FOMO: Read this blog before it's gone!

Diners wait in line for hours for brisket and ribs outside of Franklin's Barbecue in Austin, Texas.

FOMO, The Scarcity Principle, and Everyday Dining

Bright and early each morning in Austin, a line forms at a popular local restaurant. Not a line for breakfast, mind you, but lunch. The restaurant won’t open its doors for hours. We’re talking about the one and only Franklin’s Barbecue, and with apologies to Kansas City and North Carolina, it’s rumored to serve the finest barbecue in the nation– a point of view given plenty of credence by the fact that so many people are willing to wait so long for it.

Once upon a time, the idea of people cueing up for hours to get food would more likely conjure images of Soviet bread lines than award-winning brisket and ribs. Lines, from the supermarket to the airport, are universal points of frustration and irritation, seen at as evidence that supply chains and other systems are broken.

But not at Franklin’s, or more recently, at the Popeye’s Fried Chicken near year when they launched their Fried Chicken Sandwich this year. In these cases, the line is part of the experience.

The Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich launch will no doubt go down as one of the most successful food marketing efforts in recent years. At a time when traditional fast food demand seems to be lagging, Popeye’s drove demand among existing and new customers at a ridiculous rate. Supplies meant to last its stores six weeks ran out in two, forcing the sandwich temporarily off the menu. And when it did come back, so did the crowds, to the tune of a 110% rise in store visits for the month of November, and Q3 sales up nearly 11% year over year.

What drives this phenomenon is what marketers refer to as the Scarcity Principle, or what social media gurus refer to simply as FOMO–the fear of missing out.

The psychology behind the Scarcity Principle is simple: when a good or service is perceived to be scarce, people want it more. And it goes beyond food. It’s why shopping channels show the number of sales made on screen in real time. It’s why airline booking engines always let you know that there’s only one seat left at that great low price.

After Hurricane Harvey in 2016, false stories about gas shortages began to make their way across Texas. This in turn caused people to flood any nearby gas station, which in turn, created a real gas shortage. In other words, the perception of scarcity can create the reality of it.

In Economics, the Scarcity Principle is seen mainly as a push-pull between need and cost. But in the case of Popeye’s, or Franklin’s, or even the example cited above, the cost in question is not the price, but rather the time, it takes to get it.

In short, the greater the demand for something, the more we’re willing we are to wait for it.

It’s also worth noting that FOMO works best on people who are already used to waiting for stuff. When the first McDonald’s opened in the Soviet Union in 1990, thousands of people waited in line for hours to get their first taste of Big Macs McNuggets. And given that the locals were used to standing in even longer lines for stale bread or toilet paper, it’s no surprise there were no complaints.

Cold War FOMO: the first McDonald's opens in the USSR in 1990.

In many cases, it’s not simply the product itself people fear they’ll miss out on, it’s the bragging rights to say “I did it” or “I was first.” Thus, with almost every purchase of the Popeye’s Chicken sandwich came the obligatory Instagram pic of the sandwich itself. And a social media sensation was born.

But just how good is the Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich? According to out in-house team, pretty darn good. In fact, as we discussed in a recent episode of our podcast, what gets lost in all the hype about social media and the battle with Chick-fil-A is the fact that at the end of the day, Popeye’s actually created a high quality product. And it’s that quality, more than anything, that has kept the menu item from turning into a limited time flash in the pan like so many other heavily hyped fast food launches (we’re talking to you, KFC Double Down).

Looking for ways to create more FOMO around your dining brand? Contact the everyday dining marketing experts at Slingshot today.