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Hello fellow nerds,
We all know urgency increases sales. I’m very lazy efficient, so I find it super tempting to slap “limited time” on offers instead of “ends July 31st“, because it means I don’t have to update ads as often(and, of course, there’s the added bonus of running it longer and allowing social proof to accumulate).
But, unfortunately, this hurts conversion rates. Sigh.
The science:
Researchers tested how people react to real deadlines versus vague language in ads. They compared promotions with clear, short deadlines (like “10 Hours Only Super Sale”) to more generic offers without a specific time frame (like “10th Anniversary Super Sale”). They also looked at real grocery promotions that either expired quickly or were valid for months (Aggarwal & Vaidyanathan, 2003).
What they found:
Clear, short deadlines caused people to buy sooner and buy more, both in real-world shopping data and lab tests. People who saw the specific deadline were also more likely to feel good about the deal and less likely to keep searching for better offers.
Vague offers like “limited time offer” did not speed up purchases or increase willingness to buy.
Why?
When we see a clear end date, our brains feel a real threat of losing an opportunity (FOMO), which creates urgency and pushes us to act.
This comes from our evolutionary wiring to grab scarce resources before they’re gone.
Vague deadlines don’t trigger this response, so we procrastinate or ignore the offer.
💡Takeaway
Use specific deadlines for offers (as annoying as it is).
In a future issue, we’ll compare the effectiveness of time (e.g., “ends Aug. 30th”) vs scarcity offers(e.g., “Only 18 spots left”).
Stay curious my friend,
Ksenia
P.S. reply to this email with your most burning ad psychology question. I’ll do the research and publish it in a future edition(if an answer exists)!
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