Perception Of Scarcity Research Articles

The allure of rarity: investigating the impact of consumers’ perceived scarcity in AI-designed clothing on purchase intentions

ABSTRACT In light of the emerging use of AI in design, we investigate consumer responses to clothing marketed as AI-designed. We examine how the perceived scarcity of AI-designed clothing influences purchase intentions, with perceived monetary value acting as a mediator, and consider the moderating effects of fashion involvement. Data was collected via an online survey (n = 311) and analysed using SPSS 28.0. Participants were presented to an image of a jacket described as being created by AI technology and then answered a series of questions about the AI-designed jacket and about themselves. Results indicated that the scarcity of AI-designed clothing by itself may not significantly boost purchase intentions. However, fashion brands can capitalise on the perception of scarcity if the product is seen as offering good value for money. This effect is especially pronounced among consumers who have low involvement in fashion.

Residential water choices: Assessing the willingness to adopt alternative water sources by examining risk perceptions and personal norms in Belgium

With escalating freshwater scarcity, transformative shifts in infrastructure, technology, and societal attitudes are essential. This study applies Protection Motivation Theory to explore how perceived water scarcity impacts individuals' willingness to reduce tap water consumption and increase the use of alternative sources in households. An online survey (n = 2623) in Belgium assessed acceptance of tap water, rainwater, and recycled greywater for various household activities. Sequential regression analysis examined the influence of threat appraisal, coping appraisal, personal norms, and socio-demographics on this willingness. The results indicate that willingness to conserve tap water is strongly driven by self-efficacy rather than risk appraisal. Conversely, willingness to use rainwater and recycled greywater depends on perceived future water scarcity, perceived self-efficacy, and personal norms. Perceptions of present water scarcity negatively influenced the willingness to use rainwater and recycled greywater, suggesting a boomerang effect. However, future water scarcity perceptions encourage the use of alternative water sources, providing a nuanced perspective. These findings provide valuable insights into the acceptance of alternative water sources and underline the importance of context-specific approaches, enhancing self-efficacy and personal norms to encourage the adoption of alternative water sources for household activities, ensuring effective freshwater conservation.

The Impact of Chinese Consumers' Perception of Scarcity of Goods on Their Consumption Behavior

The Impact of Chinese Consumers' Perception of Scarcity of Goods on Their Consumption Behavior

In-App Coupons Versus Group-Coupons: The Impact of Mobile Marketing Strategies on Mobile Application Adoption

Global mobile marketers are intensifying efforts to promote mobile applications, yet little literature addresses the effectiveness of these strategies on consumer adoption. This study investigates the impact of two mobile marketing strategies—in-app coupons and group-coupons—on mobile app adoption, considering the installed user base moderation. Utilizing data from a Chinese shopping mall, this study shows that both strategies can foster adoption, with opposite moderating effects from existing adopters. Two experiments validate social influence and scarcity perception as underlying mechanisms. These findings highlight the dynamic nature of mobile marketing, urging global mobile marketers to consider this in their strategies.

Scarcity and intertemporal choice.

Scarcity often encourages decisions that favor the present over the future. While prevailing theories largely attribute these decisions to myopic, impulsive decision making, five studies find support for an alternative, less prevalent perspective. We introduce the time horizon of threatened needs as an important determinant of scarcity's effect on intertemporal choice, demonstrating that people's decisions under scarcity reflect attempts to address threatened needs. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (Study 1) and preregistered studies (N = 10,297) show that time horizon moderates intertemporal decisions under scarcity. Study 2 manipulates scarcity perceptions among people engaged to be married, leading to increased preferences for sooner outcomes when wedding dates have shorter time horizons and a significant reversal when wedding dates have longer time horizons. Study 3 demonstrates that time horizon predicts intertemporal choice only when the intertemporal choice can help address threatened needs. Study 4 holds expense salience constant and replicates the moderation by time horizon using a paradigm that manipulates both scarcity and time horizon. Study 5 introduces multiple needs that vary in time horizon and importance, finding that decisions under scarcity reflect consideration of both the importance and temporal proximity of needs. These findings align with the perspective that people facing scarcity attempt to make decisions that are contextually appropriate. This work underscores the importance of understanding contextual variation in experiences of scarcity, suggests that decision making under scarcity is less thoughtless than presumed by the impulsive, myopic account, and offers recommendations for interventions for changing behavior under scarcity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Luxury fashion brands at the gates of the Web 3.0: An analysis of early experimentations with NFTs and the metaverse

