“Majority of stock sold!”, “Nearly sold out!” Are you getting nervous by seeing these kind of phrases in advertisements? Do you have the feeling that you have to buy this product? Personally, when I need a product and see this kind of advertisements I want to buy the product immediately. I don't want to run the risk missing out on this fantastic offer. As a marketer I know a lot about the influencing power of advertisements, but why do I still fall for these scarcity appeals?

With our busy lives nowadays, we can’t always attend every meeting, birthday or SALE that we want to attend. So occasionally we miss out on deals and special offers; that’s life. But do we regret this, and more importantly, does this affect our decision-making?  

So people love free stuff. Always have, always will. Especially the Dutchies. We crave for free stuff, but that’s another discussion. But is free always the best option?

If you’re a marketer or entrepreneur and you tend to give away promotion products for free in order to generate more sales or bind customers: keep reading. All this time you have been doing it completely wrong.

I vividly remember reading a cool article last year.  Scientist found that words that sound alike could trigger the same brain areas. Specifically they found that ‘bye now’ and ‘buy now’ were closely linked together. It was good to know that the hidden gems from the scientific journals still found their way to us marketers. But after that it got quiet. Where was I going to get those latest juicy insights? 

We all know them. The commercials around that time of the year, when the days are short and it’s cold outside. When we have dinner with all of our family, are overloaded with presents and we feel the love (except for your mother in law, maybe). I’m talking about Christmas.