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The Scarcity Bias
Abstract
Two experiments provided empirical support for the scarcity bias, that is, when the subjective value of a good increases due to the mere fact that it is scarce. We define scarcity as the presence of limited resources and competition on the demand side (i.e. not enough for two people). In Experiment 1, 180 students were divided into two conditions. The same good was abundant in one condition but scarce in the other one. The scarcity condition involved a partner (competitor) to create scarcity, while the abundant condition did not. Results showed that more participants chose a good when it was scarce than when it was abundant, for two out of four sets of items (ballpoints, snacks, pencils, and key rings). Experiment 2 employed 171 participants and a WTA (willingness to accept) elicitation procedure of the subjective value of the good. Results showed that the scarce good was given a higher WTA price by those participants choosing it, than by those who did not, compared to the WTA of the abundant good, despite the fact that both types of participants assigned a lower market price to the scarce good, as compared to the abundant one.
... A szegénységben élők mindebből kifolyólag tehát nem rossz döntéseket hoznak, hanem egy olyan rendszerben élnek amiben bárki hozzájuk hasonlóan rossz döntéseket hozna. A szegénység tehát nem a tudás, vagy intellektus hiányából fakad, hanem rendszerszintű bennragadás állapota egy hiánygazdaságban (Mullainathan -Shafir 2018). Ennek az állapotnak a folyománya az, hogy mivel az alapvető szükségletek kielégítése nem elérhető, ezért a javak egy sokkal szélesebb köre válik luxuscikké (Zhu -Ratner 2015). ...
„Ha szegény vagy és az állam támogat, akkor visszaélsz a szociális juttatásokkal, ha gazdag vagy, csupán egy szerencsétlen véletlen esemény történt veled, amiért nem te vagy felelős, és egyértelmű az, hogy az állam kisegít.”
Tanulmányomban ilyen és ehhez hasonló húsba vágó meglátásokat tartalmazó, a Twitteren és Redditen gyűjtött hozzászólásokat elemzek. Ezek a dichotómiákba szerveződő állítások minden esetben a szegénység és a gazdagság, a hiány és a bőség ellentétpárjában helyezik el ugyanazt a cselekvést, rámutatva arra, hogy a társadalmi vélemény mennyire ellentétesen kezeli és ítéli meg ugyanazt a cselekvési mintát, attól függően, hogy az adott cselekvő szegénységben élő-e, vagy sem. Az interneten gyűjtött kvalitatív empirikus adatok tartalomelemzésével azonban nem csak a szegénységben élők cselekvéseinek társadalmi stigmatizációja tárható fel, hanem bemutatható egy rendszerkritikus, társadalomkritikus irány megjelenése is, amely a humort használva mutat rá és kérdőjelezi meg ennek a stigmatizációnak a logikáját. Mindezzel a szegénység értelmezésének rendszerszintű megközelítése és kritikája is megjelenik az online platformokon, melyekről ezidáig talán kevés szó esett a stigmatizáció fogalmának értelmezésében.
... A szegénységben élők mindebből kifolyólag tehát nem rossz döntéseket hoznak, hanem egy olyan rendszerben élnek amiben bárki hozzájuk hasonlóan rossz döntéseket hozna. A szegénység tehát nem a tudás, vagy intellektus hiányából fakad, hanem rendszerszintű bennragadás állapota egy hiánygazdaságban (Mullainathan -Shafir 2018). Ennek az állapotnak a folyománya az, hogy mivel az alapvető szükségletek kielégítése nem elérhető, ezért a javak egy sokkal szélesebb köre válik luxuscikké (Zhu -Ratner 2015). ...
The rapid growing of elderly generation causes serious pressure for service systems,
according to the scientific forecast this pressure will not change in the upcoming decades. The aims
of this survey was to explore the difficulties and problems affecting elderly day care at different levels
from day care leaders’ perspective. It was also important to present their associations/ideas related to
the concept of active ageing, and exploring the practice and difficulties of adapting to unexpected but
necessary changes caused by the Covid19 epidemic on the part of employees and clients.
In order to this, 8 semi-structured interviews were taken with elderly day care leaders in the
Hungarian regional centers. The interviews revealed that there are long-standing serious problems in the
observed basic social care, such as the access of less mobile people to elderly day care and back to their
homes, or the mutually exclusive services where clients can not take part in parallel home care and day
care services. These, the administrative pressure on employees, and the labor force shortage are
highlighten the problems during Covid19 in social system that reinforce the need of a change in the actual
social care. The concept of active ageing and the preventive, community based, ageing in place point of
view is a possible direction or base to rethink social care system. The existence of info-communication
knowledge and devices, that has also a connection to active ageing, according to data had an impact of
elderly care during the pandemic. With the help of these devices, despite of the lockdown during the
epidemic, in some regional centers placed part of their service into online platforms.
Keywords: ageing, demographic change, elderly day care, active ageing, Covid19
... Scholars from various disciplines have explored the links between behavior and the scarcity of personal resources. For example, some studies even suggest that confronting people with simple cues of scarcity is enough to make them act more selfishly [19,20] and pace a higher value on things they perceive as lacking than they usually do [21], which is pretty much in line with Hobbes' proposition [12]. Further, it is intuitive that an objective scarcity of material resources can cause psychological reactions such as stress and negative feelings. ...
Drawing on the emerging scarcity, abundance, and sufficiency (SAS) framework, this study explores how various consumer behaviors with potential environmental impacts relate to subjective evaluations of psychological resources such as economic resources, time, social networks, and emotional support. Assuming that individuals may “trade” the costs and efforts of green consumption, including the buying of eco-labeled goods, altered eating habits, and choice of transportation mode, against such psychological resources, we investigate the relationships between green consumer choices and resource evaluations using hierarchical regression analysis of data from an online panel survey. The results suggest that green consumer behaviors are positively related to subjectively evaluated resources such as feelings of economic sufficiency and other, more “relational” resources, including social networks and emotional support. Performing such behaviors may therefore lead to psychological gains. These findings do paint a rather positive picture of environmental behaviors, since they may thus be viewed as having a personal positive trade-off. Although directional effects cannot be firmly established, our study suggests that pro-environmental behavior may increase wellbeing and experienced prosperity. Future studies should further investigate these causalities and implications of these suggested relationships.
Despite the growing availability of algorithm-augmented work, algorithm aversion is prevalent among employees, hindering successful implementations of powerful artificial intelligence (AI) aids. Applying a social comparison perspective, this article examines the adverse effect of employees’ high performance ranking on their preimplementation attitudes toward the integration of powerful AI aids within their area of advantage. Five studies, using a weight estimation simulation (Studies 1–3), recall of actual job tasks (Study 4), and a workplace scenario (Study 5), provided consistent causal evidence for this effect by manipulating performance ranking (performance advantage compared with peers versus no advantage). Studies 3–4 revealed that this effect was driven in part by employees’ perceived potential loss of standing compared with peers, a novel social-based mechanism complementing the extant explanation operating via one’s confidence in own (versus AI) ability. Stronger causal evidence for this mechanism was provided in Study 5 using a “moderation-of-process” design. It showed that the adverse effect of high performance ranking on preimplementation AI attitudes was reversed when bolstering the stability of future performance rankings (presumably counteracting one’s concern with potential loss of standing). Finally, pointing to the power of symbolic threats, this adverse effect was evident both in the absence of financial incentives for high performance (Study 1) and in various incentive-based settings (Studies 2–3). Implications for understanding and managing high performers’ aversion toward the integration of powerful algorithmic aids are discussed.
Funding: This work was supported by the Coller Foundation.
Supplemental Material: The supplemental material is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.17515 .
