Influence: Science and Practice Cialdini 2001

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Influence Science and PracticeCialdini (2001)

• Chapter 7
• Scarcity

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Scarcity

• People assign more value to opportunities when
  they are less available.
• Generally, this is a personally adaptive trait.
• Offers a shortcut through complexities of life.
• Holds for 2 reasons
• Because things that are difficult to obtain are
  generally more valuable, lack of availability can
  offer a shortcut cue to its quality.
• As things become less accessible, we lose
  freedoms.

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Scarcity

• Psychological Reactance Theory
• We respond to the loss of freedoms by wanting to
  have them more than before.
• Particularly Prevalent
• Terrible Twos
• Teenage Years
• Romeo and Juliet

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Scarcity

• Profiteers Exploit Mindless, Reflexive Responses
  to Scarcity
• Limited Number
• Deadline
• Last One
• One Day Only Sales

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Scarcity

• Scarcity principle also holds where information
  is concerned.
• Scarcity of information makes people want it
  more.
• Scarcity of information makes people more
  favorable to it (i.e., makes it more persuasive.
• Examples
• Censorship
• Use of stricken information by juries

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Scarcity

• Scarcity is more likely to influence under 2
  conditions
• When they are newly scarce
• History bears this out Revolutions usually
  occur after a time of plenty followed by a time
  of less
• Racial Riots of 1960s
• Uprise in Soviet Union against coup
• When we are in competition with others
• One Day Sales
• Auctions

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Defense

• Heightened awareness to scarcity principle.
• Two Stages
• Recognize surge of emotions in scarcity
  situations that distort thinking processes.
• Decide if we want the scarce resource for the
  sake of owning it or because of its attributes.