SCARCITY AND PREFERENCE - AN EXPERIMENT ON UNAVAILABILITY AND PRODUCTEVALUATION

The experiment reported examined the effects of four conditions of pro duct availability on consumers' preferences for recipe books, and the corresponding uniqueness judgments and cost evaluations for the same p roducts. These conditions were unlimited availability, limited availab ility due to popularity, limited availability due to limited supply an d accidental unavailability. The results varied according to whether o ther people's choices depended on the participants' revealed preferenc es in the investigation. Without this social constraint, participants preferred a book of limited availability due to market conditions to b ooks that were accidentally unavailable or of unlimited availability. This effect was most pronounced for books that were of limited availab ility due to both popularity and limited supply. When a social constra int was present, no significant differences in preferences were observ ed. Books of limited availability due to market circumstances were per ceived as more costly and more nearly unique than books that were acci dentally 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 du e to popularity. Books of limited availability due to both popularity and limited supply were perceived as more costly regardless of the soc ial situation. Availability of goods influences consumers' preferences , and this effect is mediated through perceptions of uniqueness and co st evaluations.