Acting on Information: Reminders of Resource Scarcity Promote Flexible Thinking and Adaptive Behavior
77 Pages Posted: 4 Aug 2016 Last revised: 26 Sep 2018
Date Written: August 1, 2016
Abstract
The current article advances our understanding of the psychology of scarcity by investigating the cognitive responses that are activated in response to considerations of “having less,” and their consequences for consumer behavior. Prior research across a variety of academic disciplines has revealed that resource scarcity promotes the desire to advance one’s own welfare. The authors build on this work by offering the novel proposition that because reminders of resource scarcity promote the desire to advance one’s own welfare, they will engender a cognitively flexible thinking style, in the service of that desire. As a consequence, consumers who are exposed to reminders of resource scarcity are better able to (i) identify information in the decision environment that informs how one’s welfare can be advanced (i.e., information that bears on the costs and benefits inherent to different outcomes), and (ii) adaptively respond to this information. In doing so, the authors provide a more nuanced understanding of the cognitive underpinnings of resource scarcity and their implications for consumer decision making.
Keywords: resource scarcity, tradeoffs, cognitive flexibility, adaptive behavior
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