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equivalent to "stop" and "go" signs.
The researchers chose drinking in part because ingesting an unknown substance can
have obvious biological consequences and is therefore not a trivial act -- even if, as
in this case, the drink is made of nothing more than water, sugar and lemon-lime
Kool-Aid.
In the first experiment, 39 undergraduates freely helped themselves and drank as
much as they wanted. Unknown to them, the amounts poured and consumed were
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recorded using an electronic scale. Thirsty participants poured and drank more than
twice the amount of the beverage after happy primes than after angry primes.
In the second experiment, 29 undergraduates tasted a small, predetermined sample
and were then asked to evaluate it after one sip. Those at the high level of thirst
reported willingness to pay 38 cents (U.S.) after happy primes and only 10 cents
after angry ones. They also expressed desire for an additional half cup instead of one
to two sips.
Learn more of the most important findings.
What Are Some of the Most Important Findings?
***5*** It's all about the predisposing factors being acted upon
subconsciously...The Subjects Motivation.
In both studies, thirst proved a necessary precondition for influence. Moderately
thirsty participants were only moderately affected. And those not thirsty, not at all.
Thirst also correlated positively with ratings of the beverage's deliciousness and
thirst-quenching abilities.
"Motivation matters," Winkielman said. "Your motivational state -- your level of need
-- prepares you to process relevant information and gives value to the stimulus.
Otherwise, the emotional message falls on deaf ears."
***6*** Better act fast or it won't matter.
Can Advertisers Benefit From This?
To businesspeople or politicians tempted to apply these findings to advertising,
Winkielman says: It won't work. The effects of subliminal expressions were too
short-lived. By the time people arrived at the store or polling booth, all influence
would have worn off.
The studies were supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Results
were published earlier this year in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
with coauthors Kent C. Berridge of the University of Michigan and Julia L. Wilbarger
of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Subliminal Influence: From Mating to Marketing
The Answer about Your Face
How important is "your face" in selling and marketing?
Should you have your photo on your business card? Your website? Your marketing
materials? Does it really make a difference?
The answer is more than important. It is going to in large part determine your
income and who you are seeing on a personal level in the real world.
Did You Know?
The brain associates familiarity with attraction...strongly. So, you are going to
be attracted to, and have more positive feelings toward, people whose faces are
familiar to you (your brain, to be precise).
People who neglect to put their face on their business card, their website and
everything else they do, are making a big mistake.
On the Flip Side
Just like the brain connects familiarity with attraction, it also connects seeing
unfamiliar faces with FEAR.
Let's look at some exceptions, first. Imagine that someone gives you $1000 cash and
it's the first time you've ever seen their face. The chances are you are going to
develop liking with that person right away. Similarly if someone you've seen before
robs you and takes that $1000 from you, you're going to develop dislike for that
face.
These kinds of exceptions set aside, you want to do everything you can to ensure
that people know your face, that they are familiar with it. A recognized face is
generally a trusted face (except in exceptional cases noted above).
The Subliminal Factor
Recent research into subliminal video exposure clearly shows that a genuine smiling
face will change emotional response and buying attitudes. And that's when the face
isn't even in consciousness.
A frown or scolding facial expression has the opposite effect so again, a familiar face
that has negative emotional expression in it, is not going to be seen with greater
liking.
KEYPOINT: With each exposure, on average, a person will find you more attractive
and ascribe more positive attributes to YOU as a PERSON without ever having
communicated with you, as they become MORE FAMILIAR with your face!!!
OK, so in sales and marketing it becomes obvious that utilizing your face in your
materials is going to be a big plus.
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But what about in personal relationships of the romantic kind????
Faces and Choosing a Partner
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered that the human brain favors
familiar-looking faces when choosing a potential partner.
The research team found that people find familiar faces more attractive than
unfamiliar ones. They also found that the human brain holds separate images of both
male and female faces and reacts to them differently depending on how familiar it is
with their facial features.
Dr Anthony Little, from the University's School of Biological Sciences, examined
whether early visual experience of male and female faces affected later preferences.
The research team asked over 200 participants to view a number of human faces
that had been digitally manipulated to change their facial characteristics.
Dr Little said: "We found that participants preferred the face that they were most
visually familiar with. In one of the tests we showed participants a block of faces with
wide-spaced eyes and then asked them to compare these with a face that had
narrow-spaced eyes. We found that participants preferred the face with wide-spaced
eyes, suggesting that the brain connects familiarity with attraction."
The team also asked participants to judge the same preferred facial features in those
of the opposite sex. Participants who were shown male faces with wide-spaced eyes
preferred this trait in subsequent male faces but not in female faces.
Research Reveals...
Dr Little explains: "The research revealed that the sex of the face can be a deciding
factor in facial preference. The tests showed for the first time that the brain holds
separate visual patterns of male and female faces and responds to them based on
their sex as well as their familiarity. We will continue to investigate why this is the
case."
"The next step in the research is to find out why the brain makes a link between
familiarity and attractiveness. It maybe that visual experience of particular facial
features suggests that a person is 'safe' or more 'approachable', both of which are
desirable traits."
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