The effects of product scarcity and consumers' need for uniqueness on purchase intention

International Journal of Consumer Studies

Volumn 36, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 263-274

  Wu, Wann Yih ^a,b   Lu, Hsiao Yun ^b   Wu, Ying Yin ^b   Fu, Chen Su ^b  

^a CHINESE CULTURE UNIVERSITY   (Taiwan)

^b NATIONAL CHENG KUNG UNIVERSITY   (Taiwan)

Author keywords

Assumed expensiveness; Perceived quality; Perceived uniqueness; Perceived value; Purchase intention; Scarcity

Indexed keywords

EID: 84867369995     PISSN: 14706423     EISSN: 14706431     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1470-6431.2011.01000.x     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. Amaldoss, W. & Jain, S. (2005) Conspicuous consumption and sophisticated thinking. Management Science, 51, 1449-1466.
2. Belk, R.W., Ger, G. & Askegaard, S. (2003) The fire of desire: a multi-sited inquiry into consumer passion. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 311-325.
3. Brannon, L.A. & Brock, T.C. (2001) Limiting time for responding enhances behavior corresponding to the merits of compliance appeals: refutations of heuristic-cue theory in service and consumer settings. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 10, 135-146.
4. Calder, B.J., Lynn, W.P. & Tybout, A.M. (1981) Designing research for application. Journal of Consumer Research, 8, 197-207.
5. Chang, L.C. (2003) An examination of cross-cultural negotiation using Hofstede framework. The Journal of American Academy of Business, 2, 567-570.
6. Chu, C.W. & Lu, H.P. (2007) Factors influencing online music purchase intention in Taiwan - an empirical study based on the value-intention framework. Internet Research, 17, 139-155.
7. Copeland, L. & Griggs, L. (1985) Going International: How to Make Friends and Deal Effectively in the Global Marketplace. Random House, New York, NY.
8. Curry, D.J. & Riesz, P.C. (1988) Price and price quality relationships - a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Marketing, 52, 36-51.
9. Dodds, W.B., Monroe, K.B. & Grewal, D. (1991) Effects of price, brand, and store information on buyers' product evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 28, 307-319.
10. Eisend, M. (2008) Explaining the impact of scarcity appeals in advertising. Journal of Advertising, 37, 33-40.
11. Erickson, G.M. & Johansson, J.K. (1985) The role of price in multi-attribute product evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 12, 195-199.
12. Franke, N. & Schreier, M. (2008) Product uniqueness as a driver of customer utility in mass customization. Marketing Letters, 19, 93-107.
13. Fromkin, H.L. (1970) Effects of experimental aroused feelings of undistinctiveness upon valuation of scarce and novel experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16, 521-529.
14. Fu, C.S. & Wu, W.Y. (2010) The means-end cognitions of web advertising: a cross-cultural comparison. Online Information Review, 34, 686-703.
15. Gierl, H., Plantsch, M. & Schweidler, J. (2008) Scarcity effects on sales volume in retail. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 18, 45-61.
16. Groth, J.C. & McDaniel, S.W. (1993) The exclusive value principle: the basis for prestige pricing. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 10, 10-16.
17. Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E. & Tatham, R.L. (2006) Multivariate Data Analysis, 6th edn. Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
18. Harrell, S. & Huang, C.C. (1994) Cultural Change in Postwar Taiwan. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
19. Hirsch, F. (1976) The Social Limits to Growth. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
20. Jöreskog, K. & Sörbom, D. (1993) Structural Equation Modelling with the Simplis Command Language. Scientific Software International, Chicago, IL.
21. Jung, J.M. & Kellaris, J.J. (2004) Cross-national differences in proneness to scarcity effects: the moderating roles of familiarity, uncertainty avoidance, and need for cognitive closure. Psychology & Marketing, 21, 739-753.
22. Kang, Z.R. (2010) Taiwan's GNP next year exceeded $20000 for the first time. China Review News. [WWW document]. URL http://www.chinareviewnews.com (accessed on 9 December 2010).
23. Ko, H., Roberts, M.S. & Cho, C.H. (2006) Cross-cultural differences in motivations and perceived interactivity: a comparative study of American and Korean internet users. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 28, 93-104.
24. Koford, K. & Tschoegl, A.E. (1998) The market value of rarity. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 34, 445-457.
25. Kumar, A., Lee, H.J. & Kim, Y.K. (2006) Indian Consumers' Purchase Intention toward a United States versus Local Brand. Paper presented at the Fall Conference of the American-Collegiate-Retailing-Association, Charleston, SC.
26. Lapierre, J. (2000) Customer-perceived value in industrial contexts. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 15, 122-140.
