Subliminal Versus Supraliminal Mere Exposure Effects: Comparing Explicit and Implicit Attitudes

The mere exposure effect refers to the well-established finding that people evaluate a stimulus more positively after repeated exposure to it. Nevertheless, discussions on which type of presentation (i.e., supraliminal versus subliminal) produces a stronger mere exposure effect have been contentious. To shed additional light on this lingering question, we introduced 2 new approaches: (a) spontaneous presentations of the supraliminal and subliminal stimuli within a participant, and (b) multiple use of explicit and implicit measures. Experiment 1 revealed that when stimuli were presented supraliminally, the mere exposure effect occurred in both implicit and explicit attitudes. Conversely, when stimuli were presented subliminally, the mere exposure effect occurred only in implicit attitudes. Moreover, the size of the effect in implicit attitudes did not differ between subliminal and supraliminal conditions. In Experiment 2, we conducted a direct comparison of the strength of the mere exposure effect under subliminal and supraliminal conditions using relative measures of explicit and implicit attitudes. The results indicated a preference for supraliminal stimulus over subliminal stimulus in explicit attitudes. However, no significant difference was evident in implicit attitudes. Implications for theoretical accounts of mere exposure effects are discussed.