In The New York Times Magazine: Speedo Warmup Jacket

SUBCONSCIOUS WARM-UP
Wearing a jacket like the one Michael Phelps wore can’t make you a faster swimmer. Or can it?

This week in Consumed, a look at the possibility of, in effect, a subliminal placebo. Recent research suggests that non-conscious exposure to brands can influence not just purchase decisions — but actual behavior. That research focused on the Apple brand and creativity. And maybe it suggests that buying a Speedo jacket like the one Michael Phelps wore isn’t quite as useless a move as you might assume.

“The trick is, the first time you wore the warm-up parka,” it wouldn’t have any effect, one of the researchers says. “Because you’d realize, Oh I’m being ridiculous.” Wear it often enough, though, and you’ll probably stop ruminating about it. “Below the level of conscious awareness, you’d put the jacket on, and what’s activated in your mind is maybe Michael Phelps going very fast,” he continues. “And those things could actually kick up your motivation to go faster.”

Read the column in the October 5, 2008, issue of The New York Times Magazine, or here.

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