The Generation Effect

Sometimes a question does more work than an _________________.
There’s a well-established phenomenon in psychology called the generation effect: we tend to remember information better when we have to generate part of it ourselves rather than simply being given the answer.

That has an interesting implication for marketing.

Instead of telling your audience everything, sometimes it’s more effective to make them do a little of the thinking. The extra mental effort can make the message more memorable.

For example, instead of:
“Our platform saves physicians time.”
Try:
“If every physician got 30 minutes back each day, what would they do with it?”

Honestly, this principle works at home, too. I regularly have my kids generate an answer so I don’t get completely tuned out. “Remember, you need to be home by... ______.”  Then I let them supply the time,"10:30." They may roll their eyes at me but they remember!

Ask the question.
Leave the blank.
Make them predict the answer.
Let them complete the thought.

What could you stop telling people (or customers), and start asking them instead?