Chimp Away Sales Resistances Using Scarcity

Hey, marketers! Been thinking lately about the shopper psychology of chimpanzees? I’ve been, and you should be, too, at least for long enough to consider the question, “Why do scarcity appeals work with your customers?”
     Researchers at University of California, Duke University, and University of Warwick asked that sort of question after noting the ways in which consumers are often more likely to purchase items they perceive to be in short supply. In a classic consumer psychology study, participants were presented a set of Nabisco chocolate chip cookies. For some participants, two cookies were presented, while for the others, ten cookies were there. Which group gave higher ratings to the attractiveness, liking, and willingness to pay? Yes, the group that saw only two cookies.
     But do scarcity appeals hold for children as well as for adults?
     In a set of experiments, the answer turned out to be yes for six-year-olds, but no for four-year-olds. The researchers also evaluated for scarcity appeals in a set of chimpanzees. From an evolutionary perspective, chimps are human’s closest extant relatives. If they demonstrate a scarcity appeal, this would indicate the scarcity appeal for humans had evolutionary advantages. As with the children, the chimp was given a choice between one attractive item selected from a pile of identically wrapped goods or one wrapped attractive item which was standing alone.
     The chimps showed no scarcity preference. It appears that the genesis of the scarcity appeal is not in fundamental evolutionary adaptation, but instead in learned human social interactions of the sort which begin to develop at around age six. The researchers’ conclusion is that it arises from a desire to feel special. This interpretation was supported by comparing results for the children when they made the selection in the presence of other children versus when they were by themselves when choosing.
     Bringing it back to the world of maximum effectiveness in marketing to your target audiences, pair scarcity claims with benefits statements having to do with distinctiveness.
      Along with this, recognize the related research-based motivations for a scarcity appeal:

• Desirability. “People in the know are wanting what’s available.” 
• Status. “Many aren’t able to afford what I have.” 
• Nostalgia. “I’ll preserve memories of expired possibilities.” 
• Quality. “Lavish attention must have been devoted to each item.” 
• Competitiveness. “Others who don’t have this are comparative losers.” 
• Reactance. “I want to have what others tell me I can’t have.” 

For your success: Retailer’s Edge: Boost Profits Using Shopper Psychology

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Employ Purchase Triggers for Children