There are growing efforts to reduce the harmful effects of deceptive patterns pervasively employed on e-commerce websites. However, efforts to produce new guidelines and introduce ethical design standards geared towards older adults have been limited. We investigate the potential of a serious game in fostering older adults' resilience against manipulative designs in e-commerce through two studies. First, a survey with older adults (N = 61), explored their attitudes towards deceptive patterns and identified characteristics influencing them. We then created a serious game, 'Shopopolis', to bolster older adults' resistance to manipulative designs online and evaluated its efficacy with older adults (N = 65). Our findings show that Shopopolis is a valuable tool for enhancing awareness, concern, and recognition skills related to e-commerce deceptive patterns. We discuss older adults' unique perspectives on deceptive patterns and consider how insights can shape the design of targeted protective measures like Shopopolis for older adults in e-commerce contexts.
Purpose
Scarcity appeals in advertising can increase consumer purchase intentions. This study aims to examine the impact of different online scarcity message appeals and the association with consumer attitudes for functional and symbolic aspects of vitamins and supplements.
Design/methodology/approach
This survey of 789 participants evaluated the scarcity appeals of high-demand message, limited-time message, low-stock message and countdown timer and the association with consumer attitudes for functional and symbolic aspects of vitamins and supplements.
Findings
The results showed that high-demand messages as compared to regular advertising messages was significantly associated with increased functional and symbolic scale scores. African Americans, Hispanics and Asian/Asian Americans were each significantly associated with increased functional and symbolic scale scores as compared whites. Advertising deception of veracity was significantly negatively associated with symbolic scale score but not associated with functional scale score. Advertising deception of ethical was significantly positively associated with symbolic scale score but not associated with functional scale score.
Practical implications
In conclusion, high-demand messages may be a particularly useful type of scarcity appeal to use in online advertising for vitamins and supplements.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of online advertising message scarcity types and how they are associated with consumers attitudes for functional and symbolic aspects of vitamins and supplements.
Although pervasive in our history and modern ecology, propaganda has yet to be explicitly described by social psychological science. In this paper, we propose a Fitness-Validation Model (FVM) of propagandist persuasion. This synthetic model posits that influence is proportional to the degree of fit between message characteristics (social content, prescriptive content, descriptive content, framing) and recipients’ (group identity, attitudes, knowledge, cognitive makeup). Fitness on these four characteristics then shapes perceptions of thought validity regarding the message and ultimately behavior change. Thus, we propose that propaganda attempts to maximize fitness between message and recipient characteristics and self-validation in the direction of the message. From the FVM, we then derive five main pathways for propagandist persuasion and dissuasion, which we label the 5D: Deceive social intuition, Divert resistant attitudes, Disrupt information processing, Decoy reasoning, and Disturb meta-cognition. The 5D are mutually inclusive and can be seen as the “building blocks” of real-world propaganda. We discuss the implications of the FVM for media psychology and conclude the model should be used to craft more effective liberal democratic (counter)propaganda.
Purpose
This paper develops an evidence-based conceptual framework for exploring the applicability of choice architecture in business relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical studies of choice architecture in various fields are systematically reviewed to identify choice architecture techniques; major resulting categories of techniques are then discussed for applicability to business relationship contexts, and avenues for research are outlined.
Findings
Managerial decision-making is potentially influenced by changes to choice contexts that (1 provide additional information from outside the choice context, (2) facilitate a particular way of comparing options, (3) present options in new ways, (4) rework the choice set, e.g. by adding options and (5) create internal states that push toward a target choice.
Originality/value
The paper introduces the concept of choice architecture to business relationships. It develops a taxonomy of choice architecture techniques to guide the exploration of choice architecture effects in business relationships.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), unique digital assets on a blockchain that can represent ownership of
digital or physical items, are potentially ground-breaking in their capacity for transforming the
sustainability of supply chains. This paper explores and discusses how NFTs, analysed through the
lens of the Technology Organisation Environment (TOE) framework, can drive supply chain
sustainability and overcome the barriers to Blockchain Technology (BCT) adoption. We elucidate
the unique value proposition of NFTs and explore the potential of ‘phygital products’ for linking
digital NFTs to physical goods. Based on the existing literature and a review of real-world case
studies, we propose that NFTs can (1) incentivise supply chain stakeholders to engage in more
sustainable practices; (2) enhance customer willingness to pay for sustainable products; (3)
provide anti-counterfeit measures; (4) support circular business model growth. A sustainable
’Mint-to-Order’ production strategy starting with the creation (minting) of an NFT is proposed
based on a synthesis of the findings. The use of NFTs has significant implications for both digital
and physical product offerings and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practice making
a compelling case for adoption. This paper is one of the first to explore the potential of using NFTs
to drive sustainability in supply chains forming an essential component of a metaverse nexus and
delineating a future research agenda.
Consumers’ preferences for rarity in the wildlife trade can potentially lead to unsustainable exploitation of species in the wild, further increasing their desirability and price in the market as species become rarer. Understanding the processes underpinning the construction of preferences for rarity could help inform more effective conservation actions to help address unsustainable wildlife trade. In this study, we discuss how perceptions of market scarcity, and its interplay with species rarity, can influence the construction of value and consumers’ behaviours in the wildlife trade. First, we introduce the meanings of scarcity and its social construction as emerging from social practices within socio-economic framings, which can alter consumers’ perceptions and preferences. Then, by following theoretical insights from psychology and economics, we explore some of the processes through which market scarcity may affect perception of value, increasing desirability, prices, and stimulating purchasing intentions, in relation to different, yet intertwined, consumers’ goals and motivations. Desirability of rare species and products may be constructed and/or amplified by scarcity as consumers seek to i) purchase signs of social distinction, ii) conform with social norms and beliefs, iii) avoid future regrets, iv) preserve freedom of choice from bans and regulations. We then discuss the potential interplay between species rarity and market scarcity, how they may independently and synergically affect consumers’ preferences for wildlife, and some of the potential conservation implications. We finish by discussing some ways forward and how future research may contribute to understanding the social construction of scarcity and how it might affect demand in the wildlife trade.
The rapid evolution of the digital era has resulted in new theoretical models that seek answers to consumer behavior, but only some have been empirically validated. The social theory of fear of (FO) has gained notoriety as a type of social anxiety, resulting in psychological dependence on social media (SNS). These social anxieties transcend and are used as strategic resources to activate quick consumer responses. However, three forces act in the study of FO that positively or negatively impact decision‐making: (a) fear of missing out (FoMO), (b) fear of better options (FoBO), and (c) fear of doing anything (FoDA). The literature has analyzed the positive implications of FoMO on consumers' decision‐making from different perspectives, but there needs to be a gap in analyzing how FoMO affects consumers. More analysis of the forces that affect decision‐making through FoBO and FoDA acts is needed. Consequently, this study examined how the FoMO, FoBO, and FoDA affect the purchase intention of SNS users. The roles of SNS usage and anticipated emotions as forces that trigger FO were analyzed. Finally, we examined whether motivation to participate in social media is a force that can moderate how consumers trigger FO. An electronic survey of 543 participants and active social media users revealed that social media use, anticipated emotions, and motivation to participate are forces that explain how they trigger FO through their first‐stage FoMO on consumers. The results reflect theoretical and practical implications by concluding that the FoMO for marketing purposes is significant in decision‐making. However, FoBO and FoDA inhibit the consumer's ability to commit to a decision.
