In subliminal stimuli research, the threshold is the level at which the participant is not aware of the stimulus being presented. However, a meta analysis of many strong articles displaying effectiveness of subliminal messaging revealed its effects on actual consumer purchasing choices between two alternatives are not statistically significant subliminal messaging is only effective in very specific contexts.
When primed to push a button with their off-hand, people will use that hand even if they are given a free choice between using their off-hand and their dominant hand. Subliminal priming can direct people's actions even when they believe they are making free choices. If the subliminal stimuli is for a product that is not quickly accessible or if there is no need for it within a specific context then the stimuli will have little to no effect. The stimuli can also influence the target to choose the primed option over other habitually chosen options. For example, if the target is thirsty then a subliminal stimuli for a drink is likely to influence the target to purchase that drink if it is readily available. The context that the stimulus is presented in affects their effectiveness.
Most actions can be triggered subliminally only if the person is already prepared to perform a specific action.
However, consensus of subliminal messaging remains unsubstantiated by other research. Research on action priming has shown that subliminal stimuli can only trigger actions a receiver of the message plans to perform anyway.