Scarcity Scarcity

(Let's rewind the tapes one week and, thanks to the magic time machine, we go back in time to when I left Taipei. Let's close our eyes, we are there: I wrote this posting while at the airport.)

I am at the Taipei international Airport, Gate A9, waiting to board my plane to Tokyo.

Besides the fact that I still cannot understand why they only write in Chinese all the airplane information (see picture), I was fascinated by one yet another intriguing display of Social Proof and Scarcity at work ("Social Proof", "Scarcity" are 2 of the 6 principles of influence that Dr. Cialdini describes in his excellent book "Influence")

So, I am sitting and waiting, it is 10 a.m. and the plane leaves at 10:45. Boarding is at 10:20 (see picture above). All of the sudden, and for no apparent reason, a couple of people approaches the boarding gate and start a queue: my social psychology spider-sense starts to tingle – What is going to happen now? I start observing.

Another person looks around and gives up to his mental pressure: he joins the queue. Now the pressure is even higher on the rest of people (me included…) to join, to secure a fast-disappearing decent place in the queue.

Things get out of hand: the line gets super long in no time (see pic).



This is very fascinating to me because there was no reason to do that: no announcement, no request and no particular gain (other than the priviledge of standing rather than confortably sitting in the waiting chairs). But the social pressure and the scarcity principle easily bent the will of the entire group of people waiting, including the 80-something Mr. Chen sitting close to me, on his way to Dallas to visit his son. After few moments studying the queue with a Yoda-like expression, mr. Chen stands-up with the help of his cane and marches to join the crowd in the useless-line.

Marketers that can create this potent mix of social pressure together with scarcity have a very powerful device at hand: seeing the members of the crowd capitulating one by one under the pressure of the social mechanisms, one more time, left me awestruck.

Mau at Taipei airport, greeting Mr. Chen that now stands in line aided by his cane.