There’s a science to it, and it’s the reason why people are constantly staring at tiny glowing screens.

Do you know what it is?

Anticipation.

Okay here me out — we are actually wired for this.

If you think about it, throughout history, only the anxious survived. Our ancestors who were more alert and cautious about potential dangers, such as predator attacks, had a better chance of surviving and passing on their genes.

For example, those vigilant against threats like a bear while sleeping were more likely to stay alive and reproduce. This evolutionary perspective suggests that traits like vigilance and anxiety were beneficial for survival, influencing how our brains are wired today.

And to be vigilant (or have anxiety) means to always be anticipating something.

But today, we don’t have many of the same dangers we once had. In first-world countries, you can literally not leave your house for weeks at a time and still survive. Uber Eats, Amazon Fresh, Zoom, the internet — it’s all there in the comfort of your own home.

But here’s the thing: While technology changes, our biology doesn’t (or at least nowhere near the same rate as technology).

So this feeling of anticipation needs somewhere to go. It’s energy.

Anticipating something and experiencing it with no real harm leads to you feeling good. It’s dopamine.

Anticipating going to that new workout class can put you on edge. But going through it, and coming out the other end, makes you feel incredible.

Anticipating going on that solo trip can scare you. But doing it, and having a great story to tell, makes you feel great.

You realize what you’re capable of. It releases all those feel good chemicals.

So, on a scientific level, anticipation can lead to dopamine being released.

But, there’s a bridge that forms a pathway from anticipation to dopamine.

Do you know what it is?

The bridge is what all these apps enable. And it’s actually something people secretly want but might not even know how to put words to it.

People want to see something they’ve never seen before.

That’s all.

It’s what causes us to continue scrolling for hours at a time. You anticipate seeing something you haven't seen before. You finally see it. You get a “kick” from it. Then, you keep scrolling to find the next thing you haven’t seen before.

It’s quite scary how social media platforms (and now dating apps) know this about our psychology.

If you decide to use your marketing skills for good, think about how you can create content that people haven’t seen before. Make people question the status quo. Make them so intrigued by your content, and what you have to say, that they keep coming back for more.

The best marketers do this by giving their target audience what they want (that they may not even know they want yet). And you really only know what your audience secretly wants by knowing your customer (or better yet, actually being the customer yourself).

And if you’re more product or entrepreneurial minded, think of new bridges you can create (just don’t make ones that hurt us in the long term).

[This is an excerpt from the Marketer Milk Newsletter]