ABSTRACT Luxury fashion brands have been pioneers in experimenting with NFTs and the metaverse. Though, the analysis of the success of these forerunning initiatives to date still pertains to anecdotal literature. Drawing upon a mixed-method convergent multiple-case-study design involving four cases, this study investigates how pivotal marketplace actors – namely, journalists and consumers – perceived these early experimentations and the extent to which these new technologies can support luxury fashion brands in further conveying their traditional luxury values. Findings suggest that luxury fashion brands should exploit these technologies to reinforce the perception of scarcity, accelerate the “artification” process, and innovatively convey their ancestral heritage. Nevertheless, when leveraging Web 3.0 technologies, luxury fashion brands must be particularly cautious about the risks of conveying their distinctive aesthetics ineffectively and offering experiences that do not align with the highly experiential nature of luxury.

The effect of perceived scarcity on impulse-buying tendencies in a fast fashion context: A mediating and multigroup analysis

PurposeThis 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/approachWe 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.FindingsWe 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/valuePrevious 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.

Do not run out of toilet paper! The risk communication on perceived risk on consumer behavior during the crisis COVID-19

PurposeAt the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing measures and diffuse communication by media led to consumers’ uncontrolled product purchases worldwide. This phenomenon was described as a psychological effect experienced by fictitious scarcity, anxiety and herd mentality exacerbated by the media. This exploratory study aims to analyze the impact of risk communication on the perceived risk from the psychological dimension of consumer behavior amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory study was conducted through an electronic survey one week after implementing social distancing measures in Puerto Rico. With a sample of 353 participants, the data analysis was carried out by PLS-SEM, partial least squares structural equations (PLS-MGA), multi group test (MGA) and hierarchical component models to answer the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results revealed that risk communication activates the perceived psychological risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the way in which the consumer faces the psychological risk is explained by the perceptions of scarcity and the bandwagon effect.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is a pioneer in presenting relationships between risk communication and perceived risk in consumer behavior, a topic that needs to be addressed in the academic literature. The research makes significant contributions to the study of consumer behavior by empirically validating the three phases of the Conchar model – risk framing, risk assessment and risk evaluation – where risk communication offers an excellent delineation to understand the consumer’s behavior during a pandemic.

Mesopotamian fallow deer and the chase in later Neolithic Cyprus: insights from upper Mesopotamia, the Levant and badia

This article compares and contrasts the role of hunting in Cypriot and mainland faunal economies of the 8th to 6th millennia cal. BC. It is well known that during this period Cyprus was characterised by the persistence of low-intensity adaptations based primarily on hunting of Mesopotamian fallow deer. Although this period witnessed a revitalisation of hunting in some mainland economies, especially in or on the margins of the greater Syrian desert, what might superficially appear to be an adaptive convergence between island and mainland was nothing of the sort. Strong arguments can be made that post-domestication revitalisations of hunting on the mainland stem either from intensification generally and the commodification of prey in particular, or from risk-buffering attempts to mitigate against perceptions of scarcity. On Cyprus, however, the paradigmatic predation of Mesopotamian fallow deer that endured into the mid Holocene appears to have been a relict of Pleistocene-style ‘controlled predation’, facilitated by low occupation intensity at island - if not always site - level and the likely survival of unhunted game reservoirs between catchments.

How perceived scarcity predicted cooperation during early pandemic lockdown

Both material resources (jobs, healthcare), and socio-psychological resources (social contact) decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated whether individual differences in perceived material and socio-psychological scarcity experienced during the pandemic predicted preference for cooperation, measured using two Public Good Games (PGGs), where participants contributed money or time (i.e., hours indoors contributed to shorten the lockdown). Material scarcity had no relationship with cooperation. Increased perceived scarcity of socio-psychological wellbeing (e.g., connecting with family) predicted increased preference for cooperation, suggesting that missing social contact fosters prosociality, whilst perceived scarcity of freedom (e.g., limited movement) predicted decreased willingness to spend time indoors to shorten the lockdown. The importance of considering individual differences in scarcity perception to best promote norm compliance is discussed.

