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Fake scarcity 0:49

A 49-second explainer of Fake scarcity, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.

The Fake scarcity explainer. Prefer to do it yourself? Try the interactive demo.

Try the interactive Fake scarcity demo

What this video covers

Fake scarcity is a made-up shortage - "only 2 left!", "low stock!" - shown to pressure you into buying, when the number reflects nothing real and never actually runs out. It borrows the genuine urgency of true scarcity but lies about the facts, so the pressure is manufactured rather than honest.

However many you "bought" or however often you refreshed, it still said "only 2 left" - because the number was never tied to anything. That's fake scarcity: the fear of missing out is real, but the shortage is a prop, there only to hurry you past your better judgement.

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