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Top line. Volkswagen leveraged the brain’s incongruity resolution bias to send Beetle sales soaring by 1500%. But the same subconscious trigger that fuels curiosity can also backfire spectacularly. Learn how to harness this powerful bias safely — to spark attention, shape emotion, and make your brand story impossible to ignore.
When Volkswagen’s 1959 ad suggested its iconic Beetle might be a lemon, many expected sales to sour fast. Instead, the implied insult sweetened turnover — spectacularly. Doyle Dane Bernbach’s risky ad, now regarded as one of the most effective of all time, drove Beetle sales up by a whopping 1500%.
How? By using the brains conflict resolution bias to trip its subconscious production line. And divert an unfair share of its scarce electricity.
The DDB ad showed a stark black-and-white photo of the Beetle with a single headline: Lemon? The question disrupted the story the brain expected. (Brands promote their products; this one appeared to insult its own.) The contradiction — surprising and hard to resolve — forced the energy-conscious subconscious, wired to find meaning fast, to invest more than its usual fraction of power. Hey presto — more mental attention. And a surge in sales.
The ad went on to resolve the tension it created: the “lemon” wasn’t a bad car at all, but one rejected by Volkswagen’s meticulous quality inspectors so customers would never get one.
Disruption and curiosity certainly make for explosive chemistry. But before you tinker with these volatile ingredients at home, there are a few key things to know about sparking curiosity safely to avoid a backfire. Here’s what you need to know to ignite disruption and curiosity safely.
Curiosity is a subconscious survival device
The 22-watt brain exists to ensure its organism survives and thrives. To do its life-saving work, it scans around 11 million bits of data per second (your message included) to detect loss or gain signals it needs to react to.
But with very little energy to process a hydrant of data consciously, it relies on its lightning-fast subconscious production line to intuitively sense patterns and react to 95% of data automatically – in a heartbeat. Every incoming signal is tested in milliseconds for threat or opportunity. When the pattern matches something known, a pre-stored reaction fires automatically. All data is routinely processed; most is ignored.
But when a pattern breaks — when something doesn’t fit — the subconscious can’t find a script to follow. It pauses, diverts energy, and interrogates the anomaly. That burst of electricity is curiosity — the brain’s way of resolving uncertainty before deciding whether to approach or avoid.
Curiosity, the product of disruption, is a survival reflex — the brain’s incongruity resolution bias in action — compelling the brain to turn confusion and tension into tight focus.
Triggering the right curiosity
When designing for mental disruption, know that the line between fascination and fear is razor thin. Deploy the incongruity resolution bias carelessly, and the same tension that sparks curiosity could just as easily trigger defence — and your brand story blows up in your face.
Psychologist Daniel Berlyne showed that arousal and pleasure rise together only up to a point — then crash. Push beyond that sweet spot, and curiosity flips into confusion or avoidance.
The message design task is to create safe uncertainty: enough contrast to interrupt the subconscious autopilot, but not enough to feel like threat. When a disruption device confuses, the subconscious retreats. If it resolves too soon, it disengages. But if it opens a question that feels rewarding to answer, the brain pays full attention — and remembers.
When that balance is right, dopamine flows, energy is diverted, and the brain activates to search for resolution. That moment of neural investment — when the brain chooses to spend electricity — is what your message competes for.
What this means for brand messaging
Your brand competes for a finite share of very limited mental electricity. Curiosity is the natural on-switch — the pause that opens the door to influence. Here are a few proven ways to trigger it, each activating a different subconscious route:
- The information gap: hint at knowledge your audience doesn’t yet have.
- The pattern break: disrupt expectation or normal flow.
- The unfolding narrative: build curiosity through gradual revelation.
Incongruity resolution bias application examples.
The smartest ads create just enough safe uncertainty to make the subconscious lean in and spend energy to resolve it. Here are some examples of how brands get the incongruity resolution bias right:
Rolls-Royce — the information gap. “At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”
A single sentence that raised an irresistible question: how can a car be that quiet? The line hinted at knowledge the reader didn’t yet have — an information gap — and the copy rewarded that curiosity with engineering proof. The reader’s brain got its answer and its dopamine hit.
Oreo — the pattern break. “You can still dunk in the dark.”
Posted during the 2013 Super Bowl blackout, the line disrupted expectation at exactly the right moment. While millions sat in confusion, Oreo flipped the narrative — from blackout to brightness. The pattern break triggered curiosity, humour, and reward in one beat.
The Economist — the unfolding narrative. “I never read The Economist.”
The ad showed a confident, professional man — the type who obviously should read it. That visual and headline created narrative tension: why not? The punchline — “Management trainee. Aged 42.” — delivered the payoff. This unfolding narrative used irony and identity tension to make readers feel clever for catching on.
Each brand exploited the incongruity resolution bias differently, but the mechanism was identical: a small disruption, a safe question, and a satisfying resolution that rewarded the brain for understanding.
Application guidelines
To put the incongruity resolution bias to work for your brand messaging, follow these guidelines:
- Create contrast. The subconscious notices what breaks the pattern. Use contradiction, surprise, or irony to force a pause.
• Keep it safe. Curiosity dies if the brain senses threat or overload. Design tension, not confusion.
• Reward the effort. The dopamine payoff comes from resolution. Always close the loop — with insight, humour, or clarity.
• Match the device to the moment.
- Information gap for intrigue and authority.
- Pattern break for humour and surprise.
- Unfolding narrative for engagement and identity connection.
- Protect trust. Curiosity works only when it’s fair. Manipulate it with clickbait, and attention won’t return.
The bottom line: use wonder to stop the mind from wander.
About
Jonathan Hall is the CEO of ThinkWorks, a behavioural science consultancy that helps organisations move more minds with influence and narrative science. ThinkWorks blends the disciplines of business and brand strategy, behavioural science, and storytelling art to produce messaging tactics that persuade effectively.
Jonathan is a graduate of Wits Business School, has trained in strategic modelling at Aix-Marseille University in France, and is certified in behavioural economics, brand, and narrative science. He is also the author of the e-books The Power of Brand Story and BrainSell. His work has earned several accolades, including the IMM Marketing Company of the Year award, a Deloitte Best Company to Work For award, and a PSA Innovator of the Year award.
To find out if ThinkWorks can help your organisation influence the minds you target, contact ThinkWorks for a no-obligation exploration.
jonh@thinkworks.co.za | +27 83 251 0716 | www.thinkworks.co.za
