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Stop Being So Nice:
3 Reasons Why Negative Headlines Work
 Do you ever glance at the lurid headlines on the cover of the National Enquirer while waiting in the checkout line at your favorite store? Just in a quick, out-of-the-corner-of-the-eye-then-look straight-ahead way? Okay, I'll admit it. I do.
In some ways, we are drawn to the negative. It holds a strange fascination for us. Negative messages in marketing copy can affect us in the same way.
Jonathan Fields, in a guest post on copyblogger, describes the use of negative headlines as "train wreck blogging." Why they work is connected to what social scientists call negativity bias, the proven theory that humans give more weight to negative experiences than positive ones.
If you understand that the two most important functions of a headline are to grab attention and pull the reader into the rest of your copy, you can use a negative headline to accomplish that.
3 reasons why negative headlines work
1. We are hard-wired to respond to-and remember-the negative. Researchers say that the details we are most likely to remember accurately are the things that cause a negative emotional reaction (fear, pain, anger, etc.) Our brains are wired that way for purposes of self-preservation: to allow us to learn from a bad experience so we can avoid it in the future.
Take the headline from an article in The Bottom Line, a self-help magazine:
What never...ever to eat on an airplane.
As a reader, I'm already wondering about what not to eat on an airplane and just a little afraid that, if I don't find out, I'll be in trouble next time I fly.
2. We are afraid of making a mistake and looking stupid. We worry about doing things wrong and we'll do just about anything to avoid the embarrassment. What if people get the idea that we're not very smart?
The headline in my most recent blog post is an example of this:
Writing Mistakes That Make You Look Stupid: 5 Things Your Teacher Was Right About
No one wants to look stupid, right? So your blog visitor may just want to read the post, just to make sure they are not making any of these mistakes.
3. We want to think that we are better than all those losers. Pride can be a powerful emotion. It's why people watch Jerry Springer and Judge Judy. They want to see people whose lives are more out of control than theirs. It makes us somehow feel brighter, more successful-and better-than those sad, sorry souls.
Here is the title of a blog post of mine that got one of the three highest page views of the year:
Confessions of a Recovering Self-improvement Junkie
Why are we so attracted to the negative? Because it makes us feel better about our own lives. "I must not be screwed up after all because look at her. She's a junkie."
A few words of caution: Negative headlines work when you use them sparingly. If every title you write shouts at your reader, or if you cross the line from provocative to insulting, game's over.
And don't forget the cardinal rule: test, test, test. Experiment with two versions of your ad or e-letter: 50% of your target market get the negative headline and the others receive the positive one. Then track and analyze the results or open rates.
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