Principle of scarcity: a trick to incite us to buy

What is the scarcity principle and how can it be applied in marketing to achieve sales?

Salespeople know very well that a good trick to improve sales of any product is to warn the customer that a period of scarcity is coming. And I am not referring here to salespeople working in stores and retail outlets, but to salespeople representing factories and companies, who periodically visit their customers in their own establishments to take orders.

Communicating to the customer that this or that product is going to be out of stock from next week, either because the factory is closed for vacations, or because it ran out of raw materials for its production, or whatever it may be, is a way to encourage him to order a larger quantity than usual to feel secure and with immediate needs covered. and with immediate needs covered. This is the scarcity principle.

Principle of scarcity, useful for selling anything.

Research also shows that orders for the item in question can double or triple when the shortage predicted by the seller has the character of "rumor" or "exclusive information". The strategy goes something like this:

"Keep it between us, but it looks like premium champagne is going to be in short supply for Christmas. The factory has a union problem and the workers are planning a strike for that time of the year. I was told this by Carlitos, the invoice clerk, who is a friend of the plant's delegate. The owners of the company still don't know anything. Maybe you should reinforce the order with a few more boxes, but nobody can know that. I am telling you this because of the trust that unites us after so many years".

But the fight for the scarce commodity can take other forms.. Let's see what they are.

Competing for the same thing

In addition to "exclusivity", there is another variant that can be used to maximum advantage when using this psychological ploy: "competition" for the scarce resourceo. To give an example, I cite the real estate industry to the dock, which will probably end up earning me the furious hatred of the entire sector.

Let's take an example. A couple who are planning their wedding and then moving in together make an appointment with a real estate agent to visit an apartment that is for rent. The property is just what the couple needs: it has three rooms, it is bright, it has low expenses. According to the technical information, the place is perfect. Now we just need to see what kind of condition it is in.

But the astute real estate agent (who has been dealing with inquiries about the property for some time now) makes appointments with several interested people for the same day, with a difference of 10 or 15 minutes, so that, inevitably, the following will happen: after the couple of unwary lovebirds tour the apartment guided by the seller, and while they deliberate among themselves about the advantages and disadvantages of renting it, a second couple arrives with the same intentions... What happens next is the key to the trick.

The real estate agent approaches the first couple and tells them in a confidential tone, almost in a whisper, to excuse him for a moment while he shows the property to other people, but not to worry, that they have the priority, in case they want to leave a deposit that same day.

On the other hand, under similar conditions, he tells the newcomers that there is a couple who arrived earlier and wants to keep the property. However, anyway, since they have gone there, he will show them the excellent place, and they will be able to keep it if the other interested parties change their minds.

The trap is set. Both the people who came earlier and those who came later feel that it is growing exponentially.feel that the original interest they had in the apartment is growing exponentially.. Suddenly, it is a scarce commodity, and one for which they must compete.

Competition in restaurants

When a product is in high social demand, or at least we believe it is, thanks to vile psychological tricks, our interest in owning it automatically increases. This is the idea behind a homemade but effective marketing strategy implemented by many restaurants..

Even if there is enough physical space inside the establishment, the dining room master or manager of the place makes sure that the arriving diners have to wait outside, on the sidewalk. Thus, long lines often form at the door of the place, suggesting to anyone passing by that if there are so many people waiting patiently for dinner, surely it must be because the food is excellent. After all, who would willingly subject themselves to such torture if the end result wasn't more than worth it?

Simulating demand

The same applies to public entertainment. Guided by the notion of social demand, we come to think, wrongly, that if a film that is currently being shown attracts a large audience, either because we have read about it in the newspaper or because we have seen with our own eyes the long lines that form at the entrance to the cinema, it must necessarily be because the film is a true marvel of the seventh art.

Even more so. There are doctors, psychotherapists, and even fortune tellers, tarot readers and swindlers of the most varied kinds that publicly expose their agendas so that we know the large number of people who go to them.. The delay to obtain an appointment can be, in some cases, several months. The objective is always the same: to increase the degree of difficulty in accessing the service in order to increase, in a positive correlation, the degree of desirability and perceived professionalism.

Rationalization

There are times when people rush in wildly and compete for a scarce commodity like a school of hundreds and thousands of piranhas over a small minnow.

"If something is scarce, it is because everyone wants it. And if everyone wants it, it's because it must be good."

This seems to be the logic of thought (or rather "illogic" of thought) underlying this particular psychological phenomenon. All the positive attributes we ascribe to the product or service for which we suddenly find ourselves engaged in a fight with other people are, more often than not, composed of mere rationalizations to justify and reassure us about our inordinate actions.

"Well, I had to wait for an hour and a half to get into the restaurant, but it's always worth it, they make the best rabas in the country."

Comments like this are typical when we tell a friend about our experience. Now, do they really make the best rabas there? It is very doubtful that they really do, but we need to believe it in order to leave our conscience clear and our self-esteem unscathed.

It is an argument that we actually use to convince ourselves that we have done the right thing, when we have doubts about what we have done.It is an argument we actually use to convince ourselves that we have done the right thing when we have doubts about our decision to wait so long outdoors for a simple plate of rabas.

Competition in recruitment

Many consulting firms resort to the same dynamic when they are asked to carry out a search and selection of personnel. Nowadays, it is very common to bring together all the candidates aspiring to a given position in what is called an "assessment". Basically, it is a group interview in which the different applicants must interact with each other and participate in a series of activities in which they have to solve problems related to their area of work.

Although in principle the idea of the assessment is to save time and evaluate people's social skills and their competencies when it comes to working in a team, the process is still, despite what the psychologists who work in this field might think, a gladiatorial struggle fighting for a single prized job, in a kind of 21st century model coliseum.

With some touches of exaggeration, Marcelo Piñeyro's film "The Method" powerfully shows how hostile and ruthless an assessment can become when several candidates for a managerial position in a multinational company are pushed by circumstances to confront each other in order to win the coveted trophy, While outside the building where the process takes place, the viewer can appreciate a world in complete crisis, plunged into hunger, social unrest and protests, which generates a strong counterpoint with what is happening inside.

Competing personal relationships

This unique psychological phenomenon can be observed even on a more intimate and personal level, in social relationships.in social relationships.

A couple decides to end their relationship after a few years of dating. Both are convinced that love has run out and it is better for each to continue on his or her own. They manage quite well on their own, for a few months, until he starts dating a new girl and the information reaches his ex-wife's ears. At this point, she starts to feel jealous. Not before, now.

Suddenly, she feels an intense and unexplainable interest in the boy.. And although they had not been together for quite some time, she cannot help but experience feelings of regret and a desire to take back what no longer belongs to her. Of course, now it "belongs to someone else". And the certainty of unavailability, added to the appearance of a competitor, reactivates the lost interest and triggers the instinct of possession.

Does the reader friend believe that the case I am raising is fanciful and exaggerated? Not at all! It is something that happens with unusual frequency, I have observed it permanently throughout my professional career. That's how changeable and contradictory we can be.