The subliminal level of arousal refers to our ability to be aware of the presence or absence of a stimulus.
Subliminal Level of Arousal: This is the lowest level of arousal, and simply refers to our ability to be aware of the presence or absence of a stimulus.
The expression to have "something catch our eye" is very descriptive of this level. We donāt know what it is, but only that its presence is noted.
The stimulus, of course, has to be above the threshold of transduction for any awareness to occur.
Some stores purchase and play tapes just below the hearing threshold (transduction level) of shoppers in an attempt to install the subliminal idea that if they shoplift, they will be caught and sent to jail.
Their premise is probably right, but their practice is faulty in that their message falls literally on deaf ears. Typically, the stimulus is considerably above the level of transduction.