Using social signals communicating information value to change curiosity and memory

Curiosity motivates the consumption of new information and facilitates memory for information encountered. Given the prevalent strategy of using social media metrics to boost engagement with new information, this paper examined whether social value norms can change curiosity and memory. Consistent with previous work, higher than usual levels of curiosity during information exposure was associated with better memory, such that people were more likely to remember the information when they reported higher than usual levels of curiosity. Across the three studies, high social value norms had weak or inconsistent effects on curiosity, while low social value norms consistently decreased curiosity. Surprisingly, low social value norms boosted memory, an effect that was observed across two of the three studies, indicating a role for low social norms to impact memory beyond their effects on curiosity. Together, these studies advance understanding of how social value norms shape information processing and memory, and reveal that low social value norms can influence memory for information in ways that are not fully explained by their effects on curiosity.