Scarcity and preference: An experiment on unavailability and product evaluation

Abstract

The experiment reported examined the effects of four conditions of product availability on consumers' preferences for recipe books, and the corresponding uniqueness judgments and cost evaluations for the same products. These conditions were unlimited availability, limited availability due to popularity, limited availability due to limited supply and accidental unavailability. The results varied according to whether other people's choices depended on the participants' revealed preferences in the investigation. Without this social constraint, participants preferred a book of limited availability due to market conditions to books that were accidentally unavailable or of unlimited availability. This effect was most pronounced for books that were of limited availability due to both popularity and limited supply. When a social constraint was present, no significant differences in preferences were observed. Books of limited availability due to market circumstances were perceived as more costly and more nearly unique than books that were accidentally unavailable or abundantly available. Emphasizing the presence of others led to a decrease in the uniqueness judgments for a good of limited availability, especially when the limited availability was due to popularity. Books of limited availability due to both popularity and limited supply were perceived as more costly regardless of the social situation.