Decision-makers often apply negotiations as a powerful and pervasive means to solve their conflicts over natural
resources. The resulting agreements have not only immediate effects on the parties currently concerned, but also
dramatic delayed consequences for future generations. Consequently, negotiators are simultaneously involved in
co-occurring conflicts with (1) their present counterparts and (2) future generations. The resulting interdependence
makes it challenging to find efficient and fair agreements. We investigated to what extent the present
generation’s negotiators realize the future generation’s interests and which barriers they encounter. Across five
interactive and simulated experiments (N = 524 participants), the present generation’s negotiators reached
agreements with significantly better outcomes for themselves in the present than for the future generation. This
finding occurred, (1) when the present generation’s negotiators had to bear costs to realize the future generation’s
interests (i.e., barrier: self-oriented tradeoffs; Studies 1a & 1b), (2) when present negotiators only needed
to consider and realize the future generation’s preferences without bearing costs (i.e., barrier: tendency to ignore,
Studies 2a & 2b) and (3) even persisted when the consequences for future generations became more severe
(Study 3). Additionally, we explored resource scarcity as a moderating variable and found multifaceted effects on
the present and the future generation’s outcomes. The present research is among the first to disentangle the cooccurring
conflicts arising in present generation’s negotiations with an impact on future others and to experimentally
investigate the independent barriers to realizing the future generation’s interests. It also provides departure
points for interventions aimed at realizing the future generation’s interests.
Purpose
This study investigates the relationships between perceived scarcity, fear of missing out (FOMO) and impulse-buying tendencies (IBT) in the fast fashion context in both scarcity and non-scarcity conditions. Additionally, this study examines whether these relationships vary depending on the type of scarcity messages: limited-quantity scarcity (LQS) and limited-time scarcity (LTS).
Design/methodology/approach
We used written scenarios, and each participant was assigned to one of the experimental or control groups for LQS and LTS conditions. Using a structural modeling approach, we tested the conceptual model and analyzed the data through SmartPLS version 4. We conducted mediating and multigroup (MGA) analysis.
Findings
We found that perceived scarcity directly increases IBT and that FOMO partially mediates this relationship across all samples. The MGA findings also revealed that hypothesized relationships were not significantly different across LQS and LTS groups, suggesting that the effect of scarcity messages may be context specific.
Originality/value
Previous studies have yielded mixed results on the effects of different scarcity messages on consumer behavior. This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence of the direct relationship between perceived scarcity, FOMO and impulse buying in the fast fashion context. The study supports the idea that the effect of different types of scarcity messages is context specific, suggesting that the relationship between scarcity perceptions and consumer behavior may vary depending on the product category and cultural context.
To identify the mechanisms by which perceived scarcity affects consumers' panic-buying behaviours and to explore the underlying reasons for panic-buying. Building on signalling theory and scarcity theory, we constructed a model of panic-buying behaviour. In total, 361 sources of valid data were collected via online questionnaires, and partial least squares structural equation modelling was employed for the empirical analysis. In the context of COVID-19, perceived scarcity significantly and positively influenced the macro signals, for example, by impacting perceived value and perceived competitiveness. Furthermore, perceived scarcity significantly affected consumers' micro signals, such as their perceived anxiety and perceived uncertainty. In combination, perceived value, perceived competitiveness, perceived anxiety and perceived uncertainty significantly and positively influenced consumers' panic-buying behaviours. Trust in the government also played a significant role by regulating consumers' micro signals and macro signals. The originality of this paper lies in its in-depth exploration of the multiple impacts of scarcity on consumer perceptions and it reveals the reasons for panic-buying behaviours. In doing so, it provides practical guidelines and understanding for consumers, businesses and the government.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to critically examine a prevalent online scam mechanism, with the aim of understanding its exploitation of behavioral finance principles and group dynamics and propose effective countermeasures.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a blend of case study and thematic analysis, drawing from behavioral finance, social psychology and criminology, using primary source testimonies of victims to provide a detailed exploration of the scam’s operations.
Findings
This research uncovers the strategic use of four key principles: loss aversion, overconfidence, scarcity bias and social proof, within the scam operation. These tendencies are manipulated to induce victims to progressively invest into the fraudulent scheme, even amid growing suspicions.
Research limitations/implications
While the research elucidates on the workings of one specific online scam, it is necessary to explore if and how these principles are used in various other online fraudulent schemes, to develop comprehensive countermeasures.
Practical implications
The findings underscore the urgent need for enhanced public awareness, stronger corporate responsibility and robust regulatory oversight. There is a call for concerted efforts encompassing public education campaigns, fortified security protocols and strong legal frameworks for preventing such scams.
Social implications
The research emphasizes the need for collective action in ensuring a safe online space. This involves the individual user’s prudence, businesses’ proactive education initiatives and stringent legal actions against fraudulent activities.
Originality/value
This research offers novel insights into the nuanced manipulation of behavioral finance principles within online scams, based on empirical data from victim testimonials. These findings contribute to the understanding of the psychological mechanisms at play in online scams and are instrumental in formulating effective preventive strategies.
The study of competition from
a social comparison perspective offers valuable insights into the neuroscience of social judgment and decision making under uncertainty. When engaging in social comparison, individuals seek and assess information about similarities or differences between others and themselves, in large part to improve their self-evaluation. By providing information about one’s relative position, abilities, outcomes, and more, social comparisons can inform competitive judgments and decisions. People reasonably turn to social comparisons to reduce uncertainty before, during, and after competition. However, the extent to which they do so and the behavioral consequences of social comparisons often fail to match the potential benefits of improved self-evaluation. An examination of the developing neuroscience of social comparison and competition in light of the behavioral evidence reveals numerous questions that merit further investigation.
How do consumers react to products assembled from existing components? Nine studies in both the lab and the field demonstrate that consumers evaluate products as more creative and more appealing when they consist of components that originally served entirely different functions. When consumers realize that the intended functionality of a component is not fixed, but versatile, they experience an aha! moment, which in turn enhances perceived product creativity and product appeal. This research bridges engineering and consumer research providing theoretical contributions to the product design and creativity literature. The findings of this research have substantive implications for designing sustainable products, especially for product upcycling, the process of transforming old or used components into new products.
The rapid advances of science and technology have provided a large part of the world with all conceivable needs and comfort. However, this welfare comes with serious threats to the planet and many of its inhabitants. An enormous amount of scientific evidence points at global warming, mass destruction of bio-diversity, scarce resources, health risks, and pollution all over the world. These facts are generally acknowledged nowadays, not only by scientists, but also by the majority of politicians and citizens. Nevertheless, this understanding has caused insufficient changes in our decision making and behavior to preserve our natural resources and to prevent upcoming (natural) disasters. In the present study, we try to explain how systematic tendencies or distortions in human judgment and decision-making, known as “cognitive biases,” contribute to this situation. A large body of literature shows how cognitive biases affect the outcome of our deliberations. In natural and primordial situations, they may lead to quick, practical, and satisfying decisions, but these decisions may be poor and risky in a broad range of modern, complex, and long-term challenges, like climate change or pandemic prevention. We first briefly present the social-psychological characteristics that are inherent to (or typical for) most sustainability issues. These are: experiential vagueness, long-term effects, complexity and uncertainty, threat of the status quo, threat of social status, personal vs. community interest, and group pressure. For each of these characteristics, we describe how this relates to cognitive biases, from a neuro-evolutionary point of view, and how these evolved biases may affect sustainable choices or behaviors of people. Finally, based on this knowledge, we describe influence techniques (interventions, nudges, incentives) to mitigate or capitalize on these biases in order to foster more sustainable choices and behaviors.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors that are contributing to the remarkable growth of the m-commerce sector. The article examines eight variables, including socioeconomic (Internet access, mobile users, mobile Internet penetration rates, card payment transactions, consumer confidence, Internet use: selling goods or services) and macroeconomic (GDP and wage), that are considered to influence global m-commerce growth. The Generalized Method of Moments (DPD/GMM) was used to analyze a panel of data that covers the years 2011 through 2020, on a sample of 42 developed and developing countries. The empirical findings show that wages, GDP, consumer confidence index, card payment transactions, mobile users, Internet access and Internet use (selling goods and services) have a positive impact on m-commerce, whereas the mobile Internet penetration rate has a negative impact. Using a sizable and representative panel data set on socioeconomic and macroeconomic indicators, this research advances the state of the art in customer comprehension of these topics. The study’s novel contribution is the incorporation of under-researched m-commerce drivers into empirical analysis. Detailed policy recommendations are provided, with an emphasis on practical, implementable measures to enhance the m-commerce industry.
