Whoever came up with the definition for “subliminal” should be fired. That definition has led to some different interpretations — most of which are wrong. Hopefully this section will clear things up.
Subliminal messages are stimuli that lie below our threshold of conscious awareness. Because they fall below the absolute threshold level (ATL), we can’t perceive a subliminal message, even if we’re looking for it.
That’s important. Many people confuse subliminal influence with subconscious influence. But those two concepts are very different.