When Less Sells More and When it Does Not: Scarcity Causing Snob versus Bandwagon Effects

Whereas product scarcity is generally thought to enhance product preference and choice, this research distinguishes two different routes of scarcity effects and reveals that scarcity can also decrease choice. Scarcity due to limited supply signals exclusivity, whereas scarcity due to excess demand signals popularity. This reveals the status and appropriateness of consumption of the scarce product, which consumers use to create and communicate their personal identity. Depending on the activation of uniqueness goals and the likelihood of encountering others who own an identical product, the two scarcity types may enhance or decrease product choice