Emotionally volatile content is more engaging

Hey Newsletter Crew!

I've been an avid consumer of discussions here but I haven't contributed as much as I'd want to. I'd like to change that today!

📈 Tip

Write paragraphs that alternate often and radically between negative and positive emotions. People will find it more engaging and like it more.

Works best for long-form narrative content or storytelling. You can apply this to many formats (written, video, audio).

🎓 The research behind it

This tip is based on a Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) study released last month.

The researchers adapted an algorithm used for analyzing trading volatility and used it to study the emotional volatility (how often and by how much it goes from positive to negative) of 32,085 online articles and 4,118 movies.

They found that a 31.75% increase in volatility in movies is associated with a 1-point higher rating on IMDb and more ticket sales.

Similarly, people were much more likely to keep reading (scrolling) articles online when they were more volatile.

💡 My newsletter

You can read the full tip here (3min read): Emotionally volatile content is more engaging

It's one of the tips I wrote in my newsletter Ariyh where I turn the latest research 🎓 into 3min tips 💡 to grow your business 📈

Hope you find it helpful!