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.

In the EU proposal for a regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (AIA), article 5.1.a forbids the use of AI systems deploying subliminal techniques. As the meaning of the term subliminal techniques lacks a definition in the proposal, the intended meaning of the phrase requires interpretation to clarify the scope of this prohibition. Using a method based on the legal reasoning of the European Court of Justice, the meaning of the expression subliminal techniques is interpreted based on arguments from a grammatical, contextual, teleological and historical standpoint. After reviewing EU documents concerning the proposal as well as the current versions of AIA, it becomes clear that the intended meaning of subliminal techniques is broader than the ordinary meaning of this phrase. Although subliminal stimuli are generally described as stimuli that are beyond human perception, the presence of a binary threshold of perception is not fully supported by brain imaging research. From the descriptions of subliminal techniques in documents regarding AIA, as well as in formulations present in different versions of the proposal, there is support for interpreting the legislators intent as adhering to this non-binary view of subliminal techniques. Instead of strictly focusing on a perceptual threshold the determination of whether an AI deployed technique is regarded as a subliminal technique focuses on whether the technique in some sense targets human perception, as well as the degree to which this technique infringes on human autonomy.