Due to the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, customers have shifted their shopping patterns from offline to online. Livestream shopping has become popular as one of the online shopping media. However, various streamers’ malicious selling behaviors have been reported. In this research, we sought to explore streamers’ malicious selling strategies and understand how viewers perceive these strategies. First, we recorded 40 livestream shopping sessions from two popular livestream platforms in China—Taobao and TikTok. We identified 16 malicious selling strategies that were used to deceive, coerce, or manipulate viewers and found that platform designs enhanced nine of the malicious selling strategies. Second, through an interview study with 13 viewers, we report three challenges of overcoming malicious selling in relation to imbalanced power between viewers, streamers, and the platforms. We conclude by discussing the policy and design implications of countering malicious selling.
Marketers frequently implement scarcity messages in promoting their products. Scarcity due to demand and scarcity due to supply have both been found to influence consumers’ product evaluations positively. However, the differential effects of these two types of scarcity messages have been understudied. Study 1 manipulated scarcity appeals type and need for uniqueness orthogonally and examined their effects on purchase intention. Study 2 manipulated scarcity appeals type and tested its effect on perceived uniqueness. Study 3 manipulated scarcity appeals type and tested the moderated mediation model that perceived uniqueness mediated the interactive effects of scarcity type and need for uniqueness on purchase intention. Across three studies, we find that consumers perceive supply-based scarcity products as more unique than demand-based scarcity products. Consequently, in comparison with demand-based scarcity messages, supply-based scarcity messages increase purchase intention for consumers with high need for uniqueness. In contrast, these messages decrease purchase intention for consumers with low need for uniqueness. Our findings contribute to the research on scarcity appeals, uniqueness perception, and need for uniqueness. Our research also suggests that marketers need to implement different types of scarcity appeals to convey uniqueness information and to attract different consumers.
Scarcity goods have generally been perceived as high in value in real-world and empirical studies. However, few studies have investigated this value over time, such as performance in intertemporal decision making. This study’s chief objective was to determine how scarcity evaluation changes temporally. We used the electroencephalogram technique and an outcome evaluation task with the valuation of scarcity and ordinary rewards delivered at different times to explore the effect of scarcity on delay discounting. The feedback-related negativity (FRN) results show that ordinary goods were associated with a more negative amplitude than scarcity goods, and that rewards delivered in the future evoked more negative deflection compared to those delivered immediately. The prominent FRN effect was derived mainly from ordinary trials rather than scarcity trials in the immediate condition and in the future rather than only in the immediate condition. The Frontal Asymmetry Index (FAI) results show that the scarcity condition was associated with greater relative left frontal cortical activity than the ordinary condition when delivered immediately. The frontal asymmetry indicated greater approach motivation. Our electrophysiology data indicate that scarcity goods have a perceived high value, particularly when delivered immediately.
Vaccine shortage is still a major problem in many countries. But how does the vaccine shortage affect people’s willingness to be vaccinated? To test whether perceived scarcity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines has an impact on vaccination willingness, a preregistered online experiment with N = 175 non-vaccinated German participants was conducted during a period of national vaccine shortage. Perceived vaccine scarcity was manipulated by either telling participants that SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in their district would be particularly scarce in the upcoming weeks or that above-average quantities would be available. The results show that individuals in the scarcity-condition were significantly more willing to get vaccinated than those in the surplus-condition. In addition, individuals in the scarcity-condition were found to express more anger towards the debate on relaxations for vaccinated versus non-vaccinated individuals. The results indicate that even superficial processes such as a perception of scarcity can influence people’s willingness to get vaccinated.
Statistical models for social networks, such as exponential random graphs (ERGMs), have increasingly been used by organizational scholars to study the social interactions inside organizations, departments, and teams. While such models have been successful in providing insights about the local processes that underlie these interactions (such as homophily, reciprocity or transitivity), an additional interesting avenue for research focuses on the role of group-level contextual variables (such as the climate or composition of a team or organization) when considering a multitude of teams or organizations. In this paper we show how, in a team context, integrating team-level factors in a multilevel framework (i.e., a Bayesian hierarchical ERGM) enables us to answer questions about: 1) how team-level contextual factors might provide alternative explanations for the emergence of intra-team ties, and 2) whether any variation in local tendencies between teams might be dependent on such team-level variables (i.e., cross-level interactions). Using data collected among 103 MBA students who were grouped into 18 teams of 5–7 members to work on a project, we study the impact of members’ expertise and perceived psychological safety on advice seeking behavior. At a local level, we focus on the effect of these nodal attributes for homophily and differences in advice seeking and giving, while at the team level we incorporate the average expertise and the team’s psychological safety climate. Our results show that expert members are more likely to be the recipient of advice ties, but also that this effect is more pronounced in teams where the overall level of expertise is high. For psychological safety, we find that a high psychological safety climate impacts the advice relations among all members in the group, not solely those who themselves perceive a high level of psychological safety, suggesting that the team climate has an impact on all its members. This illustrates how a Bayesian hierarchical ERGM allows us to obtain relevant results even when studying small-sized groups.
While previous researchers have addressed motivations to join and continue using social media, this paper focuses on why users quit certain social media and change their favorite platforms, such as the current shift from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram and Snapchat. Furthermore, this exploratory study seeks to build an understanding of social media usage and motivations for switching from a cross-cultural perspective by comparing findings from Korean and U.S. users. Findings from 19 focus group sessions (n = 118) highlight influences regarding modes of usage, user control, commitment, addiction, privacy, perceived relationships, self-construals, and social/cultural trends. Findings are further analyzed and compared in light of relevant theoretical frameworks and cultural differences.
Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) are individualized employment arrangements negotiated and agreed upon by individual employees and their organization. This study addresses an emerging conundrum in i-deals research—whether the prevalence of i-deals in teams helps or hinders team outcomes. Because teams in which i-deals are prevalent receive more resources and status, they may be more cohesive and engage in more supportive behaviors. On the other hand, because i-deals differentiate among team members, teams in which i-deals are prevalent may be less cohesive and less inclined to engage in OCB. To solve this puzzle, we draw from a resource scarcity perspective to posit that understanding intra-team i-deal dynamics requires taking into account both organizational-level (i.e., organizational i-deal scarcity) and team-level (i.e., team power structure) factors. Using data from 40 organizations, 166 teams, and 1016 employees, we disentangle the complex interplay among the prevalence of i-deals in a team, organizational i-deal scarcity, and intra-team power structure in predicting both team cohesion and intra-team OCB.
Current sustainability challenges often reflect common resource dilemmas where peoples’ short-term self-interests are at odds with collective interests in the present and future. In this article, we highlight the key role of joint decision-making processes in negotiations to facilitate the management of common resource dilemmas and to promote the transition toward sustainability. By reflecting on psychological drivers and barriers, we argue that the limited availability, the restricted accessibility, and the dynamic alterability of resources in negotiations on common resource dilemmas may cause a myopic mindset that fosters value claiming strategies and, ultimately, results in distributive-consumptive negotiation outcomes. To promote value creation in negotiations on common resource dilemmas, we argue that agents must perform a mindset shift with an inclusive social identity on a superordinate group level, an embracive prosocial motivation for other parties’ interests at and beyond the table, and a forward-looking cognitive orientation towards long-term consequences of their joint decisions. By shifting their mindset from a myopic towards a holistic cognitive orientation, agents may explore negotiation strategies to create value through increasing the availability, improving the accessibility, and using the alterability of resources. Applying these value creation strategies may help achieve integrative-transformative negotiation outcomes and promote sustainable agreements aimed at intersectional, interlocal, and intergenerational justice. We conclude by discussing additional psychological factors that play a pivotal role in negotiations on common resource dilemmas as well as further developments for future research.
