Nailing the Use of Scarcity in Strategic Communications

Have you ever bought something you didn’t need solely because it was only available for a limited time? You may have been influenced by one of the six principles of persuasion – scarcity. 

Let’s be clear, scarcity must be conducted with ethics at the forefront. Failure to do so will damage trust between brand and stakeholders as well as harm public perception/reputation. 

How to use scarcity ethically: 

• Be HONEST. Do not promote a product or service as “limited time” or “limited stock” if it is not true. 

• Be TRANSPARENT. Tell customers why a product is scarce. Is it because of time constraints, deficiency in resources or other logistical reasons? Let your customer base know. 

• Be CONSIDERATE. Why does the product need to be scarce in the first place? How does it align with business goals while not exploiting the consumer? What value can be offered in return for the scarce nature of the product? 

With that being said, here are some of the benefits of scarcity: 

• It gives a sense of exclusivity to those who participate in the limited time offer. 

• It allows for more creativity in a product – something that appeals to a niche portion of the audience. 

• It generates excitement and conversation around the brand. 

Scarcity in action: 

The nail polish company, Holo Taco, often uses scarcity in its product launches. This is due to its niche in the special effects polish industry – a resource intensive venture – and propensity for seasonal campaigns – a time-sensitive boundary. 

For its birthday, Holo Taco released a limited edition collection in a formula new to its product line. The brand celebrated its special milestone while offering customers an exclusive product in return for their support. In this case, the use of scarcity was effective as the 2024 5th Anniversary Collection completely sold out in two weeks.

A limited edition release made sense for this campaign because birthdays are bound to a specific time and thermals had not been developed by the brand before this launch. If customers showed particular interest in the formula itself, then the brand could create a new batch of colors for a future drop. This would ensure that the limited edition aspect of the campaign would be honored.

Scarcity, when done with a genuine purpose, can benefit both the brand and the stakeholder. Always remember that this tendency of persuasion must be performed with care or else ethical boundaries are crossed.