Seducing the Subconscious

Our relationship with ads: it's complicated

A must-read for anyone intrigued by the role and influence of the ad world, Seducing the Subconscious explores the complexities of our relationship to advertising. Robert Heath uses approaches from experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience to outline his theory of the subconscious influence of advertising in its audience’s lives. In addition to looking at ads’ influence on consumers, Heath also addresses how advertising is evolving, noting especially the ethical implications of its development. Supported by current research, Seducing the Subconscious shows us just how strange and complicated our relationship is with the ads we see every day.

Foreword ix

Introduction 1

Part 1 Taking Advertising Apart

1 The Persuasion Model 15

2 Alternative Ideas 24

3 WhyWe Don’t Pay Attention to Advertising 39

Part 1 Summary 48

Part 2 The Psychology of Communication

4 Learning and Attention 53

5 The Role of Memory 63

6 HowWe Process Communication 74

7 Problems with Getting Attention 85

Part 2 Summary 95

Part 3 Emotion and Consciousness

8 Emotional Processing 101

9 Our Adaptive Subconscious 111

10 Emotion and Attention 123

Part 3 Summary 133

Part 4 Decisions and Relationships

11 Decision-Making 137

12 The Power of Metacommunication 149

13 The Subconscious Seduction Model 160

Part 4 Summary 174

Part 5 Taking A Fresh Look at Advertising

14 Under the Radar 179

15 The Hidden Power of New Media 189

16 Legal, Decent, Honest, and Truthful? 198

17 How to Spot Subconscious Seduction 207

Conclusion 219

References 229

Index 239

“Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division and graduate students of advertising and psychology, faculty, and practitioners.” (Choice, 1 October 2012)

“Heath’s book is far more persuasive than any advertisement, no matter how top-loaded the latter may be with accurate information. His thesis depends on a lengthy journey through cognitive science and evolutionary psychology, and a firm grasp on how – so far as we know – the human mind actually does work (rather than how we would like it to work). Heath demonstrates quite clearly – at least to my satisfaction – that it is precisely when we pay no conscious attention to advertising that advertisers get to work on our subconscious with complete effectiveness.” WILL SELF, Prospect, June 2012

"(Heath) avoids academic obscurantism and fills the book with clever dissections of well-known ads... The case studies add up to an intriguing, down-to-earth introduction to the mysteries of the subconscious..."
Financial Times, March 2012

"Dr Robert Heath, who teaches at the University of Bath, has popularised the theory of ‘low attention processing’, which argues that ads make a stronger emotional and behavioural impact when we are paying less conscious attention to them. In his new book, Seducing the Subconscious, he further develops this thinking, providing a detailed and scholarly explanation of the psychological processes involved, and illustrating these with advertising examples, many based on his own long experience in ad agencies."
Paul Feldwick, Credos, March 2012

Dr. Robert Heath has a worldwide reputation as an expert in the role of emotion and attention in the field of brand communication. In 2001 he developed the Low Attention Processing Model of advertising, after which he published the best-selling monograph The Hidden Power of Advertising. His published research has garnered him major prizes, including the dual award of the MRS David Winton and ISBA Prizes. Dr. Heath is a Senior Lecturer in Advertising at University of Bath School of Management and a Board Member of the Wharton Global Future of Advertising Project. We have a love-hate relationship with advertising. Adverts serve a purpose—they keep us in touch with new products and ideas, and at their best, ingenious campaigns provide entertainment. But we also worry that advertising can get 'under our radar' in some way and might affect us without our knowledge. For this reason, we ignore it: we think if we don't pay attention to it, we won't remember it, and it won't influence us.

But, paradoxically, ignoring advertising can actually lend it greater power. Dr. Robert Heath, a pioneering researcher in the field of brand communications, reveals that how we process advertising—both at a subconscious and semiconscious level—can actually increase the influence it has on our emotions, the underlying drivers of our decisions and relationships. Utilizing extensive psychological and neuroscientific research, Seducing the Subconscious reveals how this brave new advertising world works, using illustrative examples of advertising campaigns that have been hugely successful without anyone quite being able to recall what they were trying to communicate.

Knowledge, or perhaps awareness, Dr. Heath shows, truly is power. Whether advertising executives are trying to harness it, or average consumers are looking to defend themselves, one thing is certain: we cannot afford to ignore it.

An articulate, compelling and, at times, disturbing explanation of how advertising works. The theory and examples in Seducing the Subconscious offer new insight into how advertising works and are a must read for any advertiser, consumer, and policy maker.
—Jerry Wind, Lauder Professor and Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, Director of the Wharton Future of Advertising Program

Dr. Heath writes with great insight into the workings of advertising and communication. He draws on theory to frame the question and guides the reader through how the subconscious is at the forefront of our behaviour. His book is a 'must read' for anyone with the slightest involvement or interest in marketing.
—Judy Zaichkowsky, Professor of Marketing and Communications, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Advertising works at both a conscious and subconscious level. Anyone who wants to understand how should read this well-researched and generally balanced book.
—Patrick Barwise, Emeritus Professor, London Business School