My family eats at a barbeque place nearby. They serve incredible chopped brisket, mashed potatoes, and the tastiest green beans you’ll ever have. They also serve various specialty items on certain days of the week. They put up a sign on the menu that says, depending on the day, “Don’t forget we serve burnt ends on Saturday!”
I find myself looking at this sign, thinking about how “rare” burnt ends are, and wishing I could order some…all before realizing that today is Saturday!
There’s something cool about this marketing tactic. Limiting certain items to one day a week creates a sense of artificial scarcity that makes those items seem even more desirable.
The restaurant isn’t explicitly saying that burnt ends are rare. True scarcity is when someone says, “I have a limited amount of this.” The restaurant is simply saying, “We are choosing to serve it less frequently.”
It’s incredibly simple, but that sign is doing a lot of psychological work.