How to spot sneaky tricks from marketers

Description

‘Fear Of Missing Out’, or FOMO, isn’t something you’d normally associate with toilet paper or baked beans. But Covid has broken down so many barriers that a feeling once linked to festivals and overseas trips has become a driving force in the way we shop.

Often throughout the pandemic those shots of empty shelves were caused less by supply chain slip ups than they were by worried people giving in to their deepest fears.

Our research into how consumers respond to scarcity showed that depending on the type of product, a sense of scarcity – that only a limited number of an item or experience is available, or for a limited time – creates different emotions and different buying actions.

When it comes to utilitarian products like toilet paper, dried pasta and tinned foods fear and uncertainty of what’s to come are what drives our purchasing decisions.