Scarcity also works for more general reasons, not just because of social factors.
In that study, there was also a condition where the jar of ten biscuits was replaced
by a jar containing two biscuits because of a mistake.
The second experimenter had picked up the incorrect jar before they got there, you were
meant to have the jar with two biscuits all along, not the jar with ten biscuits.
Those biscuits still seemed more tasty.
Well the general principle is that opportunities seem more valuable to us when they are less
available (Lynn, 1991), for two reasons.
The first is that things that are difficult to get are typically better than things that
are easier to get.
The second reason is due to psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966).
As things become less available, we lose freedoms, and we really don’t like this.
So, we react against an interference by trying to possess the thing even more.
A study by West in 1975 is a good example of this.
He found out that students at a particular college didn’t really like the food at one
of the cafeterias.
I guess that’s no surprise.
Nine days after asking them what they thought about the food at that cafeteria, he told
some of those students that the cafeteria had to be shut down for a couple of weeks
due to a fire.
The students were then asked a second time about what they thought about the food at
that place.
Those students who were told that the cafeteria had to be closed ended up rating the food
more positively compared to the students who were not told that the cafeteria had to be
closed.
Scarcity made them like the food more.
So, if you want to use scarcity to persuade someone, how do you do it?
Or if you are thinking about buying something or agreeing to something, how do you know
if someone is using scarcity to influence you?
The key things to look out for are the limited number tactic - this is when someone tells
you there are only a limited number of items for sale, or limited stock for the thing that
you are interested in.
If someone gives you a deadline for your decision, maybe they tell you the offer has a time limit,
or something is only on sale for one day.
Or maybe they tell you the offer is only good right now, and if you walk out, the offer
is no longer possible.
Once in a lifetime sales are a variation of this as well.
Then there is the closing down sale.
Both of these suggest that if you don’t buy now, you’re going to miss out for good.
Shops can even imply that there is a time limit by advertising a “sale” even if
their prices haven’t changed.
Technically they’re selling stuff, they don’t have to be selling it for less.
In fact, some stores run permanently closing down sales which doesn’t make any sense
except that it does, because it creates a sense of scarcity, and people wouldn’t do
that if it didn’t work.