Conceptions of happiness refer to people’s beliefs and ideas about the nature and experience of happiness. They have become an important area for happiness research, and studies have shown that they can affect people’s well-being and mental health. Recently, a new conception of happiness, called fragility of happiness, has been introduced to the happiness literature. Fragility of happiness is the belief that happiness is fleeting and short-lived, and it has been shown to be associated with poor well-being and adjustment. To date, research on fragility of happiness is still limited and no study has examined mediators that account for its negative association with well-being. The present study hence aimed to fill this research gap and examined valuing happiness as one such mediator. A total of 448 Chinese participants in Hong Kong completed an online survey for this study. Results indicated that valuing happiness had an inconsistent mediation effect. The direction of the association between fragility of happiness and well-being was different depending on whether the association was mediated by valuing happiness. In terms of direct effects, fragility of happiness was negatively associated with subjective happiness and life satisfaction. In terms of mediated effects, however, fragility of happiness was positively associated with subjective happiness and life satisfaction through valuing happiness. In sum, higher fragility of happiness itself was related to worse well-being, but when it increased the value of happiness to people, it was related to better well-being. The overall results suggest the relationship between fragility of happiness and well-being may vary as a result of different intervening processes and mechanisms involved. Suggestions for furthering the understanding of fragility of happiness are discussed.
Importance:
Despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines, many people fail to get vaccinated. Messages using behavioral science principles may increase vaccination rates.
Objective:
To determine the effect on influenza vaccination rates of a text message telling patients that an influenza vaccine had been reserved for them.
Design, setting, and participants:
As part of a larger influenza vaccine messaging megastudy, in this randomized clinical trial, 11 188 patients in 2 large health systems were assigned to receive a text message that stated "a flu shot has been reserved for you," a text message that stated "flu shots will be available," or no text message. Both messages included the option to reply yes (Y) or no (N) to indicate that the patient wanted to get vaccinated. Patients 18 years or older were included if they had new or routine (nonsick) primary care appointments scheduled from September 20, 2020, through March 31, 2021.
Interventions:
The evening before the scheduled appointment, patients in the 2 message conditions were sent 3 back-to-back SMS messages containing the study wording. Patients in the usual care control group did not receive any study messages.
Main outcomes and measures:
Receipt of an influenza vaccine on the date of the patient's scheduled appointment.
Results:
A total of 11 188 patients were randomized to the reserved or the available message conditions or to usual care. The 10 158 patients analyzed in the study had a mean (SD) age of 50.61 (16.28) years; 5631 (55.43%) were women; and 7025 (69.16%) were White. According to health records, 4113 (40.49%) had been vaccinated in the previous influenza season, and 5420 (53.36%) were patients at Penn Medicine. In an intent-to-treat analysis, changes in vaccination rates in response to the reserved message did not reach statistical significance (increase of 1.4 percentage points, or 4% [P = .31]) compared with the message conveying that influenza vaccines were available. Relative to the usual care control, the reserved message increased vaccination rates by 3.3 percentage points, or 11% (P = .004). Patients in the reserved message condition were more likely to text back Y (1063 of 3375 [31.50%]) compared with those in the available message condition (887 of 3351 [26.47%]; χ2 = 20.64; P < .001), and those who replied Y were more likely to get vaccinated (1532 of 1950 [78.56%]) compared with those who did not (749 of 4776 [15.68%]; χ2 = 2400; P < .001).
Conclusions and relevance:
This study found that patients who received text messages regarding flu vaccination had greater vaccine uptake than those who received no message. Messages that increase the likelihood that patients will indicate their intention to be vaccinated may also increase vaccination behavior.
Clinical trial registration:
ClincalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04565353.
Digital Marketing, and specifically, targeted marketing online is flourishing in recent years, and is becoming evermore precise and easy to implement, given the rise of big data and algorithmic processes. This study assesses users’ perceptions regarding the fairness in algorithmic targeted marketing, in conditions of scarcity. This is increasingly important because as more decisions are made by data-driven algorithms, the potential for consumers to be treated unfairly by marketers grows. Awareness of users’ perceptions helps to create a more open, understandable and fair digital world without negative influences. Also, it may help both marketers and consumers to communicate effectively.KeywordsDigital marketingUsers’ perceptionsFairness in algorithmic processesMicrotargetingScarcity messages
Widespread, common species continue to decline, disrupting ecosystems and human connections with nature. New strategies to motivate people to protect widespread species are needed. Drawing on a relational values framework, we deploy a discrete choice experiment survey (n = 646) to test whether foregrounding the genetic distinctiveness of local populations and interdependence with humans could motivate conservation of a widespread species (rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss). Genetic/genomic data have long been used to manage endangered species, but have heretofore not been used to motivate public support for conservation of widespread species. Fitting our survey data to a mixed multinomial logit model, we find that when we emphasize participants' interdependent relationships with fish, participants are willing to pay significantly more to support conservation projects that protect genetically distinct populations. These findings suggest a new avenue for using an abundant resource (genetic data) to motivate conservation of widespread species.
In globalized factor markets, firms face threats of resource scarcity, which challenge purchasing managers in interpreting signals about complex and uncertain factor-market conditions. When future resource supply is threatened, purchasing managers are affected not only by the expected scarcity but also by the uncertainty of the scarcity threat. We investigate how expected resource scarcity and scarcity uncertainty affect managerial attention to scarcity perceptions, which, in turn, impacts the likelihood to respond to the scarcity threat by collaborating with the major supplier. We collected data from 203 purchasing managers about their experience with a scarcity incident and developed new scales for assessing perceived scarcity. Our findings indicate that expected resource scarcity results in increased levels of managerial attention while scarcity uncertainty reduces managerial attention. Importantly, managerial attention mediates the effect of expected resource scarcity and scarcity uncertainty on purchasing managers’ propensity to collaborate. The results illustrate the contrary impact of expected resource scarcity and scarcity uncertainty on purchasing managers’ attention and highlight managerial attention as an important behavioral consideration to understand how purchasing managers mitigate environmental risk. Finally, we identify individual (responsibility, experience) and organizational (trust) factors that increase purchasing managers’ attention to scarcity threats and collaboration.
Purpose
A number of types of scarcity messages are often used in Internet advertisements, but all these types have not been directly compared to each other.
Design/methodology/approach
College students ( n = 789) were surveyed about five advertising choices for luxury skin-care products consisting of scarcity messages of high-demand, low-stock, limited-time, countdown timer and regular advertising without any scarcity message. Outcomes were product classification attitudes of functional and symbolic and psychological attitudes of persuasion knowledge and advertising skepticism.
Findings
The study found that high-demand message had greater functional attitudes and greater symbolic attitudes than regular advertising. Limited-time message had greater symbolic attitudes than regular advertising. High-demand message had lower advertising skepticism attitudes than regular advertising.
Practical implications
The authors recommend that when a luxury skin-care product is in high demand, that marketers should use high-demand messages in their advertising. Marketers of luxury skin-care products may also benefit from using limited-time message advertisements.
Originality/value
This is the first study to directly compare the scarcity message advertising types of high-demand, low-stock, limited-time, countdown timer with regular advertising without any scarcity message.
An extensive literature shows that parental childcare time has increased considerably over the past decades in Western countries and that children benefit from spending time with their parents. In contrast, less is known about whether and to what extent parents benefit from spending time with their children. This article fills this gap by asking whether parents enjoy childcare, and whether an association exists between time spent doing childcare and life satisfaction. Moreover, it tests whether the association varies among parents with different working statuses, specifically by comparing full-time employed fathers with full-time employed, part-time employed, and non-employed mothers. Multivariate analyses based on nationally representative time use data for Italy (2013–2014) show that parents find childcare—especially interactive childcare activities—much more pleasant than other daily activities such as employment or housework. Furthermore, the results reveal a positive association between childcare time and life satisfaction among full-time employed parents, but not among part-time employed or non-employed mothers, pointing to important between and within gender inequalities in the costs and benefits of investments in family time.
