Embedded Commands Results!

I know what you're talking about.
You can use embedded commands in your
writing by hiding a direct command inside of your language.

You could say "Buy this product right now."
Which would be a direct command. So, if you look at
the following sentence, you'll see how I embedded the
same command into a larger idea.

"You could buy this product right now... or read about
all of the benefits you'll receive from it first.."

Can you see how I sandwiched the command inside of a
larger sentence? The idea is that it will boost your chances
of influencing the reader's behavior by softening them up
with some niceties and bypassing some resistance.

I don't know of any studies supporting its credibility. But
I think it could work to an extent. How well it works is
probably dependent on a lot of factors.

It definitely won't give anyone jedi powers.

Thanks luke.. Not much proof & real results but nice anyway

Cheers,

Gary

I am doing a split test now. I am a copywriter and experimental psychologist, so I get interested in testing and... in particular, testing interesting "treatments."

Most of the "academic" stuff on this is going to come from the NLP/Hypnosis crowd. And neither are big on strict controlled research. NLP is based on modelling, not experimental research, although once in a while an NLPer will get a wild hair and go and do a study... but that is rare.

One of the issues with this is that the most famous subliminal research study done back in the 50s (maybe 60s ?) was actually a fraud. The author later admitted so...

But this stuff is more prevalent than the average person suspects. Youtube subliminal ads to see some great presentations... a lot of it is visual, but the embedded commands are there also, especially with tobacco and car ads.

Your best bet is to read Eldon Taylor's stuff if you are hunting for scientific evidence.

Here is an article he wrote, he has several books as well.

I have no affiliation with him other than I use his subliminal CDs in my own life.

You can read books that Taylor has written for more information, and he does cite some research.

Or you can try Milton Erickson's books, but they will be heavy on anecdotal evidence and won't rely on controlled studies.

Milton Erickson, Ernest Rossi, and Sheila Rossi, Hypnotic Realities (New York: Irvington Publishers, 1976

Milton Erickson and Ernest Rossi, Hypnotherapy: An Exploratory Casebook (New York: Irvington Publishers, 1979)

I am happy to share my results once I get them from my own testing.


p.s. Another issue when looking up journal articles on this stuff is that the mainstream academics probably won't use the NLP/Ericksonian term "embedded commands." So even though they are looking at the same thing, the mainstream academics might call them "subliminal messages" or "subliminal commands."

No embedded command is going to overcome not having enough to backup your promises or help sell a shitty offer. Sorry, not happening

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this qualifies as one of copywriting's urban legends.

Back in the 60s and 70s, psychiatrist Dr. Milton Erickson experimented with embedded commands with his patients. Several books and awards later, his ideas became the basis of the neurolinguistic programming (NLP) concept developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. NLP is speculative science at best, mind, and as far as I know, there exists no scientific evidence of its effectiveness.

Nonetheless, the concept caught fire with the several communities, most notably, the magic (mentalist?) and mental health. Some of the ideas crept into the outer fringes of the copywriting realm, and from time to time, copywriters would bet their farm on the effectiveness of NLP.

Personally, I think embedded commands in copywriting are about as effective as subliminal messages in radio/TV broadcasts and backmasking Satanic commands in rock tracks from the 70s.