You won't believe how clickbait is manipulating your brain

Caroline Ward spoke to GBJ students via Zoom (GBJ photo by Rick Dunham)

By ARINA LVOVA

Global Business Journalism reporter

You’ve seen them everywhere: headlines that promise shocking revelations or secret insights. “This One Trick Will Change Your Life,” or “You Won’t Believe What Happens Next!”

Clickbait — those attention-grabbing, often misleading headlines — is designed to make you click on digital content. But what’s the real reason you’re drawn to these irresistible promises? The answer lies in a mix of emotional triggers and cognitive shortcuts, and understanding this can reveal just how deeply clickbait is woven into the fabric of modern journalism.

Clickbait works by exploiting our emotional responses. Caroline F. Ward, Assistant Professor at Hanyang University in Seoul, explained this psychological aspect in a recent lecture to Global Business Journalism students at Tsinghua University.

"It was created to play on these aspects of how we process information," she said.

Headlines like "You Won’t Believe What Happens Next" tap into curiosity and surprise, emotions that are almost universally compelling. These emotional hooks are what get us to click — whether we’re promised something shocking, funny, or infuriating, the emotional payoff is too good to resist.

But there’s more to the story. While emotions drive us to click, our brains also prefer content that is easy to digest.

"Our brains like to process things in a way that’s neat and organized," Ward noted.

Research shows that clickbait stories maximize engagement and boost ad revenue. (Illustration by ChatGPT)

In an age of information overload, we crave simplicity. This is where the magic of listicles and numbered articles comes in. Headlines like “10 Secrets You Didn’t Know” or “5 Things You Must Know About X” promise a quick, structured read, offering information in bite-sized chunks. This format minimizes cognitive effort and delivers immediate gratification.

Clickbait headlines often promise an emotional payoff or cognitive ease, but what’s the true cost? While the immediate effect is a surge in clicks, Ward warns of the long-term consequences.

"When we encounter something that's not a listicle, if we're not practiced with having to work a little harder to get the information we want, we could ultimately be at a disadvantage," she said.

Over time, constantly consuming neatly packaged, emotionally charged content makes it harder for us to engage with more complex, thoughtful information. The more we’re conditioned to expect instant answers, the less patience we have for in-depth analysis or nuanced discussions.

Clickbait has become a staple of the digital media landscape, a tool that maximizes engagement and boosts ad revenue.

“Journalism is not terribly lucrative, so if this is a way to keep the field afloat, there’s not necessarily harm in that,” Ward acknowledged.

But this growing reliance on sensationalism raises important ethical questions about the future of journalism. Is it worth sacrificing depth for the sake of clicks? As the digital media industry evolves, journalists will need to strike a delicate balance between providing quick, catchy content and maintaining the integrity of thoughtful reporting.

Clickbait isn’t just a superficial tactic — it’s a reflection of how our brains process information in the digital age. While it may be a useful tool in capturing attention, it also risks distorting the role of journalism, reducing it to a game of clicks and "gotcha" headlines rather than a pursuit of truth.

The real challenge for journalists is navigating this shift while ensuring they don’t lose sight of their responsibility to provide meaningful, important, accurate content in an increasingly click-driven world.