Is Your Website For Marshmallows Or Popcorn?
Cassandra is the Director of User Experience Strategy at Piehead
In 1966, Walter Mischel, a social psychologist then at Stanford University, conducted the now famous marshmallow study. Individual preschoolers were taken into a room with just a desk, a chair and a tray of snacks including marshmallows, cookies and pretzels. They were told they could have one treat immediately, or, if they could wait while the experimenter went out of the room for a few minutes, they could have two treats when he returned. Most of the children could hold out for three minutes or less and some ate the treat immediately. But about a third of the children were able to wait for up to fifteen minutes in order to receive the double treat. These children were able to distract themselves by playing under the table or even hiding their eyes. By directing their attention away from the treat they were able to exercise the self-control necessary to delay gratification.
The story continues. Years later, this subpopulation of preschooler, now in adulthood, struggles less with emotionally stressful situations, paying attention and maintaining friendships.
Contrast this with a recent article by David Levy of University of Washington who earlier this year coined the term “popcorn brain”. The popcorn brain is constantly bombarded with stimuli. The “popcorn brain syndrome” refers to the possibility that the constant stimulation created by our use of smartphones, computers and tablets has become so addictive that life offline seems, well, boring. We text while having dinner with others, our email is constantly on and we’re often watching TV while on Facebook. We are surrounded by information that is available at a moment’s notice. Our attention is anything but focused and gratification need not be delayed.
Although the news sounds bleak, we must not forget about the third of Mischel’s preschoolers who were able to focus their attention and delay gratification. These individuals continued to show ability to focus attention well into adulthood. Additionally, the young adults most addicted to their smartphones are those of college age. By necessity, a university education requires ability to focus one’s attention, read content longer than a Facebook post and delay gratification (at least until studying is over). Finally, book readers are alive and well – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has sold over 15 million copies.
What does all this mean for your website, you ask? The good news is that a portion of your audience will be able to focus and read longer form content. For them, continue to post the white papers, the case studies and the long form content. There is a benefit in not ignoring this portion of your clientele. Remember, good salespeople doesn’t sell you a car, they sell you 5 cars over your lifetime. For the rest of us, descriptive headlines, highlighted keywords, bullet points and story excerpts will suffice. Hear it? Got it? Good!
