Information congruity in scarcity appeal: A structural equation modeling study of time-limited promotions

Abstract

Although market scarcity such as time restriction is widely used in retail advertisements, its impact on product message processing and product evaluation is still subject to controversy. In this study, analyses through structural equation modeling indicated that (i) scarcity had no impact on product message processing, (ii) scarcity had a direct impact on product evaluation as a heuristic cue when the value inferred from scarcity was congruous with the worth derived from product message, and (iii) scarcity lost its impact on product evaluation when the value inferred from scarcity was incongruous with the worth derived from product message, and the incongruity prompted scrutiny of product message, resulting in a mediated impact of product message on product evaluation through product message processing. In conclusion, the results supported an information congruity theory of market scarcity.

Keywords::

• advertising
• market scarcity
• time restriction
• information congruity
• structural equation modeling

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Feng Shen

Feng Shen is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Saint Joseph's University. His research explores areas of emotion and cognition in persuasion, ethics and cultural orientation, and latent variable modeling. He has published and presented a number of papers in the fields of marketing, psychology, and neuroscience.