The answer lies in understanding how human attention really works, and why our brains are wired to notice some things more than others. Spoiler: it has everything to do with survival, evolution, and some rather quirky brain shortcuts.
Let’s dive into the fascinating science of attention, and, more importantly, how you can use it in marketing and design.
Why We Notice Some Things and Not Others
Our ancestors lived in environments full of potential threats and opportunities. Spotting a predator, finding food, or recognising a potential mate quickly, could mean the difference between life and death.
That wiring hasn’t disappeared. Even though our modern-day “threats” are more likely to be email overload and traffic jams than tigers, our brains are still tuned to notice the kinds of things that once helped us survive.
This explains why we’re drawn to certain shapes, colours, and movements, often without realising it. In fact, much of what grabs our attention does so automatically, bypassing conscious thought.
For marketers, this is powerful. If you can tap into these ancient attention triggers, you can give your content, adverts, or product design an unfair advantage.
1. Salience: Standing Out from the Crowd
The simplest way to get noticed is to stand out. Our brains are wired to detect differences in our environment, a survival mechanism for spotting the odd thing out.
- Colour: Contrasting colours grab attention, especially red, which humans evolved to notice in nature (think ripe fruit among green leaves). A YouTube thumbnail with a bold, contrasting shade will outshine a muted one every time.
- Size: Bigger isn’t always better, but contrast is. A short headline among long ones, or vice versa, pulls the eye.
- Orientation: We notice misalignment. A tilted image or text box looks “wrong”, which makes us pause.
In short: sameness is invisible. Difference jumps out.
2. Motion: Hard to Ignore
Movement is one of the strongest attention triggers. Imagine sitting quietly in the grass. your survival once depended on spotting the sudden flicker of movement that might mean danger.
- Onset motion: Something that suddenly moves, even subtly, like a pulsing button, grabs focus.
- Looming motion: Objects that grow larger (as if moving towards us) demand an immediate reaction. Think of video intros that zoom in.
- Animate motion: Unpredictable, erratic movement gets noticed because predators rarely moved in straight lines.
- Implied motion: Even still images showing movement (a runner mid-stride, a car speeding forward) engage the brain more than static ones.
If you want people to act, make things move, literally or visually.
3. Agents: We’re Wired for People and Animals
We’re social creatures, and our brains are fine-tuned to notice living beings.
- Faces: We can’t help but look at faces. From realistic portraits to simple emoji-style graphics, they light up brain regions dedicated to social recognition. Interestingly, schematic faces (simple designs) can sometimes be more striking than detailed ones.
- Bodies and body parts: Human forms, even simplified ones, draw focus. A pointing hand, in particular, is a strong visual cue.
- Animals: Our ancestors needed to track animals for food and safety. To this day, cats, dogs, and other creatures capture disproportionate amounts of our attention (and internet bandwidth).
Incorporating faces, gestures, or animals into your visuals is one of the most reliable ways to stop the scroll.
4. Spatial Cues: Where to Look
Humans don’t just notice people, we notice what they’re noticing.
- Eye gaze: If a model in an advert is looking at the product, viewers will too.
- Body orientation: The direction someone faces suggests where attention should go.
- Pointing: The index finger is especially powerful for directing attention.
- Arrows and words: Simple cues like “look below” or “see right” still work because they mimic instinctive gestures.
Want to draw attention to a call-to-action button? Have someone (or something) point at it.
5. High Arousal: Threats, Sex, and Strong Emotions
Not all stimuli are equal, we’re wired to notice things that stir strong emotions.
- Threats: Snakes, spiders, sharp angles, these trigger ancient danger alarms. Even abstract patterns resembling threats can make us pay attention.
- Sex: Evolution ensured that sexual cues are hard to ignore. Used carefully, they can be powerful in advertising (though easily misused).
- Emotional words: Strong, emotional language is slower to process because it grips attention. Profanity or taboo words, while risky, can be highly effective for grabbing focus in the right context.
High arousal stimuli demand our attention first, which is why fear-based campaigns or shocking headlines can be so effective.
6. The Power of the Unexpected
We’re naturally curious about the new and unusual. Anything that breaks a pattern or feels out of place makes us stop and investigate.
- Novelty: Even babies stare longer at new shapes and patterns than familiar ones. In marketing, unusual requests (“Can you spare 37p?” instead of 50p) are more persuasive because they force people to think.
- Taboo: Breaking social rules captures interest, whether through edgy humour, surprising imagery, or bold statements.
Novelty refreshes attention, and stops people from going into autopilot.
7. Self-Relevance: Nothing Is More Interesting Than “Me”
Humans are self-absorbed creatures. Unsurprisingly, we notice things connected to ourselves more than anything else.
- Your name: The classic “cocktail party effect” shows how we instantly snap to attention if our name is mentioned, even in a noisy room.
- Your face: Seeing ourselves is equally powerful, which is why interactive tools like virtual fitting rooms are so compelling.
- Personalisation: Tailoring messages to individuals works, but beware the creepiness factor. Ads that know too much about us can feel intrusive.
The sweet spot is personalisation that feels relevant and flattering, not invasive.
8. Goal-Relevance: Timing Is Everything
What people notice depends on what they’re trying to do at the time.
- No active goal: When people are browsing casually, they’re more likely to notice adverts or unexpected details.
- Active goal: When searching for something specific, people filter out irrelevant information. The trick is to align your message with their current focus. For example, adverts that use the voice of a TV show actor during ad breaks capture attention because viewers are primed to listen for that voice.
Attention isn’t just about what you show, but when and where you show it.
Bringing It All Together
The science of attention tells us this: humans are still running on ancient software. We notice colour, motion, faces, animals, threats, and novelty because our ancestors needed to. We follow gazes, respond to pointing, and get hooked by our own names because it once meant survival.
For marketers and managers, the key takeaway is simple: design for the brain, not just the eye.
Want people to notice your message? Make it stand out. Add motion. Show a face. Use spatial cues. Evoke strong emotion. Break expectations. And, when possible, make it personal.
Attention may be scarce, but if you know how it works, it’s yours to capture.
