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In an earlier post I talked about the 6 Principles of Influence, and in this post I'd like to highlight the principle of Scarcity.
Most of you who have studied economy or currency to any extent understand the effects of Scarcity to some degree. Gold is scarce on our planet, for example, which makes it more valuable than other metals such as iron. This is a natural scarcity, but it is just as easy to manufacture scarcity, and the persuasive effects are little different. Bitcoin, for example, is artificially scarce. There is no natural restriction that prevents the creation of more bitcoin, but the marker was set at 21 million max, and therefore the asset is more desirable than it would be without restriction.
The best example I've seen lately for the principle of Scarcity is the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino.
As you can see in the image above, this "drink" was marketed for being Dazzling, Delicious, and Oh So RARE.
Dazzling? Well, it is colorful.
Delicious? Yeah... no. I found it to be pretty unsettling.
Rare? BINGO!!
I would argue that the reason this weird-ass drink sold so many units was 80% the Principal of Scarcity. People didn't care so much to try it because it was colorful or might taste good -- they bought it because they didn't want to miss out.
Think about it: the ingredients to make this thing are abundant -- Starbucks could make this a permanent menu item. But they won't. Because it wouldn't sell if they did.
It's also why they picked the branding of Unicorn. Besides being a cute pop-culture symbol, Unicorns are mythological creatures famous for their rarity.
It's brilliant branding. Everything about it SCREAMS Scarcity.
There are other examples I could give in the food industry, the McRib being one that pops to mind instantly, but I think you get the idea.
What other products do you know that use the Principle of Scarcity?
Let me know in the comments. :D
And follow @shayne
scarcity or upgrades? to upgrade a product you habe to know the difference between basic, standard, limited, exclusive, luxurious. you can sell a brand new basic car to a person for 35000, 35000 standard model to another, 35000 limited model to another, and 45000 exclusive car to another if they do not the luxurious package is 39000 target market price. this is why corporations have ownership of their material rights. they assume so many people in catergory a will pay 2500 above market price, catergory b 3500, c 4500, d 4000, e 2000, f 1000, g 0000 or asking price. this is to get the most money from the early adopters to the penny pinching late or stagnad group. They drive everything based on who buys when for what price.
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That is a much more complex market theory -- and very interesting, indeed! As a game developer myself, those sorts of techniques come in handy. But in this particular post I was just talking about creating scarcity to persuade customers to buy as part of a larger set of Principals of Influence.
:)
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Scarcity can be hard to judge. For instance white gold is worth more right now than yellow gold because it is in style. when I wear gold I only wear yellow gold because everyone my age only wears white gold. so within scarcity there are principles of popularity and principles of equivalent products targeted to certain users at close but not equal price sets. Think mcrib vrs the six dollar burger from Carl jrs. Or happy meal Thursday vs kids eat free on tuesdays at IHOP. Marketing similar equal products but to different users based on popular trends among different social classes. Location has a lot to do with how marketing takes place in different regions.
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Good thinking!
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Good
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