Understanding the captivating power of online scarcity messages: An eye-tracking study

In the hospitality industry, online scarcity messages (e.g., “20 % discount, only 1 room left” or “20 % discount, only 1 day left”) are often used to increase purchases by capturing consumers’ visual attention. Although the fundamental purpose of online scarcity messages is to grab visual attention, most studies have thus far relied on self-reported data. In consequence, the scholarly understanding of the extent to which online scarcity messages captivate consumers is limited. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the captivating power of online scarcity messages and their subsequent impact on purchase behaviours through eye-tracking. It additionally considers two pertinent factors: scarcity message type and booking lead-time. A 2 (scarcity type: limited-quantity vs. limited-time) x 2 (booking lead-time: short vs. long) between-participants eye-tracking experiment was conducted. Limited-quantity scarcity messages attracted greater visual attention compared with limited-time scarcity messages. Visual attention was the highest when individuals came across limited-quantity scarcity messages under a long booking lead-time. Moreover, fixating more on the scarcity cue, irrespective of its type, led to higher booking probability under a short booking lead-time and lower booking probability under a long booking lead-time. Theoretically, the study contributes to the hitherto-limited eye-tracking literature on online scarcity marketing communications. On the practical front, it provides actionable insights on ways firms could improve their online scarcity messaging tactics. The implications should, however, be viewed considering the limitation that only the context of budget hotels in a domestic destination was studied. Several future research directions are proposed.