Swedish consumers say: -" Subliminal marketing is smart marketing!"

Abstract:

Title: Swedish consumers say – ”Subliminal marketing is smart marketing!”

Authors: Vickie Hedgren and Angelica Persson

Adviser: Klaus Solberg Søilen

Level: Dissertation in Marketing, 15 ECTS, Spring 2015

Keywords: Subliminal, Messages, Advertising, Advertisement, Neuromarketing, Psychology, Subconscious, Primal instincts, Subliminal techniques, Ethics, Acceptance, Emotional Connection

Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to find out what Swedish consumers think about marketing that is meant to influence their subconscious in their decision making, with a focus on subliminal messages, and whether it is ethically acceptable. This will be carried out by examining the two following research questions: 1. What marketing methods aimed at building a psychological connection with the consumer are ethically acceptable and in what areas of marketing or situations? 2. Is it ethical to use subliminal marketing for a cause-related brand, a luxury brand or aimed at a specific income group? We will further examine theories and studies done over the years as well as carry out our own to come up with our conclusions.

Frame of Reference: We start of by presenting overall theories regarding subliminal advertising which leads us to various breakdowns such as psychology, primal instincts, subliminal techniques, ethics, causerelated marketing, high- and low end consumers.

Methodology: The dissertation is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative studies. We conducted one survey with 200 respondents and two interviews with marketers. We bring up the importance of validity, reliability, generalizability, carefulness and criticism.

Empirical Framework: We will present the collected data from the performed online survey as well as the information from the two personal interviews.

Conclusion: Swedish consumers have a high level of ethical acceptance when it comes to marketing that is meant to create a psychological connection. The conclusions made are that 1. Out of the 14 methods we chose to include in our dissertation, 12 of them had a high level of ethical acceptance; subliminal messages in fashion advertising and in an active situation is ethical 2. It is more unethical if a good-cause company uses subliminal marketing than if a luxury brand uses it.