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The Psychological Effects of Perceived Scarcity on Consumers’ Buying Behavior University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research from the College of Business Business, College of 7-17-2013 The Psychological Effects of Perceived Scarcity on Consumers’ Buying Behavior Shipra Gupta University of Nebraska - Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/businessdiss Part of the Fashion Design Commons, and the Marketing Commons Gupta, Shipra, "The Psychological Effects of Perceived Scarcity on Consumers’ Buying Behavior" (2013). Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research from the College of Business. 41. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/businessdiss/41 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Business, College of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research from the College of Business by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED SCARCITY ON CONSUMERS’ BUYING BEHAVIOR by Shipra Gupta A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Interdepartmental Area of Business (Marketing) Under the Supervision of Professor James W. Gentry Lincoln, Nebraska June, 2013 Copyright 2013, Shipra Gupta THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED SCARCITY ON CONSUMERS’ BUYING BEHAVIOR Shipra Gupta, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2013 Adviser: James W. Gentry This research seeks to provide an understanding of consumers’ psychological responses to the scarcity environments that are strategically created by retailers. A mixed method design provides both qualitative and statistical understanding of this phenomenon. The findings across four studies define a new construct that captures consumers’ understanding of the product shortage that is strategically created by the retailer, differentiates it from scarcity situations where the retailer does not necessary limit the supply of the product, and suggests that consumers react differently in the varied conditions. The study suggests that strategically controlled environments, by creating product uncertainty, are able to motivate behaviors such as urgency to buy. It is further suggested that urgency to buy is mediated by emotions like anticipated regret that these retailers are able to successfully generate in the mind of the consumer. Further, scarcity communicated by the retailer threatens consumers’ freedom, thus triggering psychological reactance and encouraging them to take immediate actions like in–store hoarding and in–store hiding, to safeguard their behavioral freedom. The study also takes into account individual traits like competitiveness, hedonic shopping motivations, and need for uniqueness, and examines their influence on consumers’ behavioral responses. The results suggest that consumers high on these traits are more likely to exhibit competitive and deviant behaviors like in–store hoarding and in–store hiding. Also, the role of gender is examined and it is suggested that, unlike their stereotypical apparel buying behaviors, males with high hedonic shopping motivations are more likely to exhibit behaviors like in–store hoarding and in–store hiding. By examining consumers’ psychological and behavioral responses to human–induced scarcity conditions, this research seeks to make theoretical contribution to the scarcity literature. From a methodological stand point, this research contributes to the consumer and retail literature by defining and operationalizing constructs like perceived scarcity, urgency to buy, and in–store hiding. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who supported me in different ways and made my Ph.D. journey possible. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my adviser, Dr. James W. Gentry for his support and guidance over all these years. It has definitely been his patience, guidance, and invaluable advice that have made this dissertation possible. His confidence in my work has always encouraged me to work hard and helped me become a better scholar. Next, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Les Carlson, Dr. Amit Saini, Dr. Rita Kean, and Prof. Rob Simon for accepting to be a part of the committee and for evaluating my dissertation work. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Nancy Miller and Dr. Ron Hampton for guiding me during my initial years of education. Your guidance and encouragement has always provided me with great confidence and helped me make right choices. I further would like to thank Michelle Jacobs for keeping me on track with all the necessary paperwork, which at times, we as graduate students don’t take seriously. This acknowledgement won’t be complete without showing my gratitude to Ruth Gentry. She has always shown her concern for me and my family, which means a lot to me. Ruth and Jim, you both have always cared for Siya and me, and had been a second family to us. This also reminds me of Dr. Mehrdad Negahban and Setareh Makinejad. You both have also taken care of us even when Ashwani was not here in Lincoln. I will always remember the love and affection given by you and especially, the nine Thanksgiving dinners that we celebrated together. v I would also like to thank Shannon, Justine, Jess, Elise, and Lili for supporting me during all these years. You all are great friends and have helped me throughout this journey with your advice, warmth, and affection. Now, at last but not atleast, I would like to thank my family. My husband, Ashwani, without your support, I would have never done this. Thanks for encouraging and supporting me throughout my educational journey and having faith in me. I love you and am lucky to have you as my husband. I owe a big thanks to my daughter, Siya. Your mischievous talks and naughty behaviors have made this stressful journey enjoyable. You have always provided me with great strength and motivation to keep working and finish my Ph.D. Your talks and how you make fun of hoarding and hiding behaviors will always remain in my memory and will always make me smile. I love you and am very proud of you, my darling daughter. I would also like to thank my dad, late Dr. Rajendra Kumar Gupta for teaching me the value of education. Dad, today you would have been really proud, seeing me getting my doctorate. You will always be missed. I would also like to thank my mom, Mrs. Sneh Gupta, for her unconditional love. Ma, you had always been my inspiration to get higher education, have a career, and be independent. I would always love you. Finally, I would like to thank my in–laws, Mr. Vinod Kumar Goyal and Mrs. Sunita Goyal, for their love, support, and encouragement. I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my daughter, Siya, who has tolerated me and my eccentric behavior all these years with smile and laughter. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 Contributions ............................................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................................. 11 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ......................................... 11 Scarcity ................................................................................................................................... 11 Theories Related to Scarcity .................................................................................................. 17 Commodity Theory ............................................................................................................ 17 Reactance Theory ............................................................................................................... 18 Urgency to Buy ...................................................................................................................... 19 The Mediating Role of Anticipated Regret ............................................................................ 24 In–store Hoarding .................................................................................................................. 26 In–store Hiding ...................................................................................................................... 30 The Moderating Role of Competitiveness ............................................................................. 32 The Moderating Role of Hedonic Shopping Motivation ....................................................... 33 The Moderating Role of Need for Uniqueness ...................................................................... 35 The Role of Gender on Urgency to Buy, In-Store Hoarding, and In–store Hiding Behaviors 37 CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................................. 43 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 43 Study 1: Qualitative Inquiry ..................................................................................................
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