People ignore your offer when it doesn’t open a question in their head. Either it gives everything away up front, or it’s so vague that nobody cares. In 1994, psychologist George Loewenstein explained why: curiosity starts when we notice a gap in what we know, and it feels like an itch we want to scratch.
Here’s how that works, why one of YouTube’s biggest creators builds everything around it, and how to use it on your own offers.
Why do people scroll past your offer?
Because nothing in it makes them want to know something. A line like “Our new product is available” tells people what you sell. It doesn’t leave them with a question. And a person with no question has no reason to keep reading.
Think about what makes you stop. It’s rarely the message that explains everything. It’s the one that makes you think “wait, what happened?” That small pull is what your offer is missing.
What is the curiosity gap?
In his 1994 paper in the journal Psychological Bulletin, Loewenstein described curiosity as the feeling of missing something. It shows up when your attention lands on a gap between what you know and what you want to know. The feeling is uncomfortable enough that you go looking for the answer.
Two details matter if you sell online. First, people need to know a little to feel the gap: Loewenstein noted that curiosity needs some starting knowledge. Second, the gap has to be the right size. Too big and it’s confusing. Too small and there’s nothing left to wonder about.
That’s the sweet spot in the chart: you know enough to care, and you’re missing enough to keep going.
How do you make people want to know more?
Don’t start with the answer. Start with the part of the story that raises a question, and give just enough for it to make sense. Loewenstein suggested priming the pump with something interesting but incomplete.
A quick test: read your offer and ask, “what does the reader want to find out?” If the answer is nothing, there’s no gap. Here are three versions of the same idea:
| What you write | Does it open a gap? |
|---|---|
| Our new email guide is out | No. There’s nothing left to find out. |
| Everything about email marketing | Too big. The reader doesn’t know what to ask. |
| The 3-word subject line I stopped using | Yes. The reader wants to know which one. |
Notice that the third one is specific. Specific details make the gap clear: the reader knows exactly what they’re missing.
Why do big numbers and clear stakes work?
Because they make the gap sharper. MrBeast is the clearest example. An internal document attributed to his company, leaked in 2024, says every video starts with the title and the thumbnail. It compares spending 50 hours in a front yard with spending 50 hours in ketchup, and says only the second one makes you click. It was never officially confirmed, so take it as a good clue, not a fact.
Look at what changed between the two: the number stays, and one detail becomes strange and specific. That’s the pattern: a clear stake plus a detail the reader can’t predict. You don’t need ketchup. You need one concrete number or detail that makes the reader think “I have to know how that ended.”
The same document says the team looks at how many people click, then at how long they stay. The rule is simple: the first promise earns the click, and the content has to earn the stay. If the reader feels the content doesn’t match what they expected, they leave.
How do you keep them reading until the sale?
By paying off the promise fast. According to the leaked document, the first minute of each video is there to show that the thumbnail’s promise will be kept, and the main content starts after that. For you, that means answering the question in the first lines of the page or email, not at the bottom.
Then keep going with small questions. Each answer can open the next one, so the reader always has a reason to read the next line. Just don’t promise what you can’t deliver: a gap you never close feels like a trick, and people don’t come back.
Only then, make your offer. By that point the reader has a reason to trust you, and the offer answers the next question: “so what do I do with this?”
It’s not a trick. It’s respecting how people decide what to read: they give attention to a question, not to a description. Open a good one, close it quickly, and your offer stops being ignored. If you want help with the message itself, I explain it in How to Write a Message That Gets a Reply.
Sources
- The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation, by George Loewenstein (Psychological Bulletin, 1994)
- How to Stimulate Curiosity (NOVA, PBS)
- Curiosity Depends on What You Already Know (Nautilus)
- How to succeed in MrBeast production (leaked PDF), by Simon Willison (2024)
- Leaked document allegedly reveals MrBeast’s secrets to YouTube success (Creator Handbook, 2024)
Frequently asked questions
What is the curiosity gap?
It’s the gap between what someone knows and what they want to know. Psychologist George Loewenstein described it in 1994: when people notice that gap, they feel a small urge to fill it.
Is a curiosity gap the same as clickbait?
No. Clickbait opens a gap and never closes it. A real curiosity gap promises something specific and then delivers it fast. If readers feel tricked, they leave, and an internal document attributed to MrBeast’s team says the same about viewers who don’t get what they expected.
How big should the gap be?
Not too big and not too small. If a line is too vague, nobody knows what to ask. If it gives away the answer, there’s nothing left to wonder about. Aim for something specific that the reader wants to finish.
Does this work for emails, product pages and ads?
Yes. It works anywhere you need attention first: subject lines, headlines, ad copy and the first line of a product page. The idea is always the same: a specific question the buyer wants answered.