User:Bradboles/sandbox

Scarcity

Scarcity is a term used in social psychology which involves something being more desired for once it is no longer available. Robert Cialdini terms scarcity as as a power of social influence and also as an example of social proof by showing that, if there's only limited numbers of this product left, this shows it's popularity and if everyone else likes it, it must be a good product. The only thing more motivating than a limited supply of something is when a product is flying off of the shelves. When Dade County forbade use or possession of phosphate detergents, many Dade residents drove to nearby counties and bought huge amounts of phosphate laundry detergents. Compared to Tampa residents not affected by the regulation, Dade residents rated phosphate detergents as gentler, more effective, more powerful on stains, and even believed that phosphate detergents poured more easily. This example shows the principle of "limited numbers". Sometimes the "limited numbers" information was true, sometimes it was wholly false. In each instance, however, the intent was to convince customers of an item's scarcity and thereby increase its immediate value in their eyes. The fact that it was no longer easily acceptable created a false image of the product and created the potential customer to go to great lengths to obtain this "banned" product. If you put a two-year-old boy in a room with two toys, one toy in the open and the other behind a Plexiglas wall, the two-year-old will ignore the easily accessible toy and go after the apparently forbidden one. If the wall is low enough to be easily climbable, the toddler is no more likely to go after one toy than the other. This rule of scarcity can also be implied to relationships. Once a person is no longer available, they become even more attractive. Or say you plan on breaking up with your significant other and they happen to break up with you first, all of a sudden the person that got dumped wants the other person back again.