Negative Words Prove To Be Catchy In Advertisements

Negative Words Prove To Be Catchy

by Jack Loechner, Thursday, October 8, 2009, 8:15 AM

Subliminal images, images shown so briefly that the viewer does not consciously ‘see’ them, have long been the subject of controversy, particularly in the area of advertising.

According to a study led by Professor Nilli Lavie, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, published in the journal Emotion, people are able to process emotional information from subliminal images, and demonstrates conclusively that even under such conditions, information of negative value is better detected than information of positive value.

In the study, Professor Lavie and colleagues showed fifty participants a series of words on a computer screen. Each word appeared on screen for only a fraction of second, at times only a fiftieth of a second, much too fast for the participants to consciously read the word.

The words were either positive (e.g. cheerful, flower and peace), negative (e.g. agony, despair and murder) or neutral (e.g. box, ear or kettle). After each word, participants were asked to choose whether the word was neutral or ‘emotional’ (i.e. positive or negative), and how confident they were of their decision.

The researchers found that the participants answered most accurately when responding to negative words, even when they believed they were merely guessing the answer.

Professor Lavie said: “There has been much speculation about whether people can process emotional information unconsciously… (the study shows) that people can perceive the emotional value of subliminal messages and… (demonstrates) conclusively that people are much more attuned to negative words.

 The professor says that there are evolutionary advantages to responding rapidly to emotional information. She says “We can’t wait for our consciousness to kick in if we see someone running towards us with a knife or if we drive under (inclement weather conditions) and see a sign warning ‘danger’.”

Since “Negative words may have more of a rapid impact,” she explained, the research might have implications in the use of subliminal marketing to convey messages for advertising as well as public service announcements for safety campaigns.

Professor Lavie opines that “‘Kill your speed’ should be more noticeable than ‘Slow down’. More controversially, highlighting a competitor’s negative qualities may work on a subliminal level much more effectively than shouting about your own selling points.”

For additional information about the UCL study, please go here.