Becker (1979); Scientific paper to the Ninth Annual Conference of Computer Medicine in Atlanta

Subliminal stress reduction messages were embedded in soothing background music and played in the waiting rooms and staff rest areas at the McDonagh Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri.  After a seven-month trial various results were observed; the number of people fainting due to needle pain was reduced to a bare minimum; smoking in the staff rest area decreased by up to 79%; 'temper flare-ups' in the crowded patient waiting room were reduced by nearly 60% and cooperation between co-workers improved.  The previous problems increased to their former levels when the subliminal messages were stopped.

Secret Voices, Time magazine, 1979

Across Canada and the US approximately 50 department stores used subliminal messages within their music systems, to reduce shoplifting and employee theft.  Over nine months the theft in one East Coast fell by 37%, resulting in a saving of $600,000.

Charman, D.K., "An Examination of Relationship between Subliminal Perception, Visual Information Processing, Levels of Processing and Hemispheric Asymmetries." Perceptual and Motor Skills (1979).

A subliminal letter was presented to subjects' left and right hemispheres of the brain. Presentations to the left hemisphere corresponded with more accurate verbal recognition.  Presentations to the right hemisphere resulted in subjects being able to better guess the content of the letter.

Silverman, L.H., Martin, A., Ungaro, R., and Mendelsohn, E. "Effect of Subliminal Stimulation of Symbiotic Fantasies on Behavior Modification Treatment of Obesity." Clinical Psychology (1978).  

“Treated 30 obese women aged 22–59 yrs in a behavior modification program for overeating, in Study 1 for 8 wks and in Study 2 for 12 wks. In both studies, the behavior programs were accompanied by subliminal stimulation, with half of the subjects receiving the verbal message {mommy and I are one}, intended to stimulate symbiotic gratification fantasies, and the other half a control message.

Weight loss was measured at the end of the program and at follow-up times: in Study 1, 4 wks after termination and in Study 2, at 4 and 12 wks post termination. In both studies the symbiotic condition gave evidence of enhancing weight loss, though it was only at follow-up that the difference between the groups attained significance. This finding, when viewed in conjunction with results from earlier studies of schizophrenics and insect phobics, supports the proposition that the subliminal stimulation of symbiotic fantasies can enhance the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions of various kinds.”

Summary:

All subjects were at least 15% overweight and as part of the programme they were given instructions on how to record the amount and calories of food consumed, how to reduce the number of situations in which they ate and how to reward themselves for appropriate eating behaviour. 

At the start and end of all treatment sessions, subjects were also asked to imagine a situation in which they were tempted to over-eat and to try to refrain from this.  They were then presented tachistoscopically* with a 4 msec. subliminal exposure of a message intended to enhance self esteem "Mommy and I are one" (experimental group) or a neutral message "People are walking" (control group).

Experimental subjects lost more weight that the control group and lost more weight by the follow up period.  This suggests that subliminal stimuli and messages help people reduce their over-eating.

Source:

http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1979-13876-001

Sackeim, H.A., Packer, I.K. and Gur, R.C. "Hemisphericity, Cognitive Set, and Susceptibility to Subliminal Perception." Journal of Abnormal Psychology (1977).

"Although many studies have apparently demonstrated that subliminal stimuli influence perception and cognition, the effects have been weak and unreliable. A review of the factors related to the magnitude of these phenomena suggests that both individual differences in hemisphericity and situational manipulations of cognitive sets are associated with the strength of subliminal effects. This hypothesis was tested in a group of 24 right movers and 25 left movers (male undergraduates), who responded to subliminal stimuli under both organized and unorganized cognitive set conditions. Results indicate that left movers showed a subliminal effect in the unorganized condition, while they showed no effect in the organized condition. Right movers showed a reverse pattern."

Summary:

The results from this study demonstrate that subliminal perception and hemisphericity can influence subjects' attitudes and behaviours.

Source:

http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1978-28673-001&CFID=4080689&CFTOKEN=70629765

Shevrin, H. "Does the Averaged Evoked Response Encode Subliminal Perception? Yes." (1975)

“An attempt by Schwartz and Rem (1975) to replicate a series of studies by Shevrin and co-workers purporting to show that the average evoked response encodes subliminal perception is found to be limited as a replication in a number of ways. Despite substantial departures in method and procedures Schwartz and Rem report a potentially confirmatory finding: AER cross correlations between different stimuli are significantly lower than for similar stimuli in an exposure level (3 msec) in which subjects fail to make an above chance verbal discrimination.”

Summary:

Physiological reactions to subliminal stimuli were significantly higher when stimuli were presented subliminally (less than 3 mili-seconds) compared to stimuli that were consciously received.  This suggests that even when the mind is not consciously aware of subliminal messages, the subconscious and body is able to detect and respond appropriately.  It is particularly interesting that subjects physiological responses were significantly lower when they were consciously aware of the stimuli.

Source:

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119654267/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Hart, L. "The Effect of Noxious Subliminal Stimuli on the Modification of Attitudes Towards Alcoholism: A Pilot Study." (1973).

For five days subjects were exposed to noxious subliminal stimuli designed to encourage negative attitudes towards alcoholism.  Questionnaire responses showed that subjects attitudes had changed significantly in line with the subliminal stimuli.  This change in attitude was not observed in the control group.  This suggests that subliminal messages or stimuli can affect attitudes.