Polls are next to meaningless unless you know the exact wording of the question. Getting your prospects mind right is not subliminal mind control of the type you often find in films but assisting your prospects decision making process.
The idea of the subliminal message is cool. Learn to speak another language while you sleep! Control people's minds by inserting inaudible dialogue or very quick pictures into the background! Wicked, I wish!
To my knowledge, that type of subliminal message, a hidden, language-based message doesn't have any scientific support. On the other hand, should you have evidence to the contrary please let me know.
Influencing another's actions can be fairly easy. There are well-documented ways to manipulate others and I am not advocating Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” or Mao’s “Little Red book” although well worth a read for other reasons. But let’s focus on getting the answers you want.
It’s all down to how you phrase your questions.
Mori Poll participants were given two options for combating a plague, projected to kill 600 people. Plan A, would save 200 people. Plan B, had a 30% probability of saving 600. The rest would die.
78% of participants took the safe option, plan A. Rephrasing the question in terms of deaths, 400 guaranteed under Plan a, 33% survive and 66% probability of 600 under Plan B, reversed the result: 78% of participants chose plan B. This is because humans are risk-prone when dealing with losses ("let's hope for the best") but risk-averse when dealing with gains ("let's keep what we have").
In another study, by Mori, they found that if you offer a shopper a "one time only" sale on a product, a Sony CD player say, most, 66% will buy it, happy to avoid further shopping. If you offer them two different products, one by Sony, one by Aiwa, both on sale, 46% will continue shopping rather than buy either. Choice makes people less likely to make a decision.
This confirms our strategy when writing and showcasing product and services. Know who you are writing/creating for and make the buying decision easy for your punters with just one clear and compelling message.
Read more on this at the baldchemist official site, copywriters.
