Which of the following best describes subliminal messages?

Subliminal messages are designed to influence individuals without their conscious awareness. This means that these messages are processed at a subconscious level, bypassing the individual's immediate, conscious thought processes. The effectiveness of subliminal messages lies in their ability to evoke responses or reactions without the person being fully aware of them, which can subtly impact attitudes or behaviors.

In contrast, messages that are easy to remember typically engage conscious processing but do not fit the definition of subliminal messages. Similarly, messages that require conscious processing involve an individual's deliberate and aware thought engagement, not the passive, unnoticed intake typical of subliminal messages. Lastly, messages specifically directed at a target audience might be aimed strategically, but they do not inherently indicate the subconscious processing that characterizes subliminal messaging. Hence, the nature of subliminal messages is best captured by their unconscious influence.