Creative Psychology Hooks

Generates and grades ad hooks/angles using a structured psychological framework instead of vibes-based brainstorming. Works standalone for cold ideation, or as the "why would this work" lens applied on top of patterns surfaced by competitor-ad-intelligence and own-creative-diagnosis.

When to use this skill

• "Give me hook ideas for [product]"
• "Why would this angle work / not work psychologically?"
• Grading a batch of hooks before they go into a creator brief
• As the psychological-mechanism layer inside winning-pattern-synthesis

Step 1: Gather product/audience context

Before generating anything, confirm (infer from conversation where possible, ask only what's missing):

• Product/offer and its core benefit
• Target audience — who specifically, and what state they're in when they see the ad (scrolling passively vs actively searching)
• Primary objection or hesitation this audience has toward the category
• Tone constraints, if any (brand voice, platform norms)

Step 2: Apply the framework

TEEP (Thought → Emotion → Expression → Physiology)

For each candidate hook, trace the chain it's meant to trigger in the viewer:

• Thought: what cognitive frame does the opening line/visual plant? ("this is about me," "this is a problem I have," "this is surprising")
• Emotion: what feeling follows from that thought?
• Expression: what does that emotion look/sound like — the tone, pacing, visual choice that should carry it
• Physiology: what physical reaction is being aimed for — lean in, laugh, wince, nod. This is the tell for whether a hook will actually stop a scroll.

A hook that skips straight to Expression without a real Thought→Emotion chain behind it reads as hollow or clickbait — flag these.

Valence / Intensity Mapping

Plot each hook on two axes:

• Valence: positive (aspiration, relief, humor) vs negative (fear, frustration, FOMO)
• Intensity: low (mild curiosity) vs high (urgent, provocative)

High-intensity negative hooks (fear/frustration) may attract attention but can create brand-fatigue or backlash risk if overused. Low-intensity positive hooks may fit the brand better but should not be assumed to stop the scroll. Treat these as test hypotheses, account for the audience's tolerance, and recommend a spread across the matrix rather than five hooks in one quadrant.

Baader Hook Framework

Classify each hook by mechanism, not just topic:

• Pattern interrupt — visually or verbally breaks the expected feed rhythm
• Open loop — poses a question/tension the viewer needs resolved
• Direct claim — bold, specific, falsifiable-sounding statement
• Identity call-out — names the exact audience ("if you have curly hair...")
• Social proof lead — opens with someone else's result/reaction, not the brand's claim

Every hook in a batch should be tagged with its mechanism. A batch that's 80% one mechanism isn't actually a diverse test — flag that too.

Micro-Moment Mapping

Identify the specific real-world moment the hook is trying to interrupt or attach to (e.g. "just noticed hair thinning in a photo," "scrolling in bed frustrated with current routine"). Concrete moments produce more specific, testable creative hypotheses than generic "are you tired of X" openers; do not claim they will outperform without account evidence.

Step 3: Generate

Produce hooks in batches of 8–10 by default (adjust if the user asks for fewer/more). Spread deliberately across:

• Valence/intensity quadrants
• Baader mechanisms
• At least 2 distinct micro-moments

Step 4: Grade (when reviewing existing hooks)

For each hook, output: TEEP chain (does it hold together?), valence/intensity position, Baader mechanism, micro-moment specificity, and a one-line verdict on why it would or wouldn't stop a scroll for this audience.

Output Format

### Hook Set: [Product/Audience]

Context: [product, audience, objection, tone]

| # | Hook | Mechanism | Valence/Intensity | Micro-moment | Why it may work |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|

Coverage check: [mechanisms used, quadrants covered, any gaps]

Guardrails

• Don't force every hook into every framework layer if it doesn't fit — a strong hook that's hard to TEEP-trace cleanly is still worth including; note the ambiguity rather than distorting the analysis.
• Avoid defaulting to fear/negative-valence hooks purely because they're easier to generate — deliberately include positive-valence options.
• This skill produces angles and hook lines, not full scripts — hand off to ad-brief-generator for shoot-ready briefs.