I subscribe to People magazine, and on every single cover there are pictures and caption on the side of the page that are obviously meant to make people want to read/buy the magazine. In this example, you can see the phrases "new details" and "exclusive!" and "caught in the act" are highlighted in yellow for the purpose of grabbing peoples' attention. They give the impression that People magazine has information that you won't get anywhere else. This appeals to peoples need to satisfy curiosity. To further this appeal, they put pictures above the provocative caption that make you want to turn the page.
Honestly I think that the side bars on People magazine are an effective way to convince people to buy, or at least read the magazine. The need to satisfy curiosity is in my opinion the best need to appeal to because in my case at least, I can't live without knowing Audrey Hepburn's secrets, and what happened with Bethenny's divorce that was so ugly.
My problem with the sidebars of People magazine is that the highlighted phrases are so overused that they don't stand out to possible customers anymore since every single magazine uses them nowadays. But, somehow in combination with the thought provoking pictures above them they succeed in striking the curiosity of their target audience.
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