Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion · chapter 7 · id influence-c7-01-scarcity-enhances-the-perceive
“Scarcity enhances the perceived value of commodities -- when something becomes less available, it becomes more desirable, as predicted by commodity theory (Brock, 1968).”
VERIFIEDconfidence: high⚠ extracted by pipeline, re-audit pending
Receipts
Brock (1968), Implications of Commodity Theory, Academic PressFLAGGED: DOI not in registry
Any commodity will be valued to the extent that it is unavailable, provided it is possessable, useful, and transferable.
Lynn (1991), Scarcity Effects on Value: Quantitative Review, Psychology & Marketing 8(1)DOI registry: valid
Quantitative review of commodity theory literature confirmed a reliable scarcity-desirability effect across multiple studies, though effect sizes were moderate and varied by operationalization.
Shi, Li, Gershoff & Pham (2022), Scarcity Tactics in Marketing: Meta-Analysis, Journal of Marketing ResearchDOI registry: valid
Meta-analysis of 416 effect sizes found scarcity modestly increases purchase intentions. The effect depends primarily on product type, scarcity type (demand vs. supply), and whether scarcity is perceived as accidental or market-driven.
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