The Cognitive Bottleneck Marketers Can’t Afford to Ignore

Marketing teams work hard to guide customers smoothly through each touch point — yet many unintentionally create the opposite effect: customers feel frustrated, unsuccessful, and decidedly unloved.

One of the most common causes is a simple but powerful human-behaviour factor: the open loop.

Stop Sabotaging Your Customer Experience With Hidden Cognitive Barriers

Decades of cognitive-psychology research show that humans have a very limited capacity to hold information temporarily while reasoning or making decisions — what is known as working memory. Classic studies suggested we can juggle around seven pieces of information (±2), but newer research puts the number closer to four, especially for anything visual.

Once those slots fill up, the brain starts dropping information or processing more slowly. Any request that forces a person to hold information “just in case” — an open loop — increases cognitive load and subtly raises anxiety.

A Common Real-World Example

Picture calling your healthcare provider to reschedule an appointment. While on hold, you hear:

You can get easy access to the care you need via our secure online patient portal at url.com where you can schedule, reschedule or cancel your appointments, and more!

At first glance, nothing seems wrong — especially if you read it. But heard in real time, the message asks the caller to store several pieces of information, such as the URL, before they know why it matters. Multiple open loops get created instantly.

The result?

A lingering, often unspoken sense of frustration. The listener is either:

• Holding extra information in working memory, increasing mental strain, or
• Tuning it out to cope, and later becoming annoyed when they realize the message did apply to them — but they can’t recall the URL.

A Simple Fix That Fully Closes the Loop

A cognitively friendly version would be:

If you want to schedule, reschedule or cancel your appointment, you can do this and more at any time through our secure online patient portal at url.com.

This sequence removes unnecessary suspense, reduces anxiety, and dramatically improves the interaction.

And this isn’t just a phone-system issue. The same mistake appears in overhead announcements, in-store audio, digital signage, and countless other customer touch points.

Where CUBE Fits In

At CUBE, we don’t just help you deliver your messaging reliably.

We help ensure your messages work with human psychology — not against it.

Because every unnecessary open loop is a moment where you risk losing a customer’s attention, their trust, or their patience. And losing any of those is far more expensive than getting the message right the first time.