Loss Framing Deadlines FYSA

People Pay Attention to Potential Loss …. Risk Gets Priority in the Brain…It drives engagement.

Humans survive by working together, so it’s mutually beneficial to have an early warning system – to give a “head’s up” … Avoidance of LOSS is 5X more powerful than Desire for GAIN… “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” You appreciate being made aware that there is only one seat left on the flight you want…. your bottle of milk has a Best Used By date…and your Property Tax has a due by date after which a Late Fee is charged…  Psychologists refer to this as the Scarcity Principle and it is about Loss Framing… 

Nobody is FORCING you to make a choice, you’re being provided with information FOR YOUR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS, FYSA as the Military calls it, alerting you to potential consequences …the choice TO ENGAGE is yours… as are the consequences of NOT ENGAGING.

Scarcity affects the price of almost everything. Coins. Cars. Ocean Front Homes.  The more unique a thing is, the higher its perceived value.  ENGAGEMENT AND ATTENTION go UP as AVAILABILITY goes DOWN. Loss gets greater focus than gain in the brain and the perception of loss plays a huge role in human decision making.   

A legendary stockbroker once said “Call a millionaire at 5 AM with an idea to make her an extra $50,000 at market opening she’ll be angry at you—call that same millionaire at 5 AM alerting her to a move to avoid losing $50,000 at the market bell, she’ll thank you for calling.”

It is True that people can perceive scarcity as a scare tactic, SCARCITY has the word “Scare” in it…  if the focus is on FORCING rather than FRAMING – people resent being forced but appreciate a heads up. Just because the principle is sometimes used by unprincipled people, doesn’t mean we should ignore its power for enabling possibilities and increasing engagement.

It’s not control or coercion, it’s context and consequences. The consequences of decisions are not equal, and we help people prioritize using the Loss Framing Mechanisms of Deadlines, Limited Numbers, and Penalties.

BEING MINDFUL is about Awareness of Consequences… not Forcing Choices. BEING COLLABORATIVE is giving a heads up. To get something DONE give it a DEADLINE, to make it a PRIORITY associate a PENALTY, and to ENGAGE make it EXCLUSIVE.