Buy now or regret later: Social media-induced panic buying of medical supplies during COVID-19

A huge body of research analyzed panic buying during the pandemic; however, there is a dearth of studies scrutinizing social media triggering panic buying of drugs and medical supplies. This study assesses the impact of social media on panic buying of drugs and medical supplies during COVID-19. An online survey was conducted in the Delhi-NCR region (India) using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The data were collected from the respondents (N = 250) who were youngsters considering their pivotal role in the battle against COVID-19. Regression analysis in SPSS was used to process the data. The results manifested a strong impact of social media on buying behavior during COVID-19. Perceived scarcity (p = .000), perceived quality (p = .000), perceived cost (p = .000) of medical supplies, and fear-of-missing-out (p = .000) were found to strongly influence panic buying. Further, perceived scarcity was found to have a significant impact on FOMO (p = .0400). At the same time, perceived cost also had a substantial effect on perceived quality (p = .0100). The results indicated that perceived scarcity did not affect perceived quality (p = .0600). People indulged in hoarding during COVID-19 to remove their fear of missing out. The perception of scarcity of medicines, the quality degradation that may happen later, or the likelihood that costs may increase in the future contributed fairly to people stockpiling. Perceived scarcity also induced fear of missing out, while perception about the quality was dependent on perceived cost.

Does perceived scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines increase vaccination willingness? Results of an experimental study with German respondents in times of a national vaccine shortage.

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.

TÜKETİCİLERDE FOMO’YU (FEAR OF MİSSİNG OUT) TETİKLEYEN FAKTÖRLER VE SATIN ALMA DAVRANIŞLARINA ETKİSİ

Today, the development of mass media has caused people to spend a lot of time on social networks, while it has also led to an increase or formation of the fear of missing, which is a kind of psychological anxiety called FoMO (Fear of Missing Out). This fear directly or indirectly affects human behavior.The marketing world has begun to examine the effects of FoMO on purchasing behaviors. In this study, the determination of the factors that activate or increase this anxiety and their effects on purchasing behaviors in individuals with FoMO have been investigated with a qualitative method. It has been interviewed with 41 participants face-to-face by using the purposive sampling method and in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 participants who were determined to have FoMO by asking questions on the FoMO scale. Certain themes such as the need to belong, conspicuous consumption and the perception of scarcity emerged from the data analyzed descriptively.It has been understood that these themes increase or trigger FoMO in individuals and positively affect their purchase intentions.It is thought and recommended that businesses should carry out the marketing messages they want to convey to their target audiences in order to increase their sales, taking these facts into account.

Economic scarcity increases racial stereotyping in beliefs and face representation

Racial discrimination typically expands under resource scarcity, but the psychological mechanisms driving this effect remain poorly understood. We examined the role of stereotypes in this effect, given their theorized function in asserting and maintaining existing group hierarchies, and hypothesized that stereotype expression would be heightened in response to scarcity, a signal of social instability. In Study 1, the manipulated perception of scarcity strengthened reported knowledge of stereotypes of Black Americans as low in socioeconomic status and as threatening, relative to control participants. In Study 2, perceived scarcity increased the stereotypicality of participants' visualizations of a Black male face, as assessed using a reverse correlation procedure and judged by independent raters. Study 3 replicated the effect of scarcity on stereotypic face visualizations and further demonstrated that scarcity increased anti-Black stereotypes even among individuals with relatively weak implicit stereotype associations. Together, these studies reveal that the mere perception of scarcity can increase stereotyping of Black Americans, as expressed in self-reports and implicit visualizations of Black faces. We discuss the potential role of stereotyping under scarcity as a means to justify racial discrimination and maintain power structures in response to systemic threat.

The influence of scarcity perception on people's pro-environmental behavior and their readiness to accept new sustainable technologies

Experts worldwide point to the challenges our world is facing (e.g., land degradation, resource scarcity, global warming) as described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Many studies have analyzed how to cope with these challenges. Aside from promoting pro-environmental behaviors, it was proposed that technological innovations might provide the potential to cope with and compensate for natural resource scarcity. We conducted an online survey (N = 404) investigating how people's scarcity perception is related to their willingness to adopt pro-environmental behaviors and their openness to new sustainable technologies. Regression analyses demonstrate that the anticipated future unavailability of resources is more crucial for predicting pro-environmental behavior than the perceived current resource availability. The expected reduced future availability of natural resources goes along with increased openness to sustainable energy (renergy = −0.32) and food technologies (rfood = −0.22). Moreover, a t-test provides evidence for the causal influence of scarcity perception by showing that pro-environmental behavior was higher following our scarcity salience manipulation (Cohen's d = 0.27). Further bootstrapping analyses showed that the salience affected individuals' technology openness via pro-environmental behavior. Also, pro-environmental behavior and openness to sustainable food and energy technologies were amplified when people believed that fewer resources will be available due to an increased concern about scarcity.

