (Subliminal Advertising): The Battle of the Popular Versus the Scholarly Views.” Bowling Green State University: 1987.

37.   Romneys-ad-against, retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/04/does-romneys-ad-against-m_n_79905.html

38.   Reagan on cover-Time - Retrieved, July 7, 1986, from:https://time.com/vault/year/1986/

39.   Rolling Stone Cover - Volume #986 - 11/3/2005

40.   Rolling Stone Cover - 10 August 2009

41. Riasaty Ali and Hosseini Seyedeh Razieh, 2015, (Fundamental analysis of the concept of sub-threshold induction and the study of its use in mass media), the Second International Conference on Media Management


42. Sarukhani Baqer, 2006, Research Methods in Social Sciences, Tehran, Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies, pp. 197 and 295


43. Sardarnia Khalilollah and Amuee Reza, 2014, (Analysis of the Libyan Revolution and the Challenges Facing the Post-Authoritarian Government from the Perspective of Identity and Authority Crisis), Foreign Relations Quarterly, Year 6, Issue 1, spring 2014, pp. 161-190


44. Surin Werner J. And Tancard James W., 2009, pp: 110-109-71 (Communication Theories, translated by Alireza Dehghan), Tehran: University of Tehran, original language publication date 1997


45. Stein S.- Does Romney’s Ad Against McCain Contain A Subliminal Message?- Huffington post- Retrieved, 03/28/2008


46. Sharon- (Subliminal Stimulation: Some New Data andInterpretation) - Journal of Advertising- Issue 3- Volume 18, 1989, p:4-8


47. Stern Victoria on September (A Short History of the Rise, Fall and Rise of Subliminal Messaging) - Scientific American- 1, 2015, p:2-4


48. Trump on cover -Time - Retrieved, Dec. 19, 2016, from: https://time.com/vault/year/2016/


49. Trump E. on cover -Time - Retrieved, July 24, 2017, from: https://time.com/vault/year/2017/


50. Trump on cover -Time - Retrieved, July 2, 2018, from: https://time.com/vault/year/2018/


51. Vladimir Volkoff- Petite histoire de la disinformation - Editions du Rocher- 1999

52.   Wulfhorst E.-(Subliminal sartorial messages on campaign trail?)- reuters - Retrieved, FEBRUARY 4, 2008, from:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-politics-fashion/subliminal-sartorial-messages-on-campaign-trail-idUSN0451139620080204

53.   Young,Stephanie Louise,(Subliminal Advertising Techniques,A senior thesis in General Studies)- Thesis (B.G.S.)-Texas Tech University, 1989, p:16-19

54.   Zanot Eric j. , (Public Perceptions of Subliminal Advertising) -Journal of Advertising- Volume 12, 1983 - Issue 1, p:39-45

55.   Zooropa -Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia- last edited on 23 May 2019, Retrieved from:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooropa