The science of scroll stopping content
We’ve all experienced it: opening social media to quickly reply to a message, only to realise an hour later that we’re still scrolling
Social media platforms are expertly designed to keep users engaged, encouraging us to move through content almost on autopilot. In doing so, they expose us to a constant stream of posts, products, and brand messages - , all competing for the same limited attention.
For marketers, this creates both a challenge and an opportunity. To cut through the noise, we need to understand the psychology behind scrolling behaviour, — and what makes someone pause, notice and engage.
At Leopard Co, understanding human behaviour powers our approach. Through our BxROAR framework — Behaviour, Research, Opportunity, Activation and Results — we ensure that behavioural insight sits at the heart of everything we do.
In this blog, we explore the psychology behind engaging content and what brands can learn from examples that make people stop in their tracks.
The psychology of scrolling
Social media taps into the brain’s reward system. When we open an app, we might see an interesting post, a new follow request, a funny video, or a notification showing that someone has liked our content. These small moments of reward feel satisfying, but crucially, they are unpredictable. We don’t know when the next interesting or relevant piece of content will appear, so we keep searching.
Scrolling is the perfect behaviour to support this loop. It’s physically easy, mentally low-effort, and has no clear endpoint. Over time this becomes habitual: we open the app, swipe through content and continue automatically.
If audiences are scrolling in autopilot mode, they’re not carefully considering every message they see. They’re scanning quickly, filtering out anything that feels familiar. To cut through, brands need to understand what makes the brain pause.
The psychology of scroll-stopping content
Our brains are wired to notice change. From an evolutionary perspective, paying attention to something unexpected helped us stay alert to potential threats and opportunities. In a digital context, the same principle applies. When content looks, sounds or feels different, it is more likely to interrupt our scrolling and capture attention.
Good content stops the scroll by giving the brain a reason to pause. In a crowded digital environment, that moment is where meaningful brand engagement begins.
But how do you create scroll stopping content?
Curiosity gaps: Information Gap Theory
Curiosity gaps work by opening a question in the audience’s mind. Psychologists suggest that curiosity arises when people become aware of a gap between what they know and what they want to know. In content marketing, this means giving people enough information to spark interest, but not enough to resolve it.
Questions such as “Why is that happening?”, “What am I missing?”, “What happens next?” create a sense of unresolved meaning. This can motivate audiences to keep reading, watching, clicking or swiping to find the answer.
Social posts often use visual curiosity gaps to encourage engagement. These might include intriguing thumbnails, blurred reveals, surprising facial expressions or unfinished storylines. They capture attention by providing enough context to spark interest, while withholding enough detail to create intrigue.
Pattern interruption: The Von Restorff effect
Pattern interruption, or the Von Restorff effect, is exactly what it says on the tin. Content that goes against the grain is more likely to interrupt autopilot and be remembered. In her original research, psychologist Hedwig von Restorff found that when people were given a list of similar items to remember, the distinctive items were more likely to be recalled.
Beverage company Liquid Death is a strong example of this. In a category dominated by natural and wellness-led messaging, Liquid Death did the opposite. With heavy-metal inspired branding, skull imagery and tall cans that look more like beer or energy drinks, than water, and language such as “Murder Your Thirst”, it made an ordinary product seem rebellious, exciting and impossible to ignore.
By breaking the conventions of the water category, Liquid Death stood out against much larger competitors and gave audiences a reason to pay attention.
Personal Relevance: The Cocktail Party Effect
The Cocktail Party Effect describes our ability to notice personally relevant information, such as our own name, even in a noisy environment. In content marketing, the same principle applies. People are more likely to pause when a message feels directly relevant to them.
This could mean content that reflects someone’s problem, identity, goals, interests or emotional state. When someone sees a post and thinks “this is about me” the message is more likely to cut through the noise of a crowded digital feed.
Personalised push notifications are a clear digital example. By using a customer’s name or referencing their previous behaviour, brands can signal that the content has been tailored to the individual, making it more likely to capture attention than a generic promotion.
Summary
In a world of endless content, products and brand messages, shaped by algorithms and interfaces designed to keep us hooked, modern marketing needs to stand out and stay front of mind.
Using behavioural science to shape marketing messaging is therefore not just effective, but increasingly essential. Through our BxROAR framework, we apply behavioural insight across the marketing journey, from identifying behavioural barriers to developing solutions that drive action.
To find out how behavioural science can help your brand make people stop and think, get in touch.