If You Like It, It Must Be Rare
A study out of the business school INSEAD reveals that we tend to invert the economic axiom of short supply leads to high demand, meaning that we also conclude (prematurely and often incorrectly) that anything in high demand must be in short supply.
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When folks place high value on something, like a perfect mate, they immediately (and often incorrectly) think it’s scarce.
Research out of the business school INSEAD points to a possible reason.
The thesis harkens to the economic principle that short supply drives up demand.
Researchers found that this notion is so drilled into our culture (they actually suggest it might be hard-wired) that we automatically use its inverse, what is in high demand must be in short supply, when we make conclusions. And this thinking is not always accurate.
This is based on results of a study where subjects were paid to spot either flower or bird photos in a group of 100 pics…subjects weren’t told there were equal numbers of each.
If a subject was paid to spot flower photos, they consistently guessed (at the end of the process) that there were fewer flowers than birds. And vice versa for those paid to spot bird photos.
Their perception of scarcity was starkly skewed toward what was more valuable to them.
So next time single friends complain that all the “good ones” are taken – tell em, “Your perception is wack.” I wonder if that will be of some comfort to them.
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