INFLUENCE: The Principle of Scarcity

"Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini.

Scarcity

• Something that, on its own merits, held little appeal for me had become decidedly more attractive merely because it would soon become unavailable.
• People seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value. Homeowners told how much money they could lose from inadequate insulation are more likely to insulate their homes than those told how much they could save.
• Pamphlets urging young women to check for breast cancer through self-examination are significantly more successful if they state their case in terms of what stands to be lost (e.g. "You can lose several potential health benefits...") rather than gained (e.g. "You can gain several potential health benefits...")
• As a rule, if it is rare or becoming rare, it is more valuable.
• "I see you're interested in this model here, and I can understand why; it's a great machine at a great price. But, unfortunately, I sold it to another couple not more than 20 minutes ago. And, if I'm not mistaken, it was the last one we had. ......then...... Do I understand that this is the model you want and if I can get it for you at this price, you'll take it? (Another unit would then magically be left in the back)
• One theatre owner, with remarkable singleness of purpose, had managed to invode the scarcity principle 3 separate times in just 5 words: "Exclusive, limited engagement ends soon!"
• A variant of the deadline tactic is much favored by some face-to-face, high pressure sellers because it carries the purest form of decision deadline: right now. Customers are often told that unless they make an immediate decision to buy, they will have to purchase the item at a higher price or they will be unable to purchase it at all.
• Can't come back tactic: It is to "keep the prospects from taking the time to think the deal over by scaring them into believing they can't have it later, which makes them want it now."
• Because we know that the things that are difficult to possess are typically better than the things that are easy to possess, we can often use an item's availability to help us quickly and correctly decide on its quality.
• Secondary source of power: As opportunities become less available , we lose freedoms and we hate to lose freedoms we already have.
• According to the theory, whenever free choice is limited or threatened, the need to retain our freedoms makes us desire them (as well as the goods and services associated with them) significantly more than previously. So when increasing scarcity - or anything else - interferes with our prior access to some item, we will react against the interference by wanting and trying to possess the item more than before.
• We show the strong tendency to react against restrictions on our freedoms of action throughout our lives.
• When our freedom to have something is limited, the item becomes less available and we experience an increased desire for it. However, we rarely recognize that psychological reactance has caused us to want the item more; all we know is that we want it. Still, we need to make sense of our desire for the item, so we begin to assign it positive qualities to justify the desire.
• Almost invariably, our response to the banning of information is a greater desire to receive that information and a more favorable attitude toward it than before the ban.
• Possibility that especially clever individuals holding a weak or unpopular position can get us to agree with that position by arranging to have their message restricted. The most effective strategy may not be to publicize their unpopular views, but to get those views officially censored, and to publicize the cencorship.
• 50% of students received "a book for adults only, restricted to those 21 and over." 50% received the same book with no such restriction. Those who learned of the age restriction: 1. Wanted to read the book more. 2. Believed that they would like the book more.
• Censoring & Banning: People involved came to want the restricted item more and, as a result, came to feel more favorable toward it.
• Compared to the customers who got only the standard sales appeal, those who were also told about the future scarcity of beef bought more than twice as much. But the real boost in sales occurred among the customers who heard of the impending scarcity via "exclusive information." They purchased six times the amount that the customers who received only the standard sales pitch did.
• The fact that the news carrying the scarcity of information was itself scarce made it especially persuasive.
• When the cookie was one of the only two available, it was rated more favorably than when it was one of ten. The cookie in short supply was rated as more desirable to eat in the future, more attractive as a consumer item, and more costly than the identical cookie in abundant supply.
• Department stores holding a bargain sale toss out a few especially good deals on prominently advertised items called loss leaders. If the bait has done its job, a large and eager crowd forms to snap it up. Soon, in the rush to score, the group becomes agitated, nearly blinded, by the adversarial nature of the situation. Humans and fish alike lose perspective on what they want and begin striking at whatever is being contested.
• Extreme caution is advised whenever we encounter the devilish construction of scarcity plus rivalry.
• Do we value more those things that have recently become less available to us, or those things that have always been scarce? In the cookie experiment the answer was plain. The drop from abundance to scarcity produced a decidedly more positive reaction to the cookies than did constant scarcity.
• This pattern offers a valuable lesson for would-be rulers: When it comes to freedoms, it is more dangerous to have given for a while than never to have given at all. And should these now established freedoms become less available, there will be an especially hot variety of hell to pay.
• And when these now-established freedoms were threatened, the people lashed out the way a dog would if someone tried to take a fresh bone from its mouth.
• Freedoms once granted will not be relinquished without a fight.
• The parent who grants privileges or enforces rules erratically invites rebelliousness by unwittingly establishing freedoms for the child.
• People see a thing as more desirable when it has recently become less available than when it has been scarce all along.
• The cookies made less available through social demand were rated the most desirable in the study. --> No only do we want the same item more when it is scarce, we want it most when we are in competition for it.
• The feeling of being in competition for scarce resources has powerfully motivating properties.
• "Goosing 'em of the fence can work devastatingly well. The thought of losing out to a rival frequently turns a buyer from hesitant to zealous.
• Barry Diller: Even the "miracle mogul" was no match for the right mix of competition and scarcity.
• Our typical reaction to scarcity hinders our ability to think. When we watch something we want become less available, a physical agitation sets in. Especially in those cases involving direct competition, the blood comes up, the focus narrows, and emotions rise. As this visceral current advances, the cognitive, rational side retreats. In the rush of arousal, it is difficult to be calm and studied in our approach.
• Cognitive processes are suppressed by our emotional reaction to scarcity. In fact, this may be the reason for the great effectiveness of scarcity tactics. When they are employed properly, our first line of defense against foolish behavior - a thoughtful analysis of the situation - becomes less likely.
• The joy is not in experiencing a scarce commodity, but in possessing it. It is important that we not confuse the two.
• Each prospect who was interested enough to want to see the car was given an appointment time - the same appointment time. This little device of simultaneous scheduling paved the way for later compliance because it created an atmosphere of competition for a limited resource.
• Re selling a car: The trap snapped surely shut as soon as the 3rd two o'clock appointment arrived on the scene. According to Richard, stacked-up competition was usually too much for the first prospect to bear. He would end the pressure quickly by either agreeing to Richards price or by leaving abruptly. In the latter instance, the second arrival would strike at the chance to buy out of a sense of relief coupled with a new feeling of rivalry with that... that... lurking newcomer over there.

Epilogue

• Where we are rushed, stressed, uncertain, indifferent, distracted, or fatigued, we tend to focus on less of the information available to us. When making decisions under these circumstances, we often revert to the rather primitive but necessary single-piece-of-good-evidence approach.
• With the sophisticated mental apparatus we have used to build world eminence as a species, we have created an environment so complex, fast-paced, and information-laden that we must increasingly deal with it in the fashion of the animals we long ago transcended.