How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 250

talk of the town! Imagine what those peasants were thinking as they
watched those big, tall fences go up: "Why are they fencing in the potato
fields? Why are the rich keeping the potatoes all to themselves? Why are
we restricted to the same old beef stew every single day? We deserve
potatoes, too! We need potatoes! Give us potatoes!"[2]
[1]See http://www.usatoday.com/life/special/jackie/ljack000.htm
[2]A. Pratkanis and E. Aronson, Age of Propaganda (New York: W. H. Freeman,
1991), p. 188.

Why Scarcity Drives Us Wild
The Rule of Scarcity plays a large role in the persuasion process.
Opportunities are always more valuable and exciting when they are scarce
and less available. We want to be the ones to own the rare items or to get
the last widget on the shelf. The more the scarcity of an item increases,
the more the item increases in value, and the greater the urge to own it.
Whenever choice is limited or threatened, the human need to maintain a
share of the limited commodity makes us crave it even more. Scarcity
increases the value of any product or service. Scarcity drives people to
action, making us act quickly for fear of missing out on an opportunity.
Potentially losing something before we've even had an opportunity to
possess it drives people to action. We don't want to miss out on anything
we could have had. We want to get around any restriction placed upon us.
We feel uptight and want back our freedom. This causes tension and
unrest. The Rule of Scarcity not only pertains to physical products, but
also to time, information, price, and knowledge.
The Threat of Potential Loss
Anytime someone feels their freedom — to choose, think, or act — is
being restricted, they "experience psychological reactance and attempt to
restore their freedom."[3] With this restriction on freedom we are driven
to latch on to that thing which we fear will be restricted even more.
Instead of standing by and saying, "Okay, I'll give that up," we take the
opposite approach. Suddenly, that restricted item is even more important
to us. Researchers call this tendency "reactance."[4] An intensely
motivational state, reactance causes us to be emotional, single-minded, or
even irrational. We hate feeling restricted, so we are highly motivated to
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