‘Only 2 left in stock! Order now!’ But does it work?

Online retailers often alert customers that an item is going fast because it pushes customers to make a decision, but does it work? Marketing and supply chain management professors completed research on the effectiveness of scarcity messages for online retailing, finding it works for certain products.

Online retailers often alert customers that an item is going fast because it pushes customers to make a decision, but does it really work? Associate Professor of Marketing Sungho Park, AVNET Professor of Supply Chain Management Elliot Rabinovich, and Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management Rui Yin completed research on the effectiveness of scarcity messages for online retailing, finding it works for certain products.

In this story published March 27, 2020, in The Wall Street Journal:

My research — with Sungho Park, Elliot Rabinovich, and Rui Yin of Arizona State University — found that scarcity messages work best with time-sensitive and perishable products such as hotel rooms or plane tickets, as well as unique items like collectibles or limited editions.