To conform or deviate? The effect of resource scarcity on consumer preference for minority-endorsed options

While a general sense of resource scarcity has been shown to influence consumer behavior via various psychological mechanisms, existing resource scarcity research has paid limited attention to the role of perceived threat to freedom. This paper empirically investigates how perceived threat to freedom drives consumers’ responses to cues of resource scarcity in subsequent, unrelated contexts. Building upon psychological reactance theory and existing theoretical findings related to resource scarcity, the authors propose that reminders of resource scarcity present a threat to consumers’ personal freedom, which in turn leads them to choose products or brands endorsed by the minority in an attempt to reassert their diminished freedom. However, these effects depend on individual differences in reactance proneness and the perceived mutability of the scarcity situation. Four studies were conducted to test these hypotheses, while a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications is subsequently provided.