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From the day we’re born, curiosity becomes a primary driving force that motivates us to explore unknown ideas and territories in search of answers and stimulations. Human beings have an inborn desire to close the “curiosity gap” every day.

A recent study found that curiosity can be a highly effective way to lead people to make smarter and healthier lifestyle choices. Evan Polman, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said, “Our research shows that fueling people’s curiosity can influence their choices by turning them away from inviting desires, like unhealthy foods or taking the elevator, and toward less inviting but healthier options, such as buying more fresh produce or taking the stairs.”

To prove the positive potential of the curiosity gap, Polman and his team conducted a series of experiments designed to test how curiosity affected the choices people made positively. In each study, arousing curiosity resulted in noticeable behavior change. For example, in one of the experiments, Polman increased the number of participants who chose to watch a video of academic nature by promising that they would reveal the secret behind a magic trick at the end of the video.

The results of the field studies on curiosity were particularly convincing to Polman. In one field study, the researchers created a 10 percent increase in the use of stairs in a university building by posting trivial (琐事) questions near the elevators and posting the answers in the stairwell. In another, they increased the purchase of fresh produce by placing a joke on the posters describing the fruit or vegetable.

Polman was surprised by the degree that taking advantage of the curiosity gap could motivate people to automatically make healthier lifestyle choices. He concluded, “Our results suggest that using interventions based on curiosity gaps has the potential to increase participation in desired behaviors for which people often lack motivation. It also provides new evidence that curiosity-based interventions come at an incredibly small cost and could help push people toward a variety of positive actions. ”