Social determinants of panic buying behaviour amidst COVID-19 pandemic: The role of perceived scarcity and anticipated regret

Panic buying behaviour is inherently undesirable due to its detrimental impact on community's resources and disruptions to supply chain systems. The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic has seen a resurgence of this phenomenon across the world, leaving supermarkets in stockout situations. While panic buying is largely reasoned as a psychological reaction to an extreme event, it is also a socially relevant behaviour as our perception of a crisis can be shaped by our observations and interactions within the society. The social determinants of panic buying behaviour, particularly on how these factors heighten one's perception of scarcity, and trigger panic buying behaviour, are studied. A theoretical model is developed to explain panic buying behaviour in a social context by synthesizing various social and behavioural theories, and the inter-relationship among the latent constructs is analysed using the structural equation modelling approach. Accordingly, an online survey was administered and analysis of the data confirmed that non-coercive social influence, social norm and observational learning directly influence one's perception of scarcity. Additionally, perceived scarcity can motivate panic buying behaviour directly or indirectly through feelings of anticipated regret. This study has contributed to the limited literature on panic buying. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of panic buying will aid policymakers and businesses in developing intervention or support strategies to cope with such behaviour.

Perceptions of Resource Scarcity in Factor Markets: The Effect on Managerial Attention and Collaboration

AbstractIn 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.

The Role of Resources in the Success or Failure of Diverse Teams: Resource Scarcity Activates Negative Performance-Detracting Resource Dynamics in Social Category Diverse Teams

Increasing the social category diversity of work teams is top of mind for many organizations. However, such efforts may not always be sufficiently resourced, given the numerous resource demands facing organizations. In this paper, we offer a novel take on the relationship between social category diversity and team performance, seeking to understand the role resources may play in both altering and explaining the performance dynamics of diverse teams. Specifically, our resource framework explains how the effects of social category diversity on team performance can be explained by intrateam resource cognitions and behaviors and are dependent on team resource availability. We propose that in the face of scarcity in a focal resource (i.e., budget), diverse (but not homogenous) teams generalize this scarcity perception to fear that all resources (i.e., staff, time, etc.) are scarce, prompting performance-detracting power struggles over resources within the team. We find support for our model in three multimethod team-level studies, including two laboratory studies of interacting teams and a field study of work teams in research and development firms. Our resource framework provides a new lens to study the success or failure of diverse teams by illuminating a previously overlooked danger in diverse teams (negative resource cognitions (scarcity spillover bias) and behaviors (intrateam power struggles)), which offers enhanced explanatory power over prior explanations. This resource framework for the study of team diversity also yields insight into how to remove the roadblocks that may occur in diverse teams, highlighting the necessity of resource sufficiency for the success of diverse teams.

Reflecting on reflection: prospect theory, our behaviors, and our environment

AbstractIn a previously published article, I reported some tests of prospect theory's reflection effect over outcomes defined by money and life years gained from treatment. Those results suggested qualified support for the reflection effect over money outcomes and strong support over longevity outcomes. This article reruns those tests while accounting for the intensity of individual risk attitudes, and, overall, show consistency with the reflection effect. However, I argue that these results do not necessarily offer support for the explanatory power of prospect theory. Rather, the results may be driven by evolved responses to circumstances that provoke perceptions of scarcity and abundance. Therefore, from an ecological perspective, behavioral patterns such as those that are consistent with the reflection effect, which, by extension, tend to be considered as erroneous or biased by most behavioral economists because they conflict with the postulates of rational choice theory, may not be unreasonable. Recognizing as such is important when considering how behavioral insights ought to inform public policy design and implementation.

What influences panic buying behaviour? A model based on dual-system theory and stimulus-organism-response framework

Panic buying has been observed across many regions during the COVID-19 pandemic which greatly disrupts supply chains and market economies. The determinants of panic buying, upon being identified, can be applied to control the escalation of panic buying behaviour that is highly detrimental to societies. This research aims to synthesise the dual-system theory and stimulus-organism-response framework to investigate into the causes of panic buying. Structural equation modelling is employed to analyse data collected from 508 residents in Singapore. The results reveal that panic buying can be explained as a response to both environmental stimuli and reflective thinking. Specifically, perceived susceptibility and perceived severity of a pandemic event as well as social influence and social norm can stimulate consumers' perceptions of scarcity and affective response, which in turn leads to the impulsive decision of panic buying; meanwhile, a rational reflection which is operationalised by perceived lack of control also influences panic buying. Furthermore, the perceived lack of control positively moderates the effect of affective response on panic buying. Theoretically, this research provides a unique explanation of panic buying. The findings also provide managerial implications on dealing with panic buying in response to disasters such as a health crisis.