Seeing is buying: should offline retailers use shelf-based scarcity to sell products?

Purpose This study aims to examine the moderating role of two product-related variables – product type and product involvement on the relationship between shelf-based scarcity (SBS) and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach The authors used four 2 × 2 between-subject experiments to test the proposed moderation. Findings Results from the four experimental studies provide the following insights. SBS enhances customers’ purchase intentions for utilitarian products and decreases purchase intentions for hedonic products. The positive influence of SBS cues on purchase intentions is more pronounced for low-involvement products than for high-involvement products. Perceived popularity and perceived quality mediate the relationship between SBS and perceived consumption risk for utilitarian products but not hedonic products. Research limitations/implications This study builds on prior research on scarcity by investigating the impact of product-related factors on the SBS-purchase intention relationship through the elaboration likelihood model. Practical implications The results suggest that retailers benefit from using SBS cues for utilitarian and low-involvement products to increase purchase intention. Retailers can avoid SBS cues for hedonic products to prevent them from seeming commonplace. Furthermore, retailers can boost purchase intentions by highlighting the popularity and quality of utilitarian and low-involvement products. Originality/value To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first study to examine the interaction between SBS and product-related attributes, along with the serial mediation of perceived popularity, quality and consumption risk.