Erika Jones uses a cocktail party where shrimp suddenly appear to explain why scarcity makes us want things more. When the bowl is limited, guests scramble and eat faster. She traces this to evolutionary wiring for grabbing scarce food, then shows how retailers use "limited run" and "only 10 left" to trigger the same instinct in customers.
Now, there's also a technique called scarcity. I like to call it the shrimp bowl effect. And what this is is that when something is less available, becomes more desirous. You can do it tonight or next time you're at a cocktail party or something like this. Next time you're at a cocktail party, watch for this. You're drinking, like, your wine. You got, like, you know, merlot going on. You're talking with someone like, how to kids. Yuckity yucky yuck. Watch. Don't say those words like, yuckty, yuckty, yuck. That's a very awkward conversation. But then the hostess will bring or host will bring out the shrimp bowl. Watch people's eyes. When this happens, all of a sudden it's like, oh, the kids, they said, oh, yeah, it's good seeing you. And then the next move is called the shrimp shuffle. Everyone starts talking with their wine. Great. That's why the kids sound amazing. But not as good as the shrimp over there. Then people go to the shrimp. This is the most amazing part. The first person takes out the shrimp, lathers it up with cocktail sauce, makes a big scene. Oh, this is so delicious. I can't believe how good this is. Next person's like, oh, my God. It started. They grab one. A woman comes, she grabs two at a time. Now this guy, he's tucking in his knee pits. Like the perfect shrimp storage point. This, the consumption explodes. As there's less shrimp, we eat more and faster. Now, no one eats the last little shrimp, because if you do, you're a pig. The lesson is this. The less available something is, the more desirous it becomes. It's hardwired into this all the way back to the caveman days. The less meat that was out there, the sooner you had to get it, the less berries, the faster you had to move. If you want to start moving product in your store, if you have a storefront, make it scarce, say, limited, small collection. We only have 10 remaining, a limited run and stuff like that. Watch how customers move more quickly to consume.