Over the years, the diamond industry has been marked by hotly debated scandals concerning the exploitative conditions afflicting the countries where diamonds were mined and extracted. Despite the establishment of formal certifications (e.g. the Kimberley Process), nowadays the diamond supply chain is still not completely devoid of ambiguities. Therefore, this research focuses on a new sustainable alternative: the lab-created diamond. The technology behind this man-made stone allows companies to obtain diamonds with the same physical, chemical and aesthetical properties of mined diamonds. In particular, we investigated how certain attributes specific to diamonds (namely perceived scarcity and authenticity) are perceived by consumers. We explored if the diamond typology presented (mined or lab-created) could affect respondents’ perceived product authenticity by considering the potential moderating effect exerted by perceived product scarcity. Eventually, the diamond typology did not have any statistically significant effect on the level of perceived authenticity by itself while perceived scarcity played a crucial role in the relationship between mined diamonds and authenticity. When respondents sensed higher levels of perceived scarcity, mined diamonds were perceived as more authentic compared to lab-created diamonds. Therefore, we could affirm both the actual presence of a moderating effect exerted by scarcity and its pivotal involvement in decreeing mined diamonds as more authentic. Managers aiming at differencing these two typologies of diamonds could, therefore, emphasize perceived scarcity in their marketing and advertising campaigns.
Adults infer that resources that become scarce over time are in higher demand, and use this “demand inference” to guide their own economic decisions. However, it is unclear when children begin to understand and use economic demand. In six experiments, we investigated the development of demand inference and demand-based economic decisions in 4- to 10-year-old children and adults in the United States. In Experiments 1–5, we showed children two boxes with the same number of compartments but containing different numbers of face-down stickers and varied the information provided about how those differences arose (e.g. that other children had taken the stickers). In separate experiments, we asked children to buy or trade to get a sticker for themselves or to predict what other children would do. We also asked them which set of stickers they thought the other children had preferred to assess their ability to make a demand inference separately from their own choice. Across experiments, children were able to make a demand inference about children's past preferences by 6 years of age. However, children did not use this demand information when making choices for themselves or when predicting what another child would select in the future. In Experiment 6, we adapted the task for adults and found that adult participants inferred that the set containing fewer resources was in higher demand, and selected the higher demand resource for themselves at rates significantly above chance. The overall pattern of results suggests a dissociation between economic inference and economic decisions during early-to-middle childhood. We discuss implications for our understanding of the development of economic reasoning.
E-commerce platforms prominently advertise low levels of inventory (“only three units left”) for 'long tail' goods in physical or digital formats. Thus, they wish to trigger consumer perceptions of scarcity and ultimately promote sales. In this paper, we develop a model on how in scarcity messages, the inventory level affects the online sales goods. We test the model against evidence from e-commerce sales data of about 35,000 printed books. We find that for e-commerce sales, lower inventory promotes sales late but inhibits purchases in the early stages of the purchase process. We reflect this counterintuitive finding against propositions grounded in different theoretical bodies. Thereupon, we summarize our research contributions and provide some implications for research and practice. We conclude with identified study limitations and suggestions for future research.
In the market of consumer electronics, firms often limit their product supply to create a scarcity effect to entice consumers to buy their product. However, the outcome of such a strategy is not always desirable. In this study, we propose the product configuration level as a contingent variable that works with the supply level to affect the outcome of a supply limitation strategy. With a vignette-based experiment, we find that for a product with a superior configuration, consumers' purchase intention is boosted only if the supply is very limited. For a product with an inferior configuration, however, the supply limitation strategy does not work at any supply level. Therefore, the supply limitation strategy works only for a superior product configuration and at a fine-tuned supply level.
Der Mensch unterliegt in seinen Wahrnehmungs- und Denkprozessen diversen Heuristiken und Verzerrungen, die bewusst wie unbewusst das Erleben und Entscheidungsverhalten beeinflussen. Unter der Bezeichnung Behavioral Economics und Nudging werden diese psychologischen Effekte im wirtschaftlichen wie gesellschaftlichen Kontext systematisch aufgearbeitet und in potenziellen Anwendungsfeldern reflektiert. Die dadurch entstehenden asymmetrischen Machtverhältnisse erfordern eine Typologisierung in transparente wie intransparente Beeinflussungs- und Manipulationsmöglichkeiten sowie eine ethische Diskussion, welche in diesem Beitrag vorgenommen werden. Es wird ein Überblick über 180 verschiedene Effekte der psychologischen Beeinflussung als auch eine Detailvorstellung von 50 ausgewählten Behavior Patterns mit Anwendungsbeispielen im Eventkontext gegeben. Damit sollen konstruktive Einsatzmöglichkeiten zur effizienteren Zielerreichung von Veranstaltern und Dienstleistern, wie der Erhöhung der Kunden- und Besucherzufriedenheit, aufgezeigt werden. Ein verhaltensökonomisches Verständnis soll darüber hinaus ermöglichen, auch die eigenen Wahrnehmungs- und Verhaltensweisen kritisch zu reflektieren.
When faced with potential resource scarcities, purchasing managers have to make decisions regarding how to react to such scarcity threats. This can be challenging as there is often uncertainty surrounding the potential scarcity. Buyers’ mitigation decisions are impacted by their perceptions, which may lead to potentially ineffective mitigation responses. Resource dependence theory as well as supply chain literature emphasize the importance of collaborating with supply chain partners to secure access to scarce resources. However, behavioral research argues that the scarcity mindset causes individuals to behave more competitively, rather than collaboratively. This research examines the extent to which buyers’ perceptions of scarcity threats affect the decision to act altruistically toward the major supplier as well as to choose to collaborate with a major supplier in order to mitigate the scarcity. The research uses a scenario-based role-playing experiment with respondents serving as purchasing managers. The research demonstrates the complexity of resource scarcity management and illustrates that when faced with resource scarcity, buyers are actually less prone to collaborate with critical resource suppliers. This effect is robust, regardless of the level of relational capital present in the buyer-supplier relationship and regardless of individual factors, such as work experience and previous purchasing experience.
This paper will review the emergence and adoption of decision heuristics as a conceptual framework within the avalanche research and education community and demonstrate how this emphasis on the heuristic decision framework has anchored and was critical in redefining the discussion around avalanche accidents. This paradigm has been a critical and meaningful step in recognizing the importance of decision making in avalanche accidents. However, in an attempt to reduce the incidence of fatal accidents, the adoption of these ideas within the wider avalanche community has overlooked some clearly stated limitations within the foundational work of the heuristic decision frame. With respect to the concept of heuristic traps in conventional avalanche education, the concepts are poorly operationalized to the extent that they are vague about what exactly they describe. The result is that as presently framed, they are of negligible value to avalanche education that seeks its basis on the best available information. We end with a discussion, and a call to action to the avalanche research community, of how we could move towards resolution of these weaknesses and add value to prior work on human factor research. Our aim is not to disparage the seminal, paradigm shifting work by McCammon, but rather draw attention to how it has been operationalized and how the industry needs to move beyond this paradigm to see further gains in our understanding of avalanche fatalities.
