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Abstract: This paper presents two experiments investigating the association between the scarcity/unavailability effect—when a real or perceived limit in availability increases desirability or value—and positional concerns, people’s tendency to be strongly influenced by relative consumption in some domains but not others. Examining choices between equivalent items, Experiment I found that unavailability motivated choice for positional but not nonpositional goods, and did so to a greater degree when popularity was offered as the reason for unavailability rather than an imposed limit in supply. Experiment II showed that for musical taste, a domain where positional concerns are not normally a notable factor, creating a situation drawing attention to relative position allowed unavailability to influence choice or desire.

Submitted April 13, Psychology Department, Princeton University. The full document is available here.