Principle 15: Limit the Availability

The Concept

An Excerpt from Influencing Like Jesus

Digging Deeper: Examples of the Limited Availability Principle

The Concept

People are motivated by the likelihood of loss, far more so than they are by the prospect of gaining some sort of benefit.  As a result, if something is scarce, limited, or exclusive, we tend to want it more.

An Excerpt from Influencing Like Jesus

By now, if I’ve communicated the principle correctly, you should be asking yourself about the ethics of all this. How is putting pressure on people this way possibly consistent with the Christian ideal? It surely seems counter-Biblical to squeeze people for a quick decision, whether it’s for a limited-edition vehicle or a place for their kids to be educated. It surely seems counter-Biblical to leverage jealously for personal gain or to make ourselves scarce so our employees or spouse will appreciate us more.

Indeed, people use this “limit the availability” principle inappropriately all the time. But if you’ve made it this far in the study, you’ve heard me say several times that the problem is not with the influence principle per se; it’s with how we use it. Limiting the availability is merely a neutral influence tool. What we do with it makes the action right or wrong.

How do I know it might be a legitimate approach? I based that on the fact that Jesus used this very principle, and he used it where it matters most: to influence us to spend eternity with Him.

Look at Matthew 24 and 25, for example. Jesus used the principle twice. First, in chapter 24, as he’s teaching his disciples about when he’ll return to judge the world, he says it could happen at any time. Specifically, he likened his second coming to what happened back in Genesis:

“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son —except the Father only. As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark. They didn’t know  until the flood came and swept them all away. So this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be: Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one left….This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:36-44)

See the limited availability principle in these words? To paraphrase Jesus, “You don’t know when I’m coming back. No one knows when I’m coming back. In fact, I don’t even know when I’m coming back. So the opportunity to turn your life over to me is running out. It’s coming to an end. Make the right choice before the clock expires.”

That’s scary, because that’s scarcity. But sometimes, scary is exactly what we need to break old patterns of behavior and to make God’s choices.

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Digging Deeper:

Examples of the Limited Availability Principle

Bumper sticker theology “Many who wait for the eleventh hour to choose Jesus, die at ten thirty!”

Workplace motivation through limited availability The book Shackleton’s Way has a beautiful example of the usage of (the limited availability) principle. During his Antarctic expedition, one of his crew members shot a seal. Shackleton wanted his crew to eat seal meat because it is a rich source of proteins and vitamins. Unfortunately seal meat tastes lousy and he seriously doubted if any of his crew members would voluntarily eat it. So what Shackleton did was as this: he posted a notice which reserved seal meat for senior officers. In doing so, he made seal meat scarce and implied that it was highly desirable. He was then immediately approached by the crew members who demanded that they be treated as equals and be served seal meat. Mission accomplished! (this example adapted from a blog on influence)

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