Scarcity: Read This Before It’s Gone

“The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy those who want it.”

Thomas Sowell

You can use scarcity as a potent tool for influencing others.

You’ve probably seen taglines like “while supplies last” and “limited inventory”. These phrases tap into scarcity, a lever of persuasion that influences you whether or not you’re aware of it.

Do you know how scarcity works, how it’s used against you, and how you can use to influence others?

WHAT IS SCARCITY? WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Thanks to scarcity, you value something more when its availability is limited (or seems to be limited). It applies whether you may gain something or lose it.

Scarcity triggers a deep-rooted emotional response that makes it, in some ways, the most potent lever of persuasion. Scarcity is so powerful that Robert Cialdini, the godfather of persuasion, included it as a fundamental lever of persuasion in Influence.

HOW SCARCITY WORKS

Like most levers of persuasion, scarcity is an evolutionary trait. Generally, things that are harder to acquire or hold onto are usually more valuable. So your brain evolved to use scarcity as a shortcut for value because, well, the human brain is totally lazy and loves shortcuts and heuristics.

Once your brain thinks something is scarce, it seriously overpowers your rationality. Your brain will come up with positive attributes of the scarce thing, overestimate its value, and overestimate how much you would enjoy having it.

You can create scarcity by setting a deadline.

EXAMPLES OF SCARCITY

• Scarce Supply — Salespeople will often tell customers that an item is in limited supply and can’t be guaranteed to last long. For example: “We won’t get any additional shipments”, “These are the last ones”, and “We only have two left, and the other one has some blemishes.”
• Suggest There Are None Left — Salespeople use a potent application of scarcity by suggesting there’s no supply left. Specifically: (1) suggest that you don’t have any more of the desired thing left, but that you will double check, (2) confirm with the person that they’ll buy the item if you do have it, and (3) “find” additional inventory. This triggers peoples’ obsessive need to be consistent by getting them to commit to a purchase while they think the item is scarce.
• Scarce Time — In addition to scarce supply, you can create scarcity via time by, for example, placing a deadline on an opportunity. This is often done by countdown clocks during sales.
• Scarce Information — If the information about something’s scarcity is itself scarce, you will find it more persuasive. This would include, for example, letting customers know that certain supplies are about to became hard-to-get, but that the rest of the industry doesn’t know that yet.
• Ban / Censorship — If something is banned or censored, it becomes scarce and you’ll desire it more (aka, the Streisand Effect). Not only that, but the research shows you’ll believe the banned item is of higher quality than if it hadn’t been banned, even if you have absolutely no idea about its actual quality.
• Restrict Access — The appearance of restricted access can make something seem scarce. For example, labeling an online course as “only for experienced entrepreneurs” will likely make people desire it more than if it were pitched as “open to all”.
• Frame as Loss — Framing an opportunity as something that may be lost creates a sense of scarcity (i.e., a passing opportunity) more than talking about something that may be gained. For example: “You can lose the opportunity to be more fit” is better than “you can gain the opportunity to be more fit.”
• Abundance to Scarcity — You will desire something more if it goes from abundant to scarce, than if it starts from scarcity.
• Competition — The effects of scarcity are especially strong if the reason for scarcity is demand from other people (aka, competition). You’ll often see this as through phrases like “selling fast due to popular demand!”, and through discussion of other buyers.
• Images — Images suggesting strong demand (e.g., a crowd) can tap into the effect of competition.
• Loss Leaders — Stores often use “loss leaders” (aka, heavily marked down items) to get customers in the door and create a buying frenzy. The presence of other shoppers is visible competition, and taps into scarcity, making people buy of emotional fear.

HOW YOU WILL LEVERAGE SCARCITY

Some ideas to help you get started:

• Scarce Supply — How can you mention any limits on access to or availability of the thing you’d like to create desire for?
• Scarce Time — How can you create deadlines? How can you include countdown clocks? Can you restrict your own availability?
• Scarce Information — How can you communicate the fact that information or knowledge that you have is not generally available?
• Restricted Access — How can you create a sense of limited access? For example: “only available for serious athletes”.
• Frame as Loss — How can you frame any advantages/disadvantages as something to be lost, rather than something to be gained?
• Abundance to Scarcity — How can you communicate that something has become scarce?
• Competition — How can you communicate that scarcity is due to demand? What images could you use?
• Loss Leaders — How can you create a visible display of demand? For example, you could create discounts for people that share or promote you on social media within a certain window of time.

How have you leveraged scarcity to persuade and influence? Where have you seen it used by others? Share your expertise in the comments.

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