Latest / Marketing Psychology with Fexingo: Behavioral Triggers, Persuasion, and Consumer Behavior / Why Blank Slates Make Consumers Fill in the Gaps
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this classic experiment from the 1960s where researchers showed people a series of incomplete shapes, just a few lines of a circle, and then asked them to identify what they saw. The fascinating part wasn't that people recognised the shapes, it's that they were faster and more confident when the shapes were incomplete than when they were fully drawn. Luna: Wait, really? Faster with less information? That seems backwards. Lucas: Yeah, it sounds counterintuitive, but it's the brain's way of filling in the gaps. When we see something unfinished, our minds automatically try to complete it, and that act of completion makes us feel a sense of accomplishment. Psychologists call it the law of closure, part of the Gestalt principles. Luna: So the brain is basically doing the heavy lifting, and we get a little dopamine hit for solving the puzzle. That's wild. Lucas: Exactly. And marketers have been tapping into this for decades, but I think recently it's become more intentional. Think about how Apple designs its product pages, lots of white space, minimal text, just a product image floating on the screen. They're not telling you every spec upfront. They leave gaps for you to fill in with your own imagination. Luna: And our brains do fill them in, often with more positive qualities than the actual specs would have. It's like the absence becomes a canvas for our ideal version of the product. Lucas: Right. And that's the core of what I want to dig into today. The strategic use of blank space, or missing information, as a persuasion tool. It's not just about aesthetics. It's about creating a participant, not just a viewer. Luna: So it's almost like the consumer is co-creating the brand message. That's a powerful shift from the old school 'tell them everything' approach. Lucas: Yeah, and there's a really concrete example from the world of coffee. There's a specialty coffee brand, I won't name them because they're kind of small, but they redesigned their packaging a few years ago. They stripped away all the tasting notes, the origin story, the roasting details. Just left the brand name and a minimal illustration. Luna: And what happened? Did customers feel lost? Lucas: The opposite. Their online conversion rate doubled in the first quarter after the redesign. People were buying more, even though they had less information. The founder told me that customer emails actually increased, with people asking about the origin, but in a curious, engaged way, not a frustrated one. Luna: So the brand didn't lose trust; it built more because it invited a conversation. That's brilliant. Lucas: And it aligns with something we've talked about before on the show, the idea that when people put effort into understanding something, they value it more. The IKEA effect, but for information. Luna: It's like the brand is saying, 'We trust you to figure this out,' and that trust is returned with loyalty. Lucas: But here's the delicate part. If you leave too much out, you just confuse people. There's a sweet spot. For example, a tech startup I've been following put out a landing page with just a headline and a waitlist signup, no product details. They got a ton of signups, but then when they launched, people didn't really understand what they had signed up for, so they churned. Luna: So the gap is powerful, but it has to be filled with the right kind of curiosity, not just confusion. The consumer needs to have enough context to make the leap. Lucas: Exactly. The principle is called 'informational closure.' And there's a study from the Journal of Consumer Research that found that when participants saw an ad with a missing visual element, they spent longer looking at it and had higher recall of the brand afterward. Luna: So it's not just about the immediate purchase; it's about memory. That's a double win. Lucas: And it explains why some luxury brands, like the quiet luxury aesthetic we've seen dominate fashion, use such minimal advertising. They don't show the product in every angle. Sometimes it's just a silhouette or a glimpse. The consumer's brain fills in the 'luxury' part. Luna: It's almost like the brand is saying, 'If you have to ask, you can't afford it.' Not that they'd ever say that, but the subtlety is the message. Lucas: Right. And there's a flip side to this too. Sometimes brands use closure to make you forget their flaws. A car company might show a sleek car in a dramatic landscape but leave out the safety ratings or fuel economy. Your brain fills in 'reliable' because it wants the story to be complete. Luna: So the technique can be used ethically or not, depending on what you leave out. That's a crucial point for marketers to consider. Lucas: Definitely. And I think the most ethical way to use it is to leave out the obvious and let the consumer discover the delightful details. Take the subscription box brand that uses a mystery element. We've talked about that before, but it's the same principle. The unknown is a gap that the consumer fills with excitement. Luna: But with subscription boxes, the gap is the product. With blank space, the gap is the message. Different applications, same psychological root. Lucas: Exactly. And I want to bring this back to something practical for our listeners. If you're a marketer, think about the one piece of information you can remove from your next campaign. Not a critical piece, but a supporting detail. See if the engagement goes up. Luna: That's a challenge. I might try that with our own newsletter. We always include so much context. Maybe we trim one section and see if click-through improves. Lucas: And that's the beauty of this technique, it's testable. And it's not just for products. I've seen public service campaigns use blank space very effectively. There's an anti-smoking ad that just shows a blank white background with a tiny cigarette butt in the corner. The blankness makes the cigarette feel lonely and sad. Luna: Wow, that's powerful. The emptiness is a metaphor for the effects of smoking, but your brain has to make that connection. It's not stated. Lucas: It's so much more memorable than a graphic image of a diseased lung. Because your brain did the work, it's your own conclusion. And that's the key to persuasion, making people believe they came to the conclusion themselves. Luna: We've talked about the Ben Franklin effect and the IKEA effect, and this feels like a cousin of those. The more effort you put into the message, the more you own it. Lucas: And there's a name for that in psychology, it's called 'self-generated persuasion.' When we generate our own arguments, we're more likely to act on them. So when a brand leaves a gap, it's essentially asking you to generate your own reasons to buy. Luna: That's such a clean way to put it. So, Lucas, if someone wants to try this with their own brand, what's the first step? Just remove something? Lucas: Start small. Look at your homepage. Is there a headline that explains exactly what you do? Maybe replace it with something more evocative. Or look at your product images. Could you show less, so the customer has to imagine more? And then measure, see if time on site or add to cart rates change. Luna: It's a bit counterintuitive, but the data will tell you. And I love that this approach also respects the consumer's intelligence. It's not about dumbing things down; it's about elevating them. Lucas: And that's something we try to do on this show as well, not give you all the answers, but leave enough space for you to think. And that's actually why we keep this podcast ad-free and listener-supported. If these conversations have sparked an idea you've actually used, or you just appreciate the deep dives, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a simple way to keep the conversations coming, and it means we don't have to interrupt with sponsors. Luna: Yeah, it really does help. We're a small team, and every bit of support goes directly into research and production. But back to the topic, I'm curious about the downside. Is there a situation where blank space backfires? Lucas: Absolutely. If your brand isn't already established, too much blank space can feel like you're hiding something. New brands need to build trust first, so they often need to over-explain. Blank space is a luxury of the confident. Luna: So it's like the marketing equivalent of 'dress for the job you want.' Once you have some credibility, you can afford to be more mysterious. Lucas: And there's also a cultural component. Some cultures prefer more explicit communication, so a huge gap in an ad might be confusing, not intriguing. But overall, the principle holds. The brain seeks closure, and when you give it a gentle nudge, it rewards you with attention and memory. Luna: So the next time you see an ad that seems to say very little, maybe that's the most persuasive one on the page. Lucas: That's the takeaway. The most powerful message is often the one you never actually say. And that's a nice thought to leave you with.