Anyone who has ever booked a hotel online has probably encountered the message: “Only one room left at this price.” It is of course possible that this is true, but it is much more likely that the booking site is trying to trigger your psychological reaction to scarcity.
And booking sites are not alone. Do you recognize these claims?
- “First come, first served”
- “Introductory price”
- “Only two packages per customer”
- “Sale – last day”
- “Seasonal discount”
All of these messages have the same purpose: to awaken your fear of not getting the product or service you are considering buying. A side effect is that what is hard to obtain is perceived as more valuable and can therefore carry a higher price. We have inherited an intuitive understanding that things that are difficult to obtain are also likely better for us than things that are easy to get. As a result, anything that is scarce becomes more interesting to us. We assign it a higher value. This applies not only to goods and services, but also to information and time.
There are many examples of occasions when a sharp price increase has boosted sales – precisely because expensive equals valuable. And if availability is also limited, the urge to buy becomes even stronger. The toilet paper shortage at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is an example of how fear of a potential shortage can cause ordinary people to start hoarding.
If you want to maximize the psychological mechanism of scarcity to sell products, you should not only talk about upcoming shortages of certain products, but also say that the information about the upcoming shortage is limited.
The second aspect of scarcity is our fear of losing something we perceive that we previously had – such as a choice. We hate losing the ability to choose something we were previously able to choose. In fact, we value what we have lost, or risk losing, twice as highly as something we have not lost. Thus, the mere risk of not being able to obtain something automatically makes us want it more.
An offer that is valid for a limited quantity, for a short time (“Today only!”), or where information is available only to a small group of people triggers the same sense of scarcity as if the product or service itself were scarce. There is even research showing that by limiting access to certain information, you not only make people more eager to consume it – they also become more positively disposed toward the information.
If you want to discuss persuation and communication, you are always welcome to contact ulf@sfinxconsulting.se
