An Empirical Analysis of Scarcity Strategies in the Automobile Industry
实证分析美国汽车行业新车上市时的库存稀缺程度与消费者偏好的关系，发现相对稀缺会提升偏好，并检验了三种解释稀缺原因的理论，结果支持信号理论。
Recent product introductions such as the Xbox 360, Sony Playstation 2, and PT Cruiser have been characterized by shortage of these products. Some experts have suggested that such scarcity can be a deliberate strategy for making the product more desirable. In this paper, we empirically examine the relationship between introductory inventory levels and consumer preference in the U.S. automobile industry and show that relative scarcity of a car at the time of introduction is associated with higher consumer preference for the product. Furthermore, we perform an empirical test of alternative theories about the rationale for introductory product scarcity. Specifically, we consider two theories of supplier-induced scarcity, namely the buying frenzy theory and the signaling theory, and an alternative theory that suggests that demand uncertainty causes introductory product scarcity. We find more support for the signaling theory of supplier-induced scarcity than the buying frenzy theory or the demand uncertainty theory in our analysis of the automobile market.