Deviance.
Distress.
Dysfunction.
Danger.
Those are the 4 things studied and observed in experimental psychopathology (originally established in the Soviet Union after World War II).
A psychologist and psychiatrist by the name of Bluma Wulfovna Zeigarnik contributed to the establishment of this unusual branch of psychology.
But, what she’s most known for is something from Gestalt Psychology now referred to as the Zeigernik Effect.
The Zeigernik Effect says that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.
In marketing, the Ziergernik Effect is often utilized in the context of open-loops – teasing, incomplete ideas designed to retain prospect engagement and interest.
For example:
When a newscaster says something like, “Famous actress reveals deep dark secret that stuns her family and fans. More about that shortly…”, that’s an open-loop tapping into the Zeigernick Effect.
It’s done intentionally. And done to keep viewers sticking around to hear the rest of the story.
Using the Zeigernik Effect in the form of open-loops like this are also a powerful way to maintain readership through your emails.
A simple way to do this is by opening a loop within the first 3 paragraphs in your email. Then, not closing that loop until the end of your email.
Here’s a brief (totally made-up) example:
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Hi Sharon,
I’m SHOCKED!
I think I may have just discovered an incredible method for stripping out all of the fat from my pulled-pork recipe… without sacrificing any flavor.
I’ll tell you the exact method and all the juicy details – no pun intended – in just a second.
First, let me tell how a stupid little accident led to the discovery of how this method removes every ounce of fat from pulled-pork and every other fatty food I’ve tried it on.
Here’s what happened:
blah…
blah…
blah…
blah…
So, what’s the method? And how the heck does it work so well to remove all fat without sacrificing flavor one bit?
It’s called….
=======================================
See how I opened a loop in the second paragraph?
Then, went on with content… only to close the loop toward the end of the email?
That’s the Zeigernik Effect.
Open a loop.
Don’t close it until the end of your email.
It’s as simple as that.
