Mindy Weinstein

The part of their brain that's in charge of the evaluation process had all types of activity, meaning that what happened in the brain just automatically is, okay, this item is a little bit more difficult to get.

There's not as many of them or it's running out.

I'm going to value that higher.

And we do that.

And the other thing too, I mean, cause really it's so multi-layered is that when we are faced with this situation of scarcity, let's say if it's something that is popular, the example I like to give is going to the grocery store and you're buying a product you haven't bought before.

And you're looking at the different brands.

You're not really sure what to get, but then there's one brand that there's only one box left.

Let's say you're going to go for that one because your brain's going to take a mental shortcut.

And that's also something that we've seen through brain scans that when faced with something that's scarce, our brains kick into gear again.

And they also skip the normal process of decision making and just go straight to decision running out.

It's hard to get.

I want that.

So it's just amazing at just how powerful it really is.

And to me, I mean, when I started studying scarcity, originally I was looking more at just what influences us and the factors.

And then when I started digging into that, I realized that out of all of them, scarcity is the one that is so innate in us and so strong.

It does help.

You'll still find yourself in situations where you're going to have to stop and say, okay, what's really going on here?

And I'll be completely candid with you.

I am a researcher.

I have my PhD in general psychology.