With climate mitigation and energy transition impacts on vulnerable individuals becoming increasingly evident, justice considerations take on heightened relevance for energy governance. Yet, energy justice remains underinvestigated in relation to the potential of behavioural economics. Behavioural economics provides evidence that individuals exhibit systematic and predictable patterns of decision-making that depart from the assumptions of rational choice theory, thus giving policy-makers a richer model of human behaviour. Adopting such a model will impact energy justice outcomes, hence understanding potential dynamics is timely. How can policy-makers complement traditional energy poverty alleviation measures with behaviourally informed ones to enhance vulnerable individuals’ cognitive capacity? What implications does this carry for energy justice? Supportive choice architecture for individuals exposed to higher risks related to energy access and use must improve their outcomes, without shifting the responsibility for vulnerability to them, neglecting their intrinsic capabilities, or obscuring structural injustice. This article analytically illustrates whether and how behavioural economics can support individual behaviour and promote collective action, in combination with a policy shift to substantive claim-making processes, to address the unfair distribution of energy use burdens. Using nudging and boosting as tools for energy poverty alleviation, it discusses how behavioural economics can enhance energy justice.
Cognitive biases are systematic cognitive dispositions or inclinations in human thinking and reasoning that often do not comply with the tenets of logic, probability reasoning, and plausibility. These intuitive and subconscious tendencies are at the basis of human judgment, decision making, and the resulting behavior. Psychological frameworks consider biases as resulting from the use of (inappropriate) cognitive heuristics that people apply to deal with data-limitations, from information processing limitations, or from a lack of expertise. Neuro-evolutionary frameworks provide a more profound explanation of biases as originating from the inherent design characteristics of our brain as a neural network that was primarily developed to perform basic physical, perceptual and motor functions, and which also had to promote the survival of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
Adults’ attraction to rare objects has been variously attributed to fundamental biases related to resource availability, self‐related needs, or beliefs about social and market forces. The current three studies investigated the scarcity bias in 11‐ and 14‐month‐old infants, and 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children (N = 129). With slight methodological modifications, participants had to choose between one of 10 same‐kind‐items (abundant resource), or the only one of a different kind (scarce resource). It was found that a robust preference for the scarce resource appeared only at age 5 years. Thus, although a scarcity bias is not present in infancy, it emerges prior to comprehension of market forces. Possible accounts of this developmental finding are discussed.
Purpose
As a frequently observed business phenomenon, the use of product scarcity to improve a product’s market performance has received increasing attention from both academics and practitioners. The resulting literature has covered a wide variety of issues based on various theories, using different research methods, in a diverse range of settings. However, this diversity also makes it difficult to grasp the core themes and findings, and to see the outstanding knowledge gaps. This paper aims to review previous studies on the use of product scarcity in marketing and identifies new directions for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review was conducted to identify and analyse 66 research papers published in business and management journals between 1970 and 2017.
Findings
The authors examined the underlying theories of scarcity-based marketing, and developed a conceptual framework that describes the key factors of product scarcity and how they influence both consumers and the market. They also highlighted some key achievements in modelling the processes involved in using product scarcity in marketing.
Originality/value
This analysis of the identified papers suggests that there are substantial gaps in our knowledge of this field, which opens up new paths for future research. For future research, the authors identified three directions aimed at: addressing the practical needs of firms in understanding product scarcity; guiding the implementation of scarcity-based strategies; and measuring, monitoring and predicting the level of product scarcity and its impacts during implementation.
Dark patterns are user interface design choices that benefit an online service by coercing, steering, or deceiving users into making unintended and potentially harmful decisions. We present automated techniques that enable experts to identify dark patterns on a large set of websites. Using these techniques, we study shopping websites, which often use dark patterns to influence users into making more purchases or disclosing more information than they would otherwise. Analyzing ~53K product pages from ~11K shopping websites, we discover 1,818 dark pattern instances, together representing 15 types and 7 broader categories. We examine these dark patterns for deceptive practices, and find 183 websites that engage in such practices. We also uncover 22 third-party entities that offer dark patterns as a turnkey solution. Finally, we develop a taxonomy of dark pattern characteristics that describes the underlying influence of the dark patterns and their potential harm on user decision-making. Based on our findings, we make recommendations for stakeholders including researchers and regulators to study, mitigate, and minimize the use of these patterns.
Examined both the effects of a situational influence and a personal attribute on new-product attractiveness. The hypothesis that fashion-opinion leaders, relative to nonleaders, would find new fashions having limited distribution more attractive than new fashions having extended distribution was confirmed in a sample of 90 female Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Willingness to accept (WTA) is usually substantially higher than willingness to pay (WTP). These constructs have been studied for roughly 30 years and with a wide variety of goods. This paper reviews those studies. We find that the less the good is like an “ordinary market good,” the higher is the ratio. The ratio is highest for non-market goods, next highest for ordinary private goods, and lowest for experiments involving forms of money. A generalization of this pattern holds even when we account for differences in survey design: ordinary goods have lower ratios than non-ordinary ones. We also find that ratios in real experiments are not significantly different from hypothetical experiments and that incentive-compatible elicitation yields higher ratios.
Tested the hypothesis that preferences for scarce experiences relative to plentiful experiences will become more pronounced as feelings of undistinctiveness increase, independent of the expected novelty of the experience. 29 male and 30 female undergraduates received bogus test results which described them as either extreme, high, or low in uniqueness, the 1st independent variable. After obtaining test feedback concerning their uniqueness, Ss were informed that they would be able to spend time in 1 of 4 psychedelic chambers. The 4 psychedelic chambers were described as either available or unavailable to others and as producing novel or familiar feelings, the 2nd and 3rd independent variables. Sex of S was also treated as an independent variable. Ss indicated their vaulation (the dependent variable) of the 4 different chambers. The hypothesis is confirmed on 3 different measures of valuation. (16 ref.)
The bias generated by the subjective perception of scarcity on the consumer's choice is discussed from a theoretical perspective. The core idea here discussed is that scarcity is an Lancasterian attribute of the goods which is not endogenously built in the goods, like many physical attributes, color, weight, etc. but which is dependent from the context where the good is consumed. The exogenously nature of scarcity requires a specific theoretical treatment which is here attempted
The bias generated by the subjective perception of scarcity on economic behavior was investigated on two groups of children aged 9-10 and 12-14 years old and on a sample of adults. Children had to choose a toy among a set of identical objects varying only in color: one color was scarce the other abundant. Color was counterbalanced across conditions. Younger children showed a basic scarcity bias: they preferred systematically the toy that was scarce in color. In older children however this tendency disappeared and was reversed in adults. The results are coherent with a developmental explanation of the basic scarcity bias which tends to be present at early stages of cognitive development but gets weaker and is substituted by other strategies and social schema as the individual develops and accumulates experience.
Commodity theory (Brock, 1968) deals with the psychological effects of scarcity. According to the theory, scarcity enhances the value (or desirability) of anything that can be possessed, is useful to its possessor, and is transferable from one person to another. This article introduces commodity theory to the marketing literature, reports a meta-analysis of studies designed to test the theory, and discusses the marketing implications of the theory along with suggestions for future marketing research.
Reviews the book, Uniqueness: The Human Pursuit of Difference by C. R. Snyder and Howard L. Fromkin (1980). In the first chapter Snyder and Fromkin take examples from several forms of literature to document that the need to view oneself as unique has been a powerful and enduring theme in Western culture. In Chapter 2, which in my opinion is the most problematic section of the book, the authors empirically set the stage for their theory of uniqueness. In Chapter 3 Snyder and Fromkin theorize that "moderate similarity generates the highest sense of acceptability on the uniqueness identity dimension and that increases or decreases relative to moderate similarity both lessen the degree of encoded acceptability". In Chapter 4 the authors develop corollaries to the above uniqueness theory predictions in order to account for a person's emotional and behavioural reactions to similar and dissimilar others when the others possess positive or negative attributes or when they belong to positive or negative reference groups. Chapter 5 discusses the development of a Need for Uniqueness Scale, a series of validation studies, and corollaries incorporating individual differences in the need for uniqueness. The next four chapters review several attributes by means of which people may derive a sense of uniqueness. Chapter 10 explores the deleterious consequences associated with the deindividuation that is purported to pervade present-day society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that an individual's preference for and valuation of relatively unavailable communicative messages compared to more readily available messages is a function of and will become more pronounced as his personal sense of “self‐uniqueness” is decreased. Greater preferences for and more favorable valuations of unavailable messages relative to available messages were also expected, independent of subjects’ anticipated familiarity or unfamiliarity with arguments contained in the messages. Experimental subjects received fictitious test results describing them as extremely high, high, or low in personal uniqueness compared with their peers. They then received information about four different messages; the messages being described as either available or unavailable to them and to others, and as containing either familiar or unfamiliar arguments. Subjects indicated their preferences for and valuations of each of the four different messages. The hypothesized effects were obtained.
