The Emotional Appeal of Clickbait Headlines – between Entertainment and Deception

The present research attempts to shed light on a specific media genre, namely clickbaitheadlined articles. While they are generally considered a classic example of unethical journalism, in that they tend to lure readers via sensationalized titles followed by articles whose content underdelivers on the initial promise, they are not always deceptive. They aim to entertain and overtly seek an emotional response from the audience; moreover, even when they do not lie and do not resort to illegal techniques, there still exists an unethical side to them, in that the readers almost always end up disappointed and feeling that the content of the article has not offered what the title entitled them to expect. To prove our hypothesis, we have selected three clickbait-headlined articles: one targeting the readers’ pursuit of their economic wellbeing, one involving human tragedy, and one that can be described as “lifestyle advice”, highlighting the similarities between them and how, although they appear to be different on the surface, they all leave their audiences disillusioned and sensing they have been misled.