27. Lin, C.H., Wu, P.H., Chuang, S.C. & Kao, D.T. (2007) Price as a quality or sacrifice cue: Role of goal orientation. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 179-187.
28. Lynn, M. (1989) Scarcity effects on desirability-mediated by assumed expensiveness. Journal of Economic Psychology, 10, 257-274.
29. Lynn, M. (1991) Scarcity effects on value: a quantitative review of the commodity theory literature. Psychology & Marketing, 8, 43-57.
30. Lynn, M. (1992) Scarcity's enhancement of desirability: the role of naïve economic theories. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 13, 67-78.
31. Lynn, M. & Bogert, P. (1996) The effect of scarcity on anticipated price appreciation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 26, 1978-1984.
32. Lynn, M. & Harris, J. (1997) The desire for unique consumer products: a new individual differences scale. Psychology & Marketing, 14, 601-616.
33. Mackenzie, S.B., Lutz, R.J. & Belch, G.E. (1986) The role of attitude toward the ad as a mediator of advertising effectiveness - a test of competing explanations. Journal of Marketing Research, 23, 130-143.
34. Monroe, K.B. & Krishnan, R. (1985) The effect of price on subjective product evaluations. In Perceived Quality: How Consumers View Stores and Merchandise (ed. by J. Jacoby & J.C. Olson), pp. 85-90. Lexington Books, Lexington, MA.
35. van Oest, R., Paap, R. & Franses, P.H. (2004) A Joint Framework for Category Purchase and Consumption Behavior. Working paper, Tinbergen Institute, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, NL.
36. Olaru, D., Purchase, S. & Peterson, N. (2008) From customer value to repurchase intentions and recommendations. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 23, 554-564. doi: 10.1108/08858620810913362.
37. Polit, D.F. & Beck, C.T. (2004) Nursing Research: Principles of Methods. Lippincott, Philadelphia, PA.
38. Rao, A.R. & Monroe, K.B. (1989) The effect of price, brand name, and store name buyers perceptions of product quality - an integrative review. Journal of Marketing Research, 26, 351-357.
39. Siems, F., Mitter, C. & Kraus, S. (2008) Customer satisfaction models and the integration of price perceptions-a new managerial approach and an empirical demonstration. International Journal of Business Research, 8, 146-157.
40. Snoj, B., Korda, A.P. & Mumel, D. (2004) The relationships among perceived quality, perceived risk and perceived product value. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 13, 156-167.
41. Snyder, C.R. (1992) Product scarcity by need for uniqueness interaction: a consumer catch-22 carousel. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 13, 9-24.
42. Snyder, C.R. & Fromkin, H.L. (1980) Uniqueness: The Human Pursuit of Difference. Plenum, New York.
43. Suri, R. & Monroe, K.B. (2003) The effects of time constraints on consumers' judgements of prices and products. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 92-104.
44. Swami, S. & Khairnar, P.J. (2003) Diffusion of products with limited supply and known expiration date. Marketing Letters, 14, 33-46.
45. Sweeney, J.C., Soutar, G.N. & Johnson, L.W. (1999) The role of perceived risk in the quality-value relationship: a study in a retail environment. Journal of Retailing, 75, 77-105.
46. Tam, J.L.M. (2004) Customer satisfaction, service quality and perceived value: An integrative model. Journal of Marketing Management, 20, 897-917.
47. Teas, R.K. & Agarwal, S. (2000) The effects of extrinsic product cues on consumers' perceptions of quality, sacrifice, and value. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28, 278-290.
48. Tian, K.T., Bearden, W.O. & Hunter, G.L. (2001) Consumers' need for uniqueness: scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 28, 50-66.
49. Verhallen, T.M.M. & Robben, H.S.J. (1994) Scarcity and preference - an experiment on unavailability and product evaluation. Journal of Economic Psychology, 15, 315-331.
50. Wood, C.M. & Scheer, L.K. (1996) Incorporating perceived risk into models of consumer deal assessment and purchase intent. Advances in Consumer Research, 23, 399-404.
51. Worchel, S., Lee, J. & Adewole, A. (1975) Effects of supply and demand on ratings of object value. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 906-914.
52. Wright, R.A. (1992) Desire for outcomes that are more and less difficult to attain: analysis in terms of energization theory. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 13, 25-45.
53. Wright, R.A., Greenberg, J. & Brehm, S.S. (2004) Motivational Analyses of Social Behavior: Building on Jack Brehm's Contributions to Psychology. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
54. Wu, C. & Hsing, S.S. (2006) Less is more: how scarcity influences consumers' value perceptions and purchase intents through mediating variables. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 9, 125-132.
55. Zeithaml, V.A. (1982) Consumer response to in-store price information environments. Journal of Consumer Research, 8, 357-369.
56. Zeithaml, V.A. (1988) Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value - a means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52, 2-22.