Scarcity is something are more used to these days, particularly in light of the supply chain problems we see. Scarcity is something we feel when we are doing thing we have enough of what we need. If we don’t fix the problems at the ports, and the related problem of driver shortages to bring things in from the ports, we might see quite a few empty shelves this holiday season. 

Not that empty store shelves were anything new to most of us. After the great toilet paper shortage of early 2020, we all know that the line between chaos and order is thinner than we ever suspected. That’s because when we feel something is scarce, we assign more value to it—and sometimes react in crazy ways. 

In this episode, we brought back Dr. Professor Kelly Goldsmith of Vanderbilt University to talk more about Scarcity and how it affects our behavior. She explains how Scarcity has different types and we have various ways we respond to it. She also shares how understanding Scarcity and how it drives customer responses can make it an important tool in your marketing toolkit—but only if you know how to use it well.

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

The empty store shelves this past year have all taught us a little bit about Scarcity. It changes how we respond to situations in many ways. Dr. Goldsmith explains them to us and how we can use it in our marketing efforts. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 04:54   Dr. Goldsmith describes what scarcity is and the difference between Objective and Subjective Scarcity.    
• 07:43   Dr. Goldsmith explains that Scarcity is always relative, and you can’t have it without also having a Reference Point.    
• 12:09   Ryan has Dr. Goldsmith explain why the toilet paper hoarding of 2020 is different than a marketing tactic, but inspired by the same psychology.   
• 15:09    We talk about the difference between a perceived need and an actual need, and how that affects our response to Scarcity.    
• 26:19   Dr. Goldsmith shares her research on Scarcity and the positives and negative potential effects of how we try to resolve it for ourselves.   
• 32:51  We all share our insight into how people can use what they know about Scarcity to improve their customer strategy. 

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Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

 

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