At the most basic level, there are two main drivers of human behavior— avoiding pain and experiencing pleasure. These are key to every action we take. When people are faced with either limited availability, or a limited opportunity to get the best deal, they are more likely to buy.

This is why buyers tend to act quickly when they are told that a product or special offer won’t last long.
In fact, studies have shown that buyers are more likely to act based upon loss (avoiding pain) than benefit (gaining pleasure) because gains are fleeting while losses linger. Some companies take advantage of this by advertising the limited quantity of their product. But what if you don’t actually have limited quantities? Don’t despair— you can always create a sense of scarcity, like Apple does when they release a new device.

To test this in your own programs, create an A/B split test and send out the same offer to two different groups. One offer should leverage loss, and the other should leverage gain. For example, depending upon your products and services, you could send out one offer to half your list that promotes the cost savings, and the other would promote the loss from not purchasing, and then see which one converts at a higher rate. On the other hand, if you are an e-commerce or SaaS business, you could use wording such as “Don’t Miss out!” vs “Be the first to hear”—the possibilities are endless.

In Figure 1, Booking.com (landing page) leverages the Loss Aversion factor by including a live countdown clock. This very basic tactic can be amazingly effect.

In Figure 2, Molton Brown also leverages scarcity. By simply adding the phrase ‘Limited edition’, a sense of scarcity is easily achieved.