The utter joy of waiting to consume and how to use it at work.
Is waiting painful, or painfully pleasurable? Let's find out when you should keep people waiting... and when you shouldn't.
The wait is nearly over Bold Behaviourists 👋🏽
You may have noticed that this issue of of the BB newsletter didn’t hit your inbox on time.
Ah. I did know this would be a challenge - I like to do my research and fact check so it takes a while, and last week I was travelling a fair bit and meeting, training and coaching people to their very faces across the country and then.. it was sports day.
And I'm afraid long ago I made the commitment to prioritise sports days, and school plays etc etc over work seeing as I have one sprog, and you can't get those years back.
So I hope I didn't disappoint you too much.
But maybe, the wait made it better?
Rather than sweep this under the rug, I thought I'd turn this into the topic for this one. a short and sweet read for you.
Through the lens of behavioural science: could the anticipation of waiting enhance your experience of what you’re about to read?
The results of last week's experiment.
They are ready! I'll share with you the results at the end of this newsletter.... and yes - I'm also running one with this email too!
You'll have to keep tuned for this weekend's read to see if anticipation won over a regular title.
The Sheer Joy of Anticipation
Have you ever found savouring the thought of your holiday was more enoyable than the actual trip? Or waiting for Christmas or... the joy of opening that latest shopping parcel?
It's not just you.
It’s a well-documented psychological phenomenon. The wait is more pleasurable than the actual trip.
George Loewenstein’s 1987 study, "Anticipation and the Valuation of Delayed Consumption," highlights an intriguing part of human behaviour:
We get more pleasure in that lead up to the event than from the event itself.
This insight is particularly potent for businesses, where building anticipation could intensify engagement and satisfaction.
Fast forward to 2001, where Brian Knutson’s study, "Anticipation of Increasing Monetary Reward Selectively Recruits Nucleus Accumbens," (another easy read) showed what was happening in our brains in that wait time.
The study showed very cool lit up in areas in the brain linked to pleasure just from anticipating rewards—not just receiving them.
A is showing the brain awaiting a reward, and no outcome.
This means that the build-up to an event can sometimes be as stimulating, if not more so, than the event itself.
So, Why Does This Matter for my Newsletter?
My late late newsletter, in a roundabout way, set up a perfect scenario to test these theories.
Has the delay made the arrival of this newsletter a bit more satisfying?
Perhaps there’s a lesson here about pacing and expectation that I can apply not just to this newsletter, but to other areas of life and work.
Reply to me now and let me know how you felt when you saw the email in the inbox:
Did you feel more excited/ about the same/ or just plain annoyed at me?
I do love receiving your replies so let me know, and I'll report back what you all thought.
Your BOLD challenge for the week 👩🔬
Get your lab coats on! Let’s put theory into practice. I’m challenging you this month to experiment with anticipation:
1. **Create Expectation:**
Announce an exciting but vague upcoming project or event to your team or family. Hold off on the details just long enough to build curiosity.
2. **Observe:**
Get in mad scientist mode. Watch how people respond. Does their excitement grow? Do conversations bubble up more frequently about what might be coming? What metrics to you notice being impacted?
3. **Discuss:**
After revealing the full details, get the popcorn out and have a chat about the experience. Did the anticipation heighten the enjoyment or interest?
Go. Be Bold. Change minds.
Alex
P.S. I haven't forgotten.... here are the results of last week's test on one of the principles I shared.
I chose "Emotional Contagion"
Here are the two titles that got tested:
Now here is what was interesting - the split test runs for a few hours. and the winner is selected on speed... and as you can see the Emotional Contagtion won in that time frame.
BUT I just saw that now it's been over a week, 77.8% opened email A, and 55.6% opened B.
So longer term - the control won. But in a quick time frame Emotional Contagion won.
Overall I got a 59.3% open rate on the winner, with no unsubscribes (wooo thank you).
Let's see what anticipation does next week...