In this article we examine individual differences in the desire for unique consumer products. We identify several of the antecedents and consequences of this variable and argue that a new scale to measure it is needed. Then we report the results of our efforts to develop and validate such a scale. The 8-item scale that emerged from these efforts is shown to be unidimensional, to have a factor structure that generalizes across student and nonstudent samples, and to have acceptable internal and test–retest reliabilities. The scale's validity is attested to by its theoretically intelligible relationships with other personality measures and by its ability to differentiate between the patrons of an artistic theater and a second-run theater. Finally, we discuss the potential uses of the scale in both basic and applied marketing research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
In this paper, we report an original study of the relationships between self-attributed need for uniqueness and several consumer dispositions. The results indicate that the self-attributed need for uniqueness is related to consumers' desires for scarce, innovative, and customized products and to consumers' preferences for unusual shopping venues, but not to consumers' susceptibilities to normative influence. Moreover, we find that these relationships are mediated by a latent variable reflecting individual differences in the tendency to pursue uniqueness through consumption. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed along with directions for future research.
Researchers in psychology and marketing have found that consumers' perceptions and evaluations of a product's attractiveness, desirability, expensiveness, quality, and taste are affected by knowledge that the product is scarce. This study examines scarcity's effect on a new variable—anticipated price appreciation. Although scarcity does not affect a product's actual potential for price appreciation, news reports of scarce collectibles that have appreciated in value may lead people to develop naive economic theories associating scarcity with price appreciation. Consistent with this expectation, we found that scarcity increased the anticipated price appreciation of two collectible products. The practical implications of this result are discussed along with issues for future research.
A person deciding on a career, a wife, or a place to live bases his choice on two factors: (1) How much do I like each of the available alternatives? and (2) What are the chances for a successful outcome of each alternative? These two factors comprise the utility of each outcome for the person making the choice. This notion of utility is fundamental to most current theories of decision behavior. According to the expected utility hypothesis, if we could know the utility function of a person, we could predict his choice from among any set of actions or objects. But the utility function of a given subject is almost impossible to measure directly. To circumvent this difficulty, stochastic models of choice behavior have been formulated which do not predict the subject's choices but make statements about the probabilities that the subject will choose a given action. This paper reports an experiment to measure utility and to test one stochastic model of choice behavior.
Four studies demonstrated robust within- and between-subject differences in willingness-to-pay (WTP) and willingness-to-accept (WTA) measures of the value of lottery tickets. Buyers and sellers attended to different numerical cues and interpreted the same numbers differently when setting these two kinds of monetary values. Affective influences appeared to guide the valuation process. Buyers with stronger positive feelings about owning a ticket were willing to pay more for a ticket; sellers with stronger negative feelings about no longer having a ticket required a greater minimum payment in exchange for their ticket. In addition, the WTA/WTP disparity tended to be greater for more affectively-laden lottery tickets. The results suggest that WTA and WTP prices are constructed using salient numerical cues and affective feelings. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
'Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.' In The Theory of the Leisure Class Thorstein Veblen sets out 'to discuss the place and value of the leisure class as an economic factor in modern life'. In so doing he produced a landmark study of affluent American society that exposes, with brilliant ruthlessness, the habits of production and waste that link invidious business tactics and barbaric social behaviour. Veblen's analysis of the evolutionary process sees greed as the overriding motive in the modern economy; with an impartial gaze he examines the human cost paid when social institutions exploit the consumption of unessential goods for the sake of personal profit. Fashion, beauty, animals, sports, the home, the clergy, scholars - all are assessed for their true usefulness and found wanting. The targets of Veblen's coruscating satire are as evident today as they were a century ago, and his book still has the power to shock and enlighten. Veblen's uncompromising arguments and the influential literary force of his writing are assessed in Martha Banta's Introduction.
We investigate the effects of certain factors related to study design and elicitation techniques on the WTA–WTP disparity. These factors are: explicit statement of the price, iterative bidding, within/between-subjects nature of the design, and out-of-pocket payments. We adopt a meta analytic approach to generalize from prior studies. This enables us to examine our hypotheses as well as other factors discussed in the literature. Our findings suggest that iterative bidding and within-subjects designs decrease the WTA–WTP disparity, whereas out-of-pocket payments increases the disparity – compared to tax reductions and other indirect payments. The effect of explicitly stating the price of the good to the respondents seems to be insignificant.
The research agendas of psychologists and economists now have several overlaps, with behavioural economics providing theoretical and experimental study of the relationship between behaviour and choice, and hedonic psychology discussing appropriate measures of outcomes of choice in terms of overall utility or life satisfaction. Here we model the relationship between values (understood as principles guiding behaviour), choices and their final outcomes in terms of life satisfaction, and use data from the BHPS to assess whether our ideas on what is important in life (individual values) are broadly connected to what we experience as important in our lives (life satisfaction).
The purpose of this paper is to describe a sequential experiment that provides, at each stage in the sequence, an estimate of the utility to the subject of some amount of a commodity (e.g., money), and to present a few experimental results obtained with the method. The procedure is based upon the following well-known ‘expected utility hypothesis’. For each person there exist numerical constants, called utilities, associated with the various possible outcomes of his actions, given the external events not under his control. If, for a given subject, we could know the values of these constants and the (‘personal’) probabilities he assigns to the various external events we could, according to this model, predict his choice from among any available set of actions. He will choose an action with the highest expected utility; i.e., with the highest average of utilities of outcomes, weighted by the probabilities he assigns to the corresponding events. He will be indifferent between any two actions with equal expected utilities. Note that (by the nature of weighted averages) the comparison between expected utilities does not depend on which two particular outcomes are regarded as having zero-utility and unit-utility.
Traditional micro-economic theory assumes that consumer preferences are independent of market forces like supply, demand and price. However, this assumption is inconsistent with psychological research on commodity theory (Brock 1968). This research has found that scarcity enhances the desirability of experiences and objects. Two studies were conducted to test the possibility that these scarcity effects on desirability are due to a tendency for people to assume that scarce things cost more. Consistent with this hypothesis, study 1 found that scarcity increased the desirability of art prints only when subjects had been primed to think about the expensiveness of art prints in general. Study 2 further supported the hypothesis by finding that scarcity enhanced the desirability of wine only when subjects did not know how much the wine cost. The economic, marketing and research implications of these results are discussed.
Buyers' subjective perception of price: An update of the evidence The role of affect in the WTA/WTP disparity
- K B Monroe
- S M Petroshius
- E Peters
- P Slovic
- R Gregory
Monroe, K.B., & Petroshius, S.M. (1981). Buyers' subjective perception of price: An update of the evidence. In T. Robertson & H. Kassarjian (Eds.), Perspectives in consumer behaviour (pp. 43–55). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. Peters, E., Slovic, P., & Gregory, R. (2003). The role of affect in the WTA/WTP disparity. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 16, 309–330.
Buyers' subjective perception of price: An update of the evidence
- K B Monroe
- S M Petroshius
Monroe, K.B., & Petroshius, S.M. (1981). Buyers' subjective perception of price: An
update of the evidence. In T. Robertson & H. Kassarjian (Eds.), Perspectives in
consumer behaviour (pp. 43-55). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.