Abstract
Scarcity is salient in our everyday life. We are exposed to it in the media, or we may perceive it during a routine shopping experience. Previous research suggest a relationship between communications of scarcity on the media and stockpiling behavior. However, while this relationship has been typically studied with experimental methods, it is limited in providing longitudinal evidence with secondary data and real behavior, and it does not distinguish between salience of scarcity that comes from media exposure or from own active search on behalf of the consumer. Using initially experimental evidence, we confirm that exposure to scarcity results in intentions to purchase in greater quantities. Importantly, using longitudinal panel data of loyalty cards over a period that goes from 2019 to 2024, we observe a difference between scarcity induced by media exposure and scarcity that results from own active search of consumers. Only when both are increasingly present, it results in greater quantities purchased and in more frequent trips to the store, at an individual level. Our findings provide contributions not only to research in consumer behavior and consumer psychology, by differentiating the sources of scarcity salience and their effects on over-purchase, but also to practitioners and public policymakers, making them aware of the power of media on over-